Opening the library…

Home Bible Corpus Discover You

Search the Bible

The Shows, or De Spectaculis

Tertullian

Chapter 13

About this work

Author: Tertullian

We have, I think, faithfully carried out our plan

‹ Chapter 12 Chapter 14 ›

of

showing

in

how

many

different

ways

the

sin

of

idolatry

clings

to

the

shows

,

in

respect

of

their

origins

,

their

titles

,

their

equipments

,

their

places

of

celebration

,

their

arts

;

and

we

may

hold

it

as

a

thing

beyond

all

doubt

,

that

for

us

who

have

twice

renounced

all

idols

,

they

are

utterly

unsuitable

.

“

Not

that

an

idol

is

anything

,

”

as

the

apostle

says

,

but

that

the

homage

they

render

is

to

demons

,

who

are

the

real

occupants

of

these

consecrated

images

,

whether

of

dead

men

or

(

as

they

think

)

of

gods

.

On

this

account

,

therefore

,

because

they

have

a

common

source

—

for

their

dead

and

their

deities

are

one

—

we

abstain

from

both

idolatries

.

Nor

do

we

dislike

the

temples

less

than

the

monuments

:

we

have

nothing

to

do

with

either

altar

,

we

adore

neither

image

;

we

do

not

offer

sacrifices

to

the

gods

,

and

we

make

no

funeral

oblations

to

the

departed

;

nay

,

we

do

not

partake

of

what

is

offered

either

in

the

one

case

or

the

other

,

for

we

cannot

partake

of

God’s

feast

and

the

feast

of

devils

.

If

,

then

,

we

keep

throat

and

belly

free

from

such

defilements

,

how

much

more

do

we

withhold

our

nobler

parts

,

our

ears

and

eyes

,

from

the

idolatrous

and

funereal

enjoyments

,

which

are

not

passed

through

the

body

,

but

are

digested

in

the

very

spirit

and

soul

,

whose

purity

,

much

more

than

that

of

our

bodily

organs

,

God

has

a

right

to

claim

from

us

.

Notes

1
[Bunsen, Hippol. Vol. III. pp. 20–22.]
2
1 Cor. viii. 4.
3
1 Cor. x. 21.