Salvian, On the Government of God (1930) pp.157-188. Book 6
Book VI. : On the ruinous influence of circuses and spectacles
[Translated by Eva M. Sanford]
THE SIXTH BOOK
1. I have been dealing with personalities for a long time now, and seem to have exceeded the rules of argument. For undoubtedly the reader (if anyone for Christ's sake does read these words written from love of Christ) is thinking or saying of me: "Since the subject he is pursuing is a general one, of what use is it to heap up so many accusations against a single person? Suppose ---- for it is credible ---- that the man of whom he speaks is as he describes him; still how can one man's goodness be blocked by another's guilt, or ---- a point of much greater importance ---- how is the general cause injured by one individual's crime?"
The injury indeed I can prove by clear examples. For instance, Achar once stole a part of an accursed thing, and the trespass of one man was the ruin of all. David ordered the children of Israel to be numbered, and the Lord punished his fault by the destruction of the whole people. Rapsaces spoke scornfully of God, and God smote a hundred and eighty-five thousand men because the froward tongue of one profane man spoke evil of him. Hence it was not without justice that the blessed apostle Paul ordered a noxious sinner cast out of the church and showed why he gave this order, saying: "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." From this we clearly see that even one evil man very often works the destruction of many. Nor is this without justice. The reader should recognize that what I said above concerning one wicked man is not beside the point, since we read in the Scriptures that the wrath of the Divine Majesty has very frequently been kindled on account of |158 one man's guilt. But my argument is not limited by this consideration, for we do not need to assume that one man blocks the way of all, since all are blocking each other; it is not fitting to consider that all are imperilled by one, since they are all imperilled by their own actions. For all men are rushing headlong into destruction, or at least, to put it somewhat more mildly, almost all. Where can the Christian people find such good fortune that the number of evildoers may be less than the number of the good, or failing that, be merely equivalent to it? How lamentable and grievous is our present wretchedness! How changed is the Christian people now from its former character! Of old, Peter, the chief of the apostles, punished with death the falsehood of Ananias and Sapphira. The most blessed Paul also expelled one wicked man from the church, that he might not infect a great number by his presence. But we are content to have an equal number of good and evil men. Why should I say we are content? We ought rather to exult and dance for joy, if we could achieve such an equal balance. See to what depths we have fallen, to what state we have been reduced after that glorious purity of the Christian people which kept them all unspotted, for now we think that the church would be happy if it contained even as much good as evil. How could we fail to consider it blessed if half its members were guiltless, since now we lament that they are almost all guilty?
Since this is the case, it was useless, useless indeed, to speak so long of one evil man, useless to weep for one man's crimes, since all or almost all require our tears and lamentations. There are many who are of this sort or who wish to be so, which is no less incriminating, and who strive by their zeal for evil to seem guilty of the charge. On this account, even if their lesser capacity accomplishes less evil, they are themselves as wicked as the rest, for it is |159 their lack of ability and not their will that prevents them. Their hopes alone are within their own control, and in these they are criminals; they yield to none in their desire for wrongdoing, and in this, as far as their means permit, they strive to excel. Different though the two cases are, their rivalry is like that of good men, for as the good desire to outdo all others in honorable aims, so the evil yearn to surpass in depravity. As the glory of good men is to grow daily better, even so the glory of the wicked is to become worse; and as the best wish to reach the height of all virtues, so the worst hope to claim the palm in all vices. To our misfortune this is particularly characteristic of us, the Christians, since, as I have already said, we think wickedness is wisdom. Of these God spoke particularly: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." When the apostle cried, "if any man seemeth to be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise," he meant that if a man wishes to be wise, he should be good, for no one is truly wise unless he is truly good. We, on the contrary, through the viciousness of our perverse spirits and our "reprobate minds" ---- to use the scriptural phrase ----reject goodness in favor of folly. Loving corruption more than wisdom, we think we become daily wiser in proportion as our depravity increases.
2. Yet what hope of betterment is there in us, I ask, who are not led into evil by mistaken opinion, but strive with all the eagerness of our perverted natures to appear constantly worse and worse? This is the reason why I have long lamented that we are much worse than the barbarians, for ignorance of the law excuses them, whereas our knowledge of it accuses us. They prefer the evil to the good through inexperience of the truth, because they do not know what things are good; we, by our knowledge of the truth, know very |160 well what things are good, [but consider them inferior to the evil in many] ways.
In the first place, there is almost no crime or vice that does not accompany the games. In these the greatest pleasure is to have men die, or, what is worse and more cruel than death, to have them torn in pieces, to have the bellies of wild beasts gorged with human flesh; to have men eaten, to the great joy of the bystanders and the delight of onlookers, so that the victims seem devoured almost as much by the eyes of the audience as by the teeth of beasts. That such things may take place the whole world is ransacked; great is the care with which the search is carried on and perfected. Hidden retreats are entered, pathless ravines are searched, impenetrable forests traversed, the cloud-bearing Alps are climbed, the depths of valleys plumbed, and in order that the flesh of men may be devoured by wild beasts, the last secrets of the world of nature are revealed.
My opponents object that this is not done all the time. True, |161 and a glorious excuse it is for wrongdoing, that it is not constantly carried on ---- as if any time were appropriate for actions that injure God! Are evil deeds well done because they are not done incessantly? Even murderers are not always employed in murder, but they are still murderers when they are not actually killing, for their hands are at all times stained with bloodshed. Bobbers do not steal all the time, but they do not cease to be robbers, for when they are not engaged in theft, their minds are occupied with it. Certainly men who take pleasure in the animal fights of the arena are by no means free from the guilt involved in such spectacles, even when they are not actually looking at them. Would they not enjoy watching them always if they could?
Nor is this the only possible example of our sins, but there are still greater ones. For instance, do not the consuls even now have hens fed after the custom of the sacrilegious pagans? Are not auguries still sought from the flight of birds, and almost all those superstitions kept up which even pagan writers of old thought laughable? Now when the very men who give their names to the years and with whose office the years themselves begin do such things, are we to believe that years begun under these auspices can continue their course propitiously? I wish that these actions might pollute only the consuls who are responsible for them. But the situation is the more desperate because while such things are done with the public consent, the honor of a very limited number becomes the guilt of all, and so, although only two men are inaugurated in any given year, scarcely any one in the whole world escapes infection. |162
3. Let this much suffice about the games, seeing that they are, as you say, not performed all the time. We shall speak, instead, of everyday obscenities. These the hosts of demons have contrived of such a sort and so innumerable that even honest and upright hearts, though they can scorn and tread down some among them, yet can scarcely find a way to overcome them all completely. Armies about to engage in battle are said either to intersect with pitfalls the places through which they expect the troops of the enemy to march, or plant them with stakes, or fill them with caltrops, so that even if some of their snares fail to entrap a victim, none of the enemy can fail to be caught. In like manner the demons have prepared so many treacherous lures in this life for the human race that even though one escapes many of them, he is finally caught by one or another.
And since indeed it would take too long to tell of all these snares, that is, the amphitheaters, the concert halls, games, parades, athletes, rope dancers, pantomimes and other monstrosities of which one is ashamed to speak, since it is shameful even to know of such wickedness, I shall describe only the vices of the circuses and theaters. For the evils that are performed in these are such that no one can mention them, or even think of them without being polluted. Other vices as a rule claim only some one portion of our being; for instance, base thoughts affect the mind only, immodest glances the eyes, shameful sounds the ears, so that when any one of these has gone astray, the rest can still be free from wrongdoing. But in the theaters no part of our bodies is free from guilt, for our minds are polluted by evil desires, our ears by hearing and our eyes by what they see, and all these are so disgraceful that a man cannot even describe them without loss of decency.
Who without injuring his modesty can tell of those representations of base acts, those obscenities of words and voice, those |163 disgraceful motions and foul gestures? The very fact that they forbid description shows what great sin there is in all these. Some of the very greatest crimes can be named and discussed without injury to the character of the speaker, as homicide, robbery, adultery, sacrilege and so forth; it is only the vice of the theaters that cannot even be attacked without loss of modesty. So in arraigning these vile and disgraceful abuses the prosecutor has a strange experience, in that, although the honesty of the would-be accuser is unquestioned, he cannot without prejudice to his honor relate or attack them. All other evils pollute those who perform them, not those who merely see or hear them. You may, for instance, hear a man blaspheme, but since your mind disapproves of his sacrilege you are not polluted by it. Or if you happen to be present during a robbery, you are not denied by the act, inasmuch as it is abhorrent to your principles. The indecencies of the spectacles alone involve actors and audience in substantially the same guilt. For all those who approve such performances and take pleasure in seeing them perform them through the medium of their sight and approval. To such men the words of the apostle apply with a peculiar force, since not only "they which commit such things are worthy of death" but also "those who have pleasure in them that do them."
Therefore in these pictures of vice the whole people commits fornication mentally, and any who happen to come to the spectacle chaste go home from it adulterers. They are guilty of this fornication not only when they go home, but also when they come to the theater, for the very desire of the obscene makes a man unchaste who is hurrying toward an impure spectacle.
4. You see then in what actions all or the majority of Romans participate. None the less, we who do such things say we are forsaken by God, though we ourselves are forsaking him. Let us suppose that our Lord would like to watch us even though we do not deserve it: can he do so? See countless thousands of Christians daily |164 spending their time at shows representing shameful acts. Can God look at them at such a time? Can God watch over men who are revelling in the circuses and wantoning in the theaters? Or do we perhaps think it fitting and desirable that when God sees us in the circuses and theaters, he should see with us what we ourselves see there, and look with us at the disgraceful sights at which we gaze? One of two things must happen; either, if he deigns to look on us, he must also see our surroundings, or if he averts his eyes from them, which he surely does, then he must avert them equally from us, who are among them.
In spite of this, without interruption we continue to do those thing's of which I speak. Do we perhaps suppose that, like the ancient pagans, we have a god of theaters and circuses? For they built the theaters and circuses long ago because they believed that such vanities were a delight to their idols. How can we imitate them in this, who surely know that our God hates such things? Of course, if we know that these vile shows please God, there can be no objection to our performing them incessantly. But if in our hearts we know that God abhors and abominates them, that as they are the devil's food so are they also a cause of offence to God, then how can we say that we worship God in the church, we who always serve the devil in the obscene games with full knowledge and understanding and with deliberate intention? What hope, I ask, shall we have before God, who injure him not by chance or by ignorance, but after the manner of those old giants of whom we read that they attempted to scale the heavens in their mad ambition and climbed, as it were, into the clouds? So we, by the injuries that we constantly inflict on God throughout the world, as if by common consent, are making war on heaven.
Therefore we offer up to Christ ---- O monstrous folly! ---- to Christ we offer up circuses and mimes, and we do this chiefly when we receive some benefit from him, when some mark of prosperity is |165 granted us by him, or a victory over the enemy is bestowed on us by his divine favor! How do we seem in this to differ from a man who injures a generous benefactor, or responds to endearments with cutting abuse, or pierces with his dagger the lips that seek to kiss him? I ask all the rich and powerful men of this world, what punishment they think fitting for a slave who plots evil against a good and loving master, who quarrels with a master who deserves only good of him, and returns only foul words for the liberty that he has received. Undoubtedly he is guilty of the greatest wrongdoing who returns evil for good, when he should not even feel free to return evil for evil. But this is what we do who are called Christians: we arouse a merciful God against us by our licentious acts, we insult him by our filthy deeds when he is propitious, we lash him with abusive words when he speaks gently to us.
5. To Christ then ---- O monstrous folly ! ---- we offer circuses and mimes, to Christ in return for his benefits, we offer the obscenities of the theaters, to Christ we dedicate the vilest shows as sacrificial offerings. Was this the teaching given us by the Savior, incarnate for our sake? Was this his preaching, or that of his apostles? For this did he endure the humiliation of human nativity and take upon himself a shameful origin in his mortal birth? For this he lay in a manger, whom angels served as he lay there. For this he willed to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, and wearing them ruled heaven; for this he hung upon the cross, whom the world feared as he hung there. "Who though he was rich," the apostle said, "yet for your sakes became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich." "And being in the form of God," I quote farther, "he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross." These then are the precepts that Christ gave us at the time of his passion. A glorious return we are making for his suffering, who, having received redemption by his death, offer him in return |166 most disgraceful lives! The blessed Paul said: "For the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a people worthy of acceptance, zealous of good works.
Where are men who do those things for which the apostle says Christ came? Where are those who flee from worldly lusts? Where are those who live righteous and godly lives, who show in their good works that they hold the blessed hope, and by living immaculate lives prove that they await the kingdom of God, since they deserve to receive it? "The Lord Jesus Christ," Paul said, "came to purify unto himself a people worthy of acceptance, zealous of good works." Where is that pure people, that acceptable people, that people of good works, that people of righteousness? "Christ," the Scripture says, "suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps." So we follow the Savior's steps in the circuses; we follow the Savior's steps in the theaters. Is this the example Christ left for us? We read that he wept, not that he laughed. In both he gave us an example, for weeping is the remorse of the heart, laughter the corruption of uprightness. For this reason he said: "Woe unto you that laugh now; for ye shall weep;" and again: "Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh." But we do not think it enough to laugh and rejoice, unless we rejoice in sin and madness, unless our laughter is mixed with impure and disgraceful actions.
6. Who can describe this delusion of ours, this folly? Are we really unable to enjoy ourselves day by day, and to laugh, without turning our laughter and joy into crime? or do we perhaps |167 consider wholesome enjoyment profitless and find no pleasure in innocent laughter? What wickedness is this, I ask, and what insanity? Let us laugh indeed, let us rejoice unstintedly, and as constantly as you please, if only we do so innocently. What folly and madness it is for us to think laughter and joy worthless unless they involve injury to God! Injury indeed, and a very great one. The spectacles involve a sort of apostasy from the faith, a fatal violation of the creed itself and of the divine sacraments. For what is the first confession of faith made by Christians in baptism for their salvation? What else than their vow to renounce the devil and his pomps and spectacles and his works? So in the very words of our profession of faith spectacles and pomps are the works of the devilHow then, O Christian, shall you after baptism seek the spectacles, which you confess are the work of the devil? You have once renounced the devil and his spectacles, and therefore as a rational and intelligent being must recognize that in resorting again to them, you are returning to the devil. For you have renounced them both at the same time and declared them to be one and the same. If you return to one, you return to them both. For your words were: "I renounce the devil, his pomps and spectacles and his works." What follows in your baptismal vows? "I believe in |168 God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ his Son." First then, you renounced the devil that you might believe in God, for he who does not renounce the devil does not believe in God and therefore he who returns to the devil forsakes God.
Furthermore, the devil is present in his spectacles and pomps, and therefore when we return to the devil's spectacles, we abandon our Christian faith. Thus all the sacraments of our belief are broken, and all that follows in the creed is shaken and totters ; for nothing that follows remains intact if the chief clause has fallen. Tell me then, you who are a Christian, how you think you are keeping the latter portions of the creed, whose first clauses you have abandoned? The limbs without the head are worth nothing, and everything depends on its own first principles; these surely, if they perish, will drag all the rest down with them to destruction. If the main stock is removed, the other parts either cease to exist or if they continue are useless, for without its head nothing can subsist.
If any one thinks the wickedness of the spectacles a trivial matter, let him consider well all that I have said, and he will see that in them is not pleasure but death. For what else is it but death, to have lost the source of life? When the foundations of our creed are overthrown, life itself is strangled.
7. I must return again to my oft-repeated contention, what have the barbarians like this? Where in their lands are circuses, where are theaters, where those other wicked vices that are the ruin of our hope and salvation? Even if they had such things, being pagans, their error would involve less offence to what is sacred, and less guilt, for though such sights as these are impure, still they would not involve violation of a sacrament.
But as for us, how can we answer in our own behalf? We hold the creed and overthrow it. We are equally ready to confess the |169 gift of salvation and to deny it. Where then is our Christianity, when we only receive the sacrament of salvation to the end that falling from grace we may thereafter sin more grievously than before? We prefer vain shows to God's churches, we scorn his altars and honor the theaters. To conclude, we love and honor everything else; only God, in contrast with worldly pleasures, is vile in our sight.