Opening the library…

Home Bible Corpus Discover You

Search the Bible

The Shows, or De Spectaculis

Tertullian

Chapter 1

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Ye Servants of God, about to draw near to God

,

that

you

may

make

solemn

consecration

of

yourselves

to

Him

,

seek

well

to

understand

the

condition

of

faith

,

the

reasons

of

the

Truth

,

the

laws

of

Christian

Discipline

,

which

forbid

among

other

sins

of

the

world

,

the

pleasures

of

the

public

shows

.

Ye

who

have

testified

and

confessed

that

you

have

done

so

already

,

review

the

subject

,

that

there

may

be

no

sinning

whether

through

real

or

wilful

ignorance

.

For

such

is

the

power

of

earthly

pleasures

,

that

,

to

retain

the

opportunity

of

still

partaking

of

them

,

it

contrives

to

prolong

a

willing

ignorance

,

and

bribes

knowledge

into

playing

a

dishonest

part

.

To

both

things

,

perhaps

,

some

among

you

are

allured

by

the

views

of

the

heathens

who

in

this

matter

are

wont

to

press

us

with

arguments

,

such

as

these

:

(

1

)

That

the

exquisite

enjoyments

of

ear

and

eye

we

have

in

things

external

are

not

in

the

least

opposed

to

religion

in

the

mind

and

conscience

;

and

(

2

)

That

surely

no

offence

is

offered

to

God

,

in

any

human

enjoyment

,

by

any

of

our

pleasures

,

which

it

is

not

sinful

to

partake

of

in

its

own

time

and

place

,

with

all

due

honour

and

reverence

secured

to

Him

.

But

this

is

precisely

what

we

are

ready

to

prove

:

That

these

things

are

not

consistent

with

true

religion

and

true

obedience

to

the

true

God

.

There

are

some

who

imagine

that

Christians

,

a

sort

of

people

ever

ready

to

die

,

are

trained

into

the

abstinence

they

practise

,

with

no

other

object

than

that

of

making

it

less

difficult

to

despise

life

,

the

fastenings

to

it

being

severed

as

it

were

.

They

regard

it

as

an

art

of

quenching

all

desire

for

that

which

,

so

far

as

they

are

concerned

,

they

have

emptied

of

all

that

is

desirable

;

and

so

it

is

thought

to

be

rather

a

thing

of

human

planning

and

foresight

,

than

clearly

laid

down

by

divine

command

.

It

were

a

grievous

thing

,

forsooth

,

for

Christians

,

while

continuing

in

the

enjoyment

of

pleasures

so

great

,

to

die

for

God

!

It

is

not

as

they

say

;

though

,

if

it

were

,

even

Christian

obstinacy

might

well

give

all

submission

to

a

plan

so

suitable

,

to

a

rule

so

excellent

.

Contents

Notes

2
[He speaks of Catechumens, called elsewhere Novitioli. See Bunsen, Hippol. III. Church and House-book, p. 5.]
3
[Here he addresses the Fideles or Communicants, as we call them.]