The ancient Olympics started in Olympia, Greece, in 776 BC, and they lasted for nearly 1,200 years. Emperor Theodosius banned them for being pagan and unworthy of Christian culture. The modern Olympics were reinstated in 1896 in Athens.The apostle Paul may be alluding to the Olympics when he uses running a race as a metaphor for the Christian faith in Philippians 2:14–17: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing . . . though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.”He may also be making an analogy to torch races when he speaks of shining as lights" as they are “holding on.” The Athenians held races, called lampadedromia, in honor of certain gods, including Prometheus. Relay runners passed the flame, and the first to arrive at the altar of the god had the honor of rekindling the fire.—Excerpted from my summer Bible study, Frappe with Philippians