CHARIOTS OF FIRE | KAIROS GLOBAL | MAY 2023

Author: Joseph Anthraper

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved (Romans 10:1) – so writes Paul in his letter to the Romans with pain and anguish in his heart about his fellow Jews, with whom God established his original covenant. In case there was any doubt for his readers, Paul would go on to emphasise with conviction that all Israel will be saved. St John Paul II used to call Jews, ‘the covenant people’, and as the late theologian Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote, ‘the Old Covenant is still in force in one of its most important aspects—God’s gracious predilection for His Chosen People’. Yet the history of Jews in the last two thousand years has been anything but happy – it has been one of tragic sorrow, pain, rejection, never-ending persecution and struggles. And for its part, Western Christianity has had its sad share in abetting and sometimes fuelling antisemitism.

Chariots of Fire, often regarded as one of the best movies ever made – and certainly one of the best ever British movies – directed by Hugh Hudson and written by Colin Welland, is based on the true story of two British athletes who competed at the 1924 Paris Olympics – Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams. Eric Liddell is a committed Christian from the Scottish Highlands, whose parents were both once missionaries in China and who hopes to soon follow in their footsteps and go on mission to China. Eric and his sister Jennie share a profound love for each other, but both have an even bigger love for God and the mission that he has entrusted them. Harold Abrahams is a Jew by birth, studying law at Cambridge University, with his father being a banker in ‘the city’, and though rich and affluent, he is all too aware of the growing antisemitism in and around the society about him. Railing against this prejudice and injustice, he has taken upon himself a mission – to take on the English establishment in its corridors of power, one by one, and run them off their feet!

Upon entering Cambridge, Harold successfully completes the Trinity Great Court Run challenge, running around the college courtyard in the time it takes for the clock to strike twelve – the first man to do so in over 700 years! Harold continues to shatter record after record in England until he comes face to face with Eric Liddell in a 100m race, which Liddell wins easily. Harrold is dejected and crestfallen at the loss, for he realises that his ultimate dream of winning an Olympic medal would not materialise with Liddell around. Enter Sam Mussabini, one of the best coaches in England, and he agrees to train Abrahams, with the promise to find Abrahams another two yards.

Meanwhile Eric’s sister Jennie is getting increasingly frustrated with Liddell and his commitment to running, as she begins to worry that all this athletics business and its seemingly vain pursuit of glory is taking Eric away from his ministry, and thus away from God. However, Liddell is crystal clear in his mind that his running and winning is for the glory of God and as he tells Jennie, ‘I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.’ He is convinced that winning the Olympic medal would be the ultimate act of witnessing to his faith and give glory to God. And he asks Jennie to take care of the ministry until the Paris Olympics in 1924 so that he can concentrate fully on his running.

Both Liddell and Abrahams are selected to represent the UK in the Olympics team – along with Harrold’s Cambridge friends, Aubrey Montague, Andrew Lindsay and Henry Stallard. However, just as they are boarding the ship to take them to Paris, Liddell realises that the heats for the 100 metres is happening on a Sunday – the Sabbath day as he calls it. The Lord’s Day is a day of rest, Liddell had long preached, and now at the greatest moment in his life, he has to choose between staying true to his belief and his commitment to his country, teammates and fellow countrymen. Finally Liddell takes the sad decision not to compete in the 100 metres – an event that he had been practising for the past many years! Once the decision becomes public, it makes headlines around the world, and the British Olympic association along with the Prince of Wales tries to coax and threaten him to back down from his decision – but Liddell stays true to his conscience. However, his teammate Lindsay comes up with a potential solution – to swap events between himself and Liddell, so that Liddell can participate in the 400 metres race, which is on a Thursday.

And on the Sunday of the heats, he delivers a sermon at a Parisian church on Isaiah 40 – the same day when both Aubrey and Harrold lose miserably in their hurdles and 200 metres events respectively. Having lost most of his races, Harrold’s only hope now is the 100 metres, but even though Liddell is not there, he faces a monumental task in the race as he is against two of the fastest runners in the world – in the form of Americans Charley Paddock and Jackson Scholz. As for Eric Liddell, he realises that 400 metres is a far different proposition to the shorter 100 metres race. How will both men respond, and how would they find the strength within and without to make it to the finish?

Chariots of Fire is a sublime work of art – and one of the great things about the movie is that it is not a movie about Liddell against Abrahams – neither on a personal level nor on a philosophical or theological level. Deep down, both men know that their running is serving a higher purpose – for Liddell, it’s for the glory of God and for Abrahams it is as a potent tool against the antisemitism of his age. In the end it's fitting how it all pans out – I wonder if one may take the freedom to interpret it as a divine intervention of honouring both the Old and the New Covenant.