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 Tim Tebow’s penchant for kneeling in prayer has birthed a new word: Tebowing.
November 29th, 2011
12:01 PM ET
My Take: Is Tim Tebow performing miracles?
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN (CNN)–In 1966, John Lennon famously claimed that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Today that title may belong to Tim Tebow, the Denver Broncos quarterback more famous for praising Jesus than for throwing touchdowns. As anyone who has visited Dallas or Atlanta on any recent weekend can attest, America’s two great religions are Christianity and football. In recent weeks, these two great faiths have come together in Tim Tebow, the new starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos and America’s latest merger of faith in Jesus and faith in the Almighty Touchdown. When viewed from the perspective of “the world,” Tebow is, at best, a mediocre NFL quarterback. When viewed through the eyes of faith, however, he is something like the Second Coming of Joe Montana. And maybe Something More. On this burning question of Tim Tebow, I must confess to being an agnostic. But I understand the fervor on both sides. Skeptics generally concede that Tebow, an outspoken Christian, was an extraordinary high school and college football player. After all, he won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, and led his University of Florida team to two NCAA football titles. But those who refuse to bow down before Tebow insist that NFL football is another game altogether, and when it comes to that game Tebow is a passing fancy. They attribute Denver’s near miraculous 5-1 run during his reign as a starter not to his offense but to the Broncos defense. They point out that he throws about as well as Peppermint Patty, and that in one of his wins he completed only two passes more than Charlie Brown (which is to say two). His completion percentage (45.5%) is last in the league. Skeptics are also turned off by Tebow’s public displays of religion. Tebow used to cite Bible verses on his eye black. And his tendency to be found praying while his teammates are strutting has added a new word—“Tebowing”—to the lexicon. True believers say to hell with all that. What matters are the intangibles. Tebow is a winner. He may allow his team to fall behind, but in the end he leads the Broncos to victory, often in a fashion that can only be termed miraculous. Which is to say, when it comes to the Almighty TT, you gotta have faith (or not). In his book “Faith and Belief,” the Religious Studies scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith describes how the notion of “faith” changed over the centuries from something like “trust” to its modern-day meaning of “belief in the unbelievable.” And that, it seems to me, is what we are witnessing with Tebow. It is simply not believable that a quarterback who cannot throw would turn a team from a 1-4 also-ran to a 6-5 playoff contender. But Tebow has done that, in part by running and in part, well, by faith. There is, to be sure, Tebow's faith in Jesus. But perhaps more importantly, there is the faith of his teammates in him. Not to mention the adoration of legions of University of Florida alums, and of fans in Denver and beyond. As a scholar of religion, I have little expertise in football, NFL or otherwise. But I cannot help weighing in on a few comparisons between TT and JC: Jesus: turned a ragtag band of 12 apostles into the number one religion in the world Tebow: turned a ragtag squad of 11 football players into an NFL juggernaut Jesus: prayed a lot (to God) Tebow: prays a lot (to Jesus) Jesus: ran the money changers out of the temple Tebow: runs the spread option Jesus: miraculously saved a wedding at Cana by turning water into wine Tebow: miraculously led the Broncos to last-second victories against the Dolphins, the Jets and the Chargers. Coincidence? You be the judge. As for me, I'm sitting back and waiting for Tebow to do something truly miraculous. Like winning a game without completing a single pass, or running back a punt for a touchdown, or kicking a 50-yard field goal to win a game. Meanwhile, I am happy to report that Jesus is still more famous than Tebow. At least for now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
Who cares about the 40,000 children that die every day of starvation and malnutrition. As long as Jesus is helping Tebow complete 45% of his passes, that's all that matters. God is great!
Get off your wallet and feed some of them then, it not, who are you say what God is or is not doing?
"Jesus: turned a ragtag band of 12 apostles into the number one religion in the world." - you know better than that ... For more than 3 centuries Christianity was a religion practiced in the shadows ... it grew some, but not until Constantine made it the state religion did it flourish.
Let me clue you idiots in to one undeniable fact................ God doesn't care about the outcome of football games.
Wrong! If he can get glory from it he does and Tebow is willing to give him the glory! Jesus Christ's is now a hot topic of ESPN! You go Tebow!
Do you think God only exists for Glory? Wouldn't he get more "Glory" from just appearing in the sky as opposed to a horrible Quarterback stealing the attention from the rest of his team mates who are doing the real work. If I were Tebow I would pray for accuracy.
Okay... I cant do this anymore; I almost peed myself laughing several times. Sorry everyone, I'm a bit schizophrenic and was really just being a troll. I did succeed at getting all the holy rollers out waving their hands over the holier-than-thou game player named Tim Tebow. All you FOOLS who chimed in to support my ridiculous rantings, ask yourself this: How could a "God" love football more than he loves all those who are suffering in the world? How could he/she/it put his/her/it's favoers up for "vote" for the one who gets the most prayers. If there was a God, such an assumption would be borderline sacrilegious.
FOOLS!
I denounce even the remote possibility of a God. George Carlin said it best:
Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll to to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!
To the pathetic soul who feels the need to steal my name, get a life!
Hippypoet.....you up to it again. You love trying to be me don't you. So sad.
Are you out of your mind? You are actually weighing the "similarities" between Jesus and Tebow? As a Christian, I am disgusted that you would lessen who Jesus is by saying that the truly miraculous actions that he took throughout his life are similar in nature to a "mediocre quarterback". Further, I struggle to see how it is acceptable for you to trivialize the meaning of the word miracle by stating that the comeback wins in the past few weeks have been miraculous. This is ridiculous. You said it yourself, Tebow is a mediocre quarterback whose wins are more likely attributable to the Broncos defense. Don't make Jesus synonymous with mediocrity, some would call that ignorance, or worst, blasphemy.
you are taking life, and this article, WAY too seriously
I wonder how the Brocos would be doing without the play of their defense and special teams. I also wonder if anyone would really care so much about Tim Tebow if he was athiest of agnostic.
fuuuuuck you haters
When did the Broncos become a juggernaut? They are 6-5 with a great defense and have played not one good team since Tebow started, excecpt Detroit and they lost.
5-1 idiots! hahahaha and if even one of you knew Tim your opinion would A change or B be completeley invalid. Your all pathetic. Looking for a chink in his armor and ignoring your own. Im not a god man, but if I was I would hope he see's to it that you all get yours. Yes I like my god to be vengefull
Short answer? No.
Long Answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Tebow is performing the miracle of belittling prayer even more than talking to imaginary deities to solve your personal problems already belittles itself.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. I see it as a man who is not ashamed of God in the midst of a bunch of worldly sinners. God gave him life and the talent and the job so he gives him the glory and is not ashamed.
I know the American Religious Right wants to promote this guy, but over the long haul, an NFL QB has to pass beter than a 40% completion rate. He plays in the AFC West – by far the weakest division in the NFL. An NFL QB that runs the ball a lot ends up to being an injured NFL QB.
This might be the worst article ever written. Are you serious?
Is the nickname Touchdown Jesus already taken?
Tim Tebow's a respectable role model, yet the liberal media wants to condemn him for anything he does, and idolize Michael Vick and the the other ghetto thugs that have populated the sport. If Tebow were black, they wouldn't be saying a word....There are many quarterbacks who have better statistics than Tebow, but none have a bigger heart for the game or his fellow man; so you liberal, Christianity-hating boobs will just have to learn to deal with the truth.....
God bless Tim Tebow!
Why?
You would think that if your God created the universe he would have something better to do than watch football on Sunday.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
The Apostle Paul to the Corinthians
Paul was a Peter puffer.
Mike, I did read the Old Testament.
I just want to say. Tim Tebow is not a bad passer. He just does not pass often. Many people look at the wrong stats. Yes Cam Newton Passes alot but the INT /eff ratio is not great.... I have watched Tebow play since HS in person. He wins. At Florida he won,unconventionally but nonetheless... WON
No, he's not a very good passer at this point. Misses many, many open receivers.
LOL - stats don't lie ... he is LAST in passing percentage .. how is that a "wrong" stat? but hey, if he gets the wins that is what is important. Personally, I think he is a bit overrated by some and maligned too much by others.
Way to go, Tim!