§23Cum igitur humana recordatio etiam obstrepente gratia uoluptatis damnandos eos censeat ademtis bonis dignitatum in quendam scopulum famositatis, quanto magis diuina iustitia in eiusmodi artifices animaduertit? an deo placebit auriga ille tot animarum inquietator, tot furiarum minister, tot *** status, ut sacerdos coronatus uel coloratus ut leno, quem curru rapiendum diabolus aduersus Elian exornauit? placebit et ille, qui uoltus suos nouacula mutat, infidelis erga faciem suam, quam non contentus Saturno et Isidi et Libero proximam facere insuper contumeliis alaparum sic obicit, tamquam de praecepto domini ludat? docet scilicet et diabolus uerberandam maxillam patienter offerre.
Since, therefore, human reason, even with the pleasure of enjoyment clamoring against it, judges that they are to be condemned, having taken away the goods of dignity, onto a certain reef of infamy, how much more does divine justice punish such practitioners? Or will that charioteer please God, the disturber of so many souls, the minister of so many furies, the... of... status, like a crowned priest or colored like a pimp, whom, to be snatched away in his chariot, the devil has adorned against Elijah? Will he also please, who changes his features with a razor, unfaithful toward his own face, which, not content with making it close to Saturn, Isis, and Liber, he moreover exposes to the insults of slaps, as if he were playing by the command of the Lord? The devil, of course, also teaches to patiently offer the cheek to be beaten.
sic et tragoedos cothurnis extulit, quia nemo potest adicere cubitum unum ad staturam suam: mendacem facere uult Christum.
In this way he also raised tragic actors on cothurni, because no one can add one cubit to his stature: he wishes to make Christ a liar.
iam uero ipsum opus personarum quaero an deo placeat, qui omnem similitudinem uetat fieri, quanto magis imaginis suae? non amat falsum auctor ueritatis; adulterium est apud illum omne quod fingitur.
Now indeed, I ask whether the very production of masks pleases God, who forbids any likeness to be made, how much more that of His own image? The author of truth does not love what is false; with Him, everything that is feigned is adultery.
proinde uocem sexus aetates mentientem, amores iras gemitus lacrimas asseuerantem non probabit: omnem enim hypocrisin damnat.
Therefore, He will not approve a voice lying about sex and age, asserting loves, wraths, groans, and tears: for He condemns all hypocrisy.
ceterum cum in lege praescribit maledictum esse qui muliebribus uestietur, quid de pantomimo iudicabit, qui etiam muliebribus curuatur? sane et ille artifex pugnorum impunitus ibit.
Moreover, when in the Law He prescribes that he who is clothed in female garments is accursed, what will He judge of the pantomime, who is even bent into female shapes? To be sure, that practitioner of fists will also go unpunished!
tales enim cicatrices caestuum et callos pugnorum et aurium fungos a deo cum plasmaretur accepit;
For did he receive such scars of the caestus, and calluses of the fists, and swellings of the ears from God when he was formed?
ideo illi oculos deus commodauit, ut uapulando deficiant.
Was it for this that God lent him eyes, that they should fail by being beaten?
taceo de illo, qui hominem leoni prae se opponit, ne parum. sit homicida quam qui eundem postmodum iugulat. §24Quot adhuc modis probauimus, nihil ex his quae spectaculis deputantur placitum deo esse! at congruens seruo dei quod deo placitum non sit? si omnia propter diabolum institu ta et ex diaboli rebus instructa monstrauimus (nihil enim non diaboli est quicquid dei non est uel deo displicet), hoc erit pompa diaboli, aduersus quem in signaculo fidei eieramus.
I say nothing of him who opposes a man to a lion before him, lest he be less of a murderer than he who afterwards cuts his throat. In how many ways have we proved up to now that nothing of those things which are assigned to the spectacles is pleasing to God! But is that which is not pleasing to God fitting for a servant of God? If we have shown that all things were established on account of the devil and prepared from the devil's things (for there is nothing that is not the devil's, whatever is not God's or displeases God), this will be the pomp of the devil, against which we swore in the sign of faith.
quod autem eieramus, neque facto neque dicto neque uisu neque conspectu participare debemus.
And what we swore against, we ought not to participate in, neither by deed nor by word nor by sight nor by look.
ceterum sic nos eieramus et rescindimus signaculum rescindendo testationem eius.
Otherwise, we thus swear and rescind the sign by rescinding its testimony.
numquid ergo superest, ut ab ipsis ethnicis responsum flagitemus? illi nobis iam renuntient, an liceat Christianis spectaculo uti.
Is there then anything left but that we demand an answer from the pagans themselves? Let them now declare to us whether it is lawful for Christians to attend a spectacle.
atquin hinc uel maxime intelligunt factum Christianum, de repudio spectaculorum.
And yet from this indeed they especially understand that a Christian has been made, from the rejection of the spectacles.
itaque negat manifeste qu per quod agnoscitur tollit.
Therefore, he manifestly denies who removes that by which he is recognized.
quid autem spei superest in eiusmodi homine? nemo in castra hostium transit nisi proiectis armis suis, nisi destitutis signis et sacramentis principis sui, nisi pactus simul perire.
What hope, then, remains in such a man? No one crosses over to the camp of the enemies except by throwing away his arms, except by abandoning the standards and sacraments of his prince, except by agreeing to perish together.
§25An ille recogitabit eo tempore de deo positus illic ubi nihil est de deo? pacem, opinor, habebit in animo contendens pro auriga, pudicitiam ediscet attonitus in mimos.
Or will that man think of God at that time, being placed there where there is nothing of God? He will have peace in his mind, I suppose, while contending for a charioteer; he will learn modesty while astonished at the mimes.
immo in omni spectaculo nullum magis scandalum occurret quam ille ipse mulierum et uirorum accuratior cultus.
Nay, in every spectacle no scandal will occur more than that very careful attire of women and men.
ipsa consensio, ipsa in fauoribus aut conspiratio aut dissensio inter se de commercio scintillas libidinum conflabellant.
Their very agreement, their very conspiracy or disagreement in their favoritism among themselves fan the sparks of lust through association.
nemo denique in spectaculo ineundo prius cogitat nisi uideri et uidere.
In short, no one in entering a spectacle thinks of anything first except to be seen and to see.
sed tragoedo uociferante exclamationes ille alicuius prophetae retractabit et inter effeminati tibicines modos psalmum secum comminiscetur, et cum athletae agent, ille dicturus est repercutiendum non esse.
But while the tragic actor is crying out, will he reflect on the exclamations of some prophet? And amid the tunes of the effeminate flute-player, will he meditate on a psalm with himself? And when the athletes are competing, will he say that one must not strike back?
poterit ergo et de misericordia moneri defixus in morsus ursorum et spongias retiariorum.
Will he therefore be able to be admonished also about mercy, fixed upon the bites of bears and the sponges of the net-fighters?
auertat deus a suis tantam uoluptatis exitiosae cupiditatem! quale est enim de ecclesia dei in diaboli ecclesiam tendere, de caelo, quod aiunt, in caenum? illas manus quas ad deum extuleris postmodum laudando histrionem fatigare? ex ore, quo Amen in Sanctum protuleris, gladiatori testimonium reddere, εἰς αἰῶναςἀπ\' αἰῶνος alii omnino dicere nisi deo et Christo?
May God turn away from His own such a great desire for destructive pleasure! For what a thing it is to go from the church of God into the church of the devil, from heaven, as they say, into the mire! To weary those hands which you have raised to God, afterwards by applauding an actor? From the mouth with which you have uttered Amen to the Holy One, to return testimony to a gladiator? To say “εἰς αἰῶνας ἀπ' αἰῶνος” to any other at all except to God and Christ?