On the Shows 13
Summary: Since the shows are idolatrous, Christians must abstain from them, keeping their eyes and ears as clean as they keep their mouths from food offered to idols.
Latin text · CSEL 20:15–16
Satis, opinor, impleuimus ordinem, quot et quibus modis spectacula idololatrian committant, de originibus, de titulis, de apparatibus, de locis, de artificiis, quo certi simus nulla ex parte competere nobis ea, qui bis idolis renuntiamus. non quod idolum sit aliquid, ut apostolus ait, sed quoniam quae faciunt daemoniis faciunt consistentibus scilicet in consecrationibus idolorum, siue mortuorum siue, ut putant, deorum. propterea igitur, quoniam utraque species idolorum condicionis unius est, dum mortui et dei unum sunt, utraque idololatria abstinemus. nec minus templa quam monumenta despuimus, neutram aram nouimus, neutram effigiem adoramus, non sacrificamus, non parentamus. sed neque de sacrificio et parentato edimus, quia non possumus cenam dei edere et cenam daemoniorum. si ergo gulam et uentrem ab inquinamentis liberamus, quanto magis augustiora nostra, et aures et oculos, ab idolothytis et necrothytis uoluptatibus abstinemus, quae non intestinis transiguntur, sed in ipso spiritu et anima digeruntur, quorum munditia magis ad deum pertinet quam intestinorum.
English · Claude translation
We have, I think, filled out the plan sufficiently, showing in how many ways and by what means the shows commit idolatry: by their origins, titles, equipment, places, and arts; so that we may be certain that in no respect do they befit us, who twice over renounce idols. Not that an idol is anything, as the apostle says, but because what they do, they do to demons, who dwell, that is, in the consecrations of idols, whether of the dead or, as they think, of gods. For this reason, then, since both kinds of idols are of one condition, the dead and the gods being one, we abstain from both idolatries. We spit on temples no less than on tombs; we know neither kind of altar, we adore neither kind of image; we do not sacrifice, we do not make offerings to the dead. Nor do we eat of what is sacrificed or offered to the dead, because we cannot eat the supper of God and the supper of demons. If, then, we keep our throat and belly free from defilements, how much more do we keep our nobler parts, our ears and eyes, from the pleasures offered to idols and to the dead, which are not digested by the intestines but in the spirit and soul itself, whose cleanness matters more to God than that of the intestines.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The apostle is Paul: “an idol is nothing” (1 Cor 8:4) and “you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor 10:20–21). The reading bis (“twice over”) is as printed; its reference is uncertain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misread letter in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text): tin consecrationibus → in consecrationibus; sine mortuorum → siue mortuorum.
Cite this passage
Tertullian, Spect. 13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-spectaculis/13/).
Plain text
Tertullian, Spect. 13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-spectaculis/13/).
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