St. Augustine “Don’t Watch Plays”

[Nburt0]

For anyone familiar with St. Augustine -

Augustine warns against the Roman plays because they are obscene and offend God. However, and this is what my question pertains to, he warns against watching plays because one starts to sympathize with the actors; an audience member starts to move his affections towards imaginary characters, which St. Augustine condemns.

Can anyone show me where Augustine discusses this, and can you explain it as well?

 

[Dan_Defender]

I don’t have the details but I believe he wrote this in his book ‘Confessions’. The main point was that the theater brought false emotions to the audience. Because emotions were stirred in the audience, people were more likely to believe in the pagan Roman religion.

 

[DaveBj]

I’m still plowing my way thru the 37-volume collection of the Church Fathers, and it wasn’t just St. Augustine. If any Father mentioned the theater at all in his writings, it was in strongly negative terms. They felt the same about horse racing (NASCAR?), athletic competitions (Olympics?) and public baths.

D

 

[StudentMI]

I know he does at length in City of God.

 

[Salibi]

I think context is important here- the pagan overtones of the plays, the gambling and time-wasting aspects of attending the horse races, etc…

I don’t believe the Church Fathers would object to a modern play, such as the historical play (Summer 1840) that I watched last year.