Early Christian Beliefs About the Gymnasium and Pagan Culture

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

Stay away from all pagan books. What do you have to do with such foreign teachings, laws, or false prophets that overthrow the faith of unstable people? What lack do you find in the law of God, that you should turn to those pagan fables? If you want to read history, you have the books of the Kings. If you want books of wisdom or poetry, you have the books of the Prophets, Job, and Proverbs. In them you will find greater depth of understanding than in all the pagan poets and sophists, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise God. If you want something to sing, you have the Psalms. If you want the origin of things, you have Genesis. If you want laws and statutes, you have the glorious law of the Lord God. Therefore, completely stay away from all strange and diabolical books. No, when you read the law, do not think that you are required to keep the added precepts, if not all of them, then even some of them. Read those only for the sake of history, so that you may know them and glorify God that He has delivered you from so great and so many bonds. Aim to distinguish which rules came from the law of nature, and which were added afterward, or were additional rules introduce

Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

...ince, you men of Greece, the matters of the true religion don't lie in the poetic forms, nor in the culture which is highly valued among you, pay less attention to the exactness of poetry and language; and listen without arguing to the words of the Sibyl. Recognize the great benefits she will provide by clearly predicting the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. He, being the Word of God and inseparable from Him in power, took on man, who was made in the image and likeness of God, and restored the knowledge of the religion of our ancient forefathers, which people abandoned through the deceitful advice of the envious devil, turning to the worship of those who were not gods. And if you still hesitate and are stopped from believing regarding the creation of man, believe those you previously thought right to listen to, and know that your own oracle, when asked to praise the Almighty God, in the middle of the hymn said, “Who formed the first of men, and called him Adam.” This hymn is kept by many we know, for the conviction of those unwilling to believe the truth which everyone bears witness to. If therefore, you men of Greece, you do not value the false ideas about those that are not

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...dens himself, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen man and a tax collector, Matthew 18:17, and no longer receive him into the church as a Christian, but reject him as a heathen. But if he is willing to repent, receive him. For the church does not receive a heathen or a tax collector to communion until each one repents of his former impieties. For our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, has appointed a place for the acceptance of people upon their repentance.

1 Corinthians 10:20 Direct teaching

No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.

1 Corinthians 12:2 Direct teaching

You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

1 Peter 4:3 Supporting witness

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

Titus 2:12 Supporting witness

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

Ephesians 4:17 Supporting witness

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.

Tertullian, De Spectaculis (On the Shows) Direct teaching

...wn to many among us. So our inquiry must go back to ancient times, and our sources must be books of pagan literature. Several writers still exist who have published works on this subject. According to them, the origin of the games is as follows. Timaeus tells us that settlers from Asia, led by Tyrrhenus, were defeated by his brother in a struggle over his native kingdom and then settled in Etruria. There, among other superstitious practices carried out under the name of religion, they established public shows in their new land. The Romans, at their own request, got from them skilled performers, the proper times for the shows, and even the name itself, for it is said that they are called Ludi from the Lydians. Although Varro derives the name Ludi from Ludus, that is, from play, because they also called the Luperci Ludii since they ran about in sport, still, in his view, that sport of young men belonged to feast days and temples and to objects of religious reverence. However, the origin of the name matters little, when it is certain that the thing itself comes from idolatry. The Liberalia, under the general name of Ludi, plainly proclaimed the glory of Father Bacchus. These festiv

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

What else is found in the Circus games except foolishness, emptiness, and madness? People's souls are swept away into wild excitement, with as much force as the chariot races themselves are driven there. So those who come to watch the show become even more of a show themselves, when they begin to shout, lose control with excitement, and jump up from their seats. Therefore, all shows ought to be avoided. This is not only so that no vice may take root in our hearts, which ought to be calm and peaceful, but also so that the regular enjoyment of any pleasure may not soften and capture us, and turn us away from God and from good works. For the celebration of the games is a festival in honor of the gods, since they were established because of their birthdays or the dedication of new temples. At first, the hunts, which are called shows, were held in honor of Saturnus, and the stage games in honor of Liber, but the Circus games in honor of Neptune. Little by little, however, the same honor began to be given to the other gods also, and separate games were dedicated to their names, as Sisinnius Capito teaches in his book on the games. Therefore, if anyone is present at the shows where people

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...gin in connection with sacred things, and condemn their mischievous enticements. For in the chariot games who does not shudder at the madness of the people brawling among themselves? Or at the teaching of murder in the gladiatorial games? In the scenic games also the madness is not less, but the debauchery is more prolonged. For now a mimic either expounds or shows forth adulteries; now a nerveless player, while he feigns lust, suggests it. The same actor disgraces your gods by attributing to them adulteries, sighs, and hatreds. The same actor provokes your tears with pretended sufferings, with vain gestures and expressions. Thus you demand murder in fact, while you weep at it in fiction.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

...tor shows, so that we do not become partners in or supporters of murder. Nor may we watch the other spectacles either, so that our eyes and ears are not defiled by taking part in the songs and words sung there. For if anyone wants to speak of cannibalism, in those spectacles the children of Thyestes and Tereus are eaten. And as for adultery, both among men and among the gods, whom they praise in polished language for honor and prizes, this is made the subject of their dramas. But far be it from Christians even to imagine such deeds. Among them, temperance lives, self-control is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is protected, wickedness is destroyed, sin is rooted out, righteousness is practiced, law is administered, worship is performed, and God is acknowledged. Truth rules, grace guards, peace protects them, the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, life leads, and God reigns. Therefore, although we have much to say about our way of life and the commands of God, the maker of all creation, we think that for now we have reminded you enough to lead you to examine these things, especially since you can now read our writings for yourself. So, as you have been eager to gain knowl

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...e performance of shows is a festival of Saturnus. The stage belongs to Father Liber. The Circensian games are thought to be dedicated to Neptunus. So now, anyone who takes part in these shows seems to have left the worship of God and crossed over to profane rites. But I prefer to speak about the thing itself rather than its origin. What is so terrible, what is so filthy, as the killing of a human being? That is why our life is protected by the strictest laws. That is why wars are hateful. Yet custom has found a way for a man to commit murder without war and without laws. And this becomes a pleasure to him, because he thinks he has punished guilt. But if being present at a killing means sharing in the guilt, and the spectator is involved in the same guilt as the one who did it, then in these slaughters of gladiators, the spectator is no less stained with blood than the one who sheds it. Nor can the person be free from the guilt of bloodshed if he wanted the blood to be poured out. Nor can the person seem not to have killed, if he both supported the killer and asked for a reward for him. What about the stage? Is it any more holy? On it, comedy speaks about sexual sins and love aff

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

But what reason is there for the games you celebrate, called the Floralia and Megalensia, and all the rest that you want to be sacred and counted as religious duties? What cause was there that made it necessary for them to be established, founded, and named after gods? “The gods are honored by these,” your opponent says. “And if they remember any offenses committed by men, they put that aside, get rid of it, and show themselves gracious to us again, with their friendship renewed.” And again, why do they become completely calm and gentle if foolish things are done, and idle men perform before the eyes of the crowd? Does Jupiter put away his anger if Plautus’s Amphitryon is acted and recited? Or if Europa, Leda, Ganymede, or Danae is shown in dancing, does he hold back his passionate desires? Is the Great Mother made calmer and gentler if she sees the old story of Attis dressed up again by the actors? Will Venus forget her displeasure if she sees mimes perform the part of Adonis also in a ballet? Does the anger of Aleides die away if the tragedy of Sophocles called Trachiniae, or the Hercules of Euripides, is performed? Or does Flora think she is being honored if, at her games, she s

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Supporting witness

At Nemea, another person was buried, a little boy named Archemorus. The funeral games for that child are called the Nemean games. Pisa is the grave of the Phrygian charioteer, O Greeks of every tribe. And the Olympian games, which are nothing more than funeral sacrifices for Pelops, are claimed by the Zeus of Phidias as his own. The mysteries also were, most likely, games held in honor of the dead. The same was true of the oracles, and both became public. But the mysteries at Sagra and at Alimus in Attica were limited to Athens. But those contests and phalloi dedicated to Dionysus were a shame to the whole world, spreading their deadly influence through life. For Dionysus, eagerly wanting to go down to Hades, did not know the way. A man named Prosymnus offered to tell him, but not without a reward. The reward was disgraceful, though Dionysus did not think so. What Prosymnus asked from Dionysus as his payment was a sexual favor. The god was not unwilling to grant the request. He promised to fulfill it if he returned, and he confirmed his promise with an oath. After learning the way, he left and then came back again. But he did not find Prosymnus, because he had died. In order to car

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...olor to the circus, no one will think it worth watching, because all the pleasure of the Circensian games would be taken away. For the one who first established the games favored one color, but he introduced another as its rival, so that there might be a contest and some partisanship in the spectacle. In the same way, when God established what was good and gave virtue, He also appointed their opposites, so that they might struggle against them. If there is no enemy and no battle, there is no victory. Take away the contest, and virtue itself is nothing. How many contests there are among men, and with how many different skills they are carried on! Yet no one would be considered outstanding in bravery, speed, or excellence if he had no opponent against whom he could compete. And where there is no victory, there also glory and the reward of victory must be absent along with it. Therefore, so that He might strengthen virtue itself by constant exercise and make it complete through its conflict with evils, He gave both together, because each of the two cannot keep its force without the other. Therefore there is diversity, and on this the whole system of truth depends.

Tertullian, De Spectaculis (On the Shows) Supporting witness

To the testimony of antiquity is added that of later games instituted in their turn, and betraying their origin from the titles which they bear even at the present day, in which it is imprinted as on their very face, for what idol and for what religious object games, whether of the one kind or the other, were designed.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Supporting witness

and to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another.

Tertullian, De Spectaculis (On the Shows) Background

In addition to this, Romulus instituted games in honor of Jupiter Feretrius on the Tarpeian Hill, according to the statement Piso has handed down to us, called both Tarpeian and Capitoline.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

For the celebrations of the games are festivals in honour of the gods, inasmuch as they were instituted on account of their birthdays, or the dedication of new temples.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

As for your laughing at me and calling me a Christian, you do not know what you are saying. First, what is anointed is pleasant and useful, and far from being something to despise. What ship can be useful and seaworthy unless it is first caulked, that is, anointed? What fortress or house is beautiful and useful when it has not been anointed? And what person, when entering this life or going into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? What work has any decoration or beauty unless it is anointed and polished? Even the air and everything under heaven is, in a certain way, anointed by light and spirit. So are you unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God? Therefore we are called Christians for this reason: because we are anointed with the oil of God.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...d so destroy the nutriment. But stretching oneself on even couches, which provide a kind of natural gymnasium for sleep, helps the digestion of food. And those who can roll on other beds, having this, as it were, for a natural gymnasium for sleep, digest food more easily and make themselves fitter for emergencies. Moreover, couches with silver feet show great ostentation. And ivory on beds, taken from a body after the soul has departed, is not permissible for holy men, being a lazy contrivance for rest.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

The gymnasium is sufficient for boys, even if a bath is within reach.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

And even for men to prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths, is perchance not bad, since they are in some respects conducive to the health of young men, and produce exertion — emulation to aim at not only a healthy habit of body, but courageousness of soul.

4 Maccabees 4:20 Background

So that he not only erected a gymnasium on the very citadel of our country, but neglected the guardianship of the temple.

Ecclesiastes 4:14 Background

that the priests had no courage to serve anymore at the altar, but despising the temple, and neglecting the sacrifices, hastened to be partakers of the unlawful allowance in the place of exercise, after the game of Discus called them forth;

1 Maccabees 1:14 Background

whereupon they built a place of exercise at Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen:

2 Maccabees 4:12 Background

for he built gladly a place of exercise under the tower itself, and brought the chief young men under his subjection, and made them wear a hat.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 Background

for he built gladly a place of exercise under the tower itself, and brought the chief young men under his subjection, and made them wear a hat.