Peace soccer gives glory to God through soccer. Just as you must know clearly in order to take action clearly, I pray that you will know about soccer clearly and give glory to God perfectly.
The origin of soccer
The history of soccer, which is full of Heaven’s Will.
Soccer was introduced to the world not by professional athletes but by British pastors and missionaries.
Soccer, the sport enjoyed by the majority of countries around the world.
There is an old joke in South Korea: The three things that women least like to hear men talk about is the army, the second is soccer, and third is soccer in the army. Nevertheless, the truth is that the only sports enjoyed by the majority of countries and people around the world is soccer.
Even as Providence history and culture was developing, soccer was continuing to develop. Today, let's learn about the history of soccer.
How did soccer start?
The membership of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) consists of 209 countries. It has more members than the United Nations (UN--94 countries), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC--204 countries). We can imagine its popularity. Among all the sports in the world, the FIFA World Cup is the largest and most popular event next to the Summer Olympics.
According to historical records, sports with a similar format to modern soccer originated from ancient Greece. Around 7-6 BC, the ancient Greeks played a ball game called “Episkyros.” The rules of the game allowed a ball to be kicked and thrown. In ancient China, they played a ball game similar to soccer at an even earlier time than the game played in ancient Greece.
In the Roman era, [their version of soccer] was advertized as a military competition. During the British invasion of Rome, the Romans spread their game, Harpastum, and it became the origin of modern soccer in England.
The first [historically] recorded soccer game was held in Derby, England on the Tuesday of Whitsun in 217 AD. Soccer was one of the events of a British festival celebrating the successful defense of their country against the Roman army; it became an annual sports event in England in 1175.
In the 1800’s, the UK played soccer [without clear rules]; it was disorderly, so the soccer teams felt strongly the need for a standardized set of rules. Consequently, the representatives of various soccer groups gathered on October 26th, 1863. Over the course of six meetings, they developed the modern format for soccer. This was the birth of the Football Association.
The history of soccer, which is full of Heaven’s Will.
Soccer was introduced to the world was not by professional athletes, but by British pastors and missionaries. I think that soccer contains a deep Will of God, that He wants to make history through soccer.
Pastor Jung Myeong Seok said, “Through soccer the Lord taught me how to lead Providence history and how to spread the gospel by loving and overcoming the temptations of the world. Providence soccer is [played] not only for health reasons, but also to praise God, take action upon the Lord’s love, spread the gospel, and fulfill peace in the world.
God made Heaven’s history, taught us about life, and made the world become one through soccer. However, people do not express their faith in God and do not give glory to God through soccer. Instead of giving glory to God, they fall in love with soccer and only love soccer stars. Now it is time to give glory to God through soccer.
Next time, I will unravel the history of soccer in Korea.
[Ref] Doosan Encyclopedia, Peace Football