[The public shows] excite, [Tertullian] says, all sorts of wild and impure passions, anger, fury, and lust; while the spirit of Christianity is a spirit of meekness, peace, and purity.
"What a man should not say he should not hear. All licentious speech, nay, every idle word is condemned by God. The things which defile a man in going out of his mouth, defile him also when they go in at his eyes and ears. The true wrestlings of the Christians are to overcome unchastity by chastity, perfidy by faithfulness, cruelty by compassion and charity."
Philip Schaff, The History of the Christian Church, vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006) 342.
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