Why Novatian writes: affection and warning

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Novatian opens his treatise by explaining to his Christian readers why he is writing to them about public shows.

It saddens me deeply and weighs heavily on my heart whenever no opportunity to write to you presents itself, for it is my loss not to speak with you. So too, nothing restores such joy and cheer to me as when the opportunity comes again. I consider myself with you when I speak to you through letters. Although I know you are certain that what I say is true and do not doubt the truth of my words at all, still the very fact of my writing proves the sincerity of the matter: for no opportunity is ever passed over, and so my affection is demonstrated. Though I am sure you are no less serious in the conduct of your lives than you are faithful in the sacrament, still, since there is no lack of bland and indulgent patrons who lend authority to vices and, what is worse, turn the censure of the heavenly Scriptures into a defense of crimes—as if the pleasure of public shows were sought without fault or guilt for relaxation of the mind. For the vigor of church discipline has been so weakened and is so cast down headlong by every languor of vice, worse and worse, that vices are no longer given an excuse but an authority. So it has pleased a few not to instruct you now, but to admonish you who are already instructed, lest wounds that have been badly bound burst through the scar of healing. For no evil is more difficult to extinguish than one that has easy returns, while it is both asserted by the consensus of the crowd and flattered by excuse.

Latin

Vt me satis contristat et animum nostrum grauiter affligit cum nulla mihi scribendi ad uos porrigitur occasio, detrimentum est enim meum uobiscum non colloqui, ita nihil mihi tantam laetitiam hilaritatemque restituit quam cum adest rursus occasio. uobiscum me esse arbitror, cum uobis per litteras loquor. quamquam igitur ita se haec habere quae dico certos uos esse sciam nec quicquam de uerborum meorum ueritate dubitare, tamen etiam argumentum sinceritatem rei asserit: namcam nulla prorsus praeteritur occasio, probatur affectio, quamuis ergo certus sim uos non minus esse in uitae actu graues quam in sacramento fideles: tamen, quoniam non desunt uitiorum assertores blandi et indulgentes patroni qui praestant uitiis auctoritatem et quod est deterius censuram scripturarum caelestium in aduocationem criminum conuertunt, quasi sine culpa innocens spectaculorum ad remissionem animi appetatur uoluptas – nam et eo usque eneruatus est ecclesiasticae disciplinae uigor et ita omni langore uitiorum praecipitatur peius ut non iam uitiis excusatio sed auctoritas detur — placuit paucis uos non nunc instruere, sed instructos admonere, ne quia male sunt uincta uulnera sanitatis obductae perrumpant cicatricem. nullum enim malum difficilius extinguitur quam quod faciles reditus habet, dum et multitudinis consensu asseritur et excusatione blanditur.

About this text

Novatian warns Christians who quote Scripture to defend going to the public games and shows.

Novatian (fl. c. 250) was a Roman presbyter and Christian teacher who wrote this treatise to the faithful, whom he addresses as brothers. He composed it because some Christians were defending attendance at public spectacles by appealing to Scripture, and he feared that wounds poorly bound might break open again. His aim was to admonish those already instructed rather than to teach them anew.

The occasion is a dispute within the Christian community. Some believers argued that Scripture does not forbid the circus, theater, and athletic contests, and they cited examples such as Elijah, David, and an unnamed apostle whose athletic imagery matches Paul's epistles. Novatian quotes these opponents directly and refutes their appeals, showing that the biblical examples were written to stir virtue, not to permit spectacles. He also names Romulus, who first consecrated circus games to the god Consus, and Ceres and Liber, to whom stage plays were dedicated.

A reader should know that public shows means the circus games, stage plays, and athletic contests of the Roman world, all of which Novatian traces to idolatry and the devil. He argues that even apart from idolatry these shows are marked by vanity and immodesty, and that Christians have better spectacles in God's creation and in Scripture. The treatise cites Old Testament figures such as Elijah, David, and Daniel without formal book citations, and it alludes to the apostle's athletic imagery in the epistles. The term Eucharist refers to the consecrated body of Christ, which in Novatian's time a believer might carry home from church.

New English from the Latin base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from CSEL 3.3 (1871) (Latin)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.