On the Shows 4

Lest anyone think we are quibbling, I will turn to the chief authority of our seal itself. When, entering the water, we profess the Christian faith in the words of its law, we testify with our own mouth that we have renounced the devil and his pomp and his angels. What will be the chief and principal thing in which the devil and his pomp and his angels are reckoned, if not idolatry? From it comes every unclean and wicked spirit, so to speak; I will not dwell on this any longer. So if it is established that the whole apparatus of the shows consists of idolatry, it will be settled beyond doubt that the testimony of our renunciation in the bath applies also to the shows, which are made over to the devil and his pomp and his angels, that is, through idolatry. We will recount the origins of each, in what cradles they grew up in the world; then the titles of some, by what names they are called; then their equipment, with what superstitions they are furnished; then the places, to what patrons they are dedicated; then the arts, to what authors they are ascribed. If any of these proves not to have been connected with an idol, it will concern neither idolatry nor our renunciation.