Read a July 31, 2012, article from The Wall Street Journal about the struggles Muslim women face while competing in the Olympics.

Read a Feb. 6, 2013, story published by BigThink.com that compares religion and the spectacle of sports.

Read a Jan. 13, 2013, story published by Slate about a survey released by the Public Religion Research Institute that found 27 percent of Americans think that a higher power plays some role in deciding who will win sporting events.

Chester L. Gillis is dean of Georgetown College, a professor in the department of theology and director of the Program on the Church and Interreligious Dialogue in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He is an expert in Catholocism and the editor of The Political Papacy: John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Their Influence.

Read a Sept. 18, 2009, Zenit.org story posted by Beliefnet.com about the religious roots of the modern Olympic creed.

Read an Aug. 12, 2004, Beliefnet.com article on the religious origins of the Greek Olympics. It’s by Agapi Stassinopoulos, author of Gods and Goddesses in Love: Make the Myth a Reality for You.

Read a Beliefnet column from 2000 on how multiple religions see sports.

Read an excerpt from Andrew Cooper’s book Playing in the Zone: Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions of Sports. It’s posted by Beliefnet.com.

See a June 1, 2006, Christianity Today essay by Collin Hansen, “Onward Christian Shortstops,” about efforts by the Colorado Rockies baseball team to attract Christian players whose character and faith the Rockies believe can help them win. The essay was prompted by a May 31, 2006, front-page story in USA Today called “Baseball’s Rockies seek revival on two levels.”