Voices from the Past regarding
Christian Entertainment. William Prynne. The Playhouse
is the Devil's Chapel, the School and Nursery of Lewdness, the
Fortress of Sin, and the Citadel of the Devil. Richard Baxter. The Playhouse
is a Nursery of Lewdness, a School of Vice, a Place of Satan's Appearing,
and a Sure Way to Harden the Heart Against God. The common stage plays are not
indifferent things which a Christian may use without sin, but sinful
things which he must by all means avoid. Thomas Watson Sin enters in at
the eye. How many have looked themselves
into hell? The theatre is the devil's playground. Increase Mather Among the many
sins that have brought down the judgments of God upon nations,
The playhouse has ever been a notable provocation. These are the places
where men meet together to forget God. John Bunyan. Stage plays are
but Satan's instruments to steal away the heart from God and drown
the soul in perdition. Philip Stubbs. Theaters are the
very chapels of Belial. The plays are not only the delights
of the wicked, but snares of the devil to entangle poor souls. Charles Spurgeon. The theater
is the temple of the devil as much as any place can be. Let
people once go there for amusement, and they are in the way of being
damned. The theater is a moral pest house.
If men must have amusement, Let them not seek it where the leprosy
of sin is bred. Plays are not fit for the Christian
to witness. The very atmosphere is tainted
with sin. To go there is to court spiritual
disease. J. C. Ryle. The theater is one
of the chief places where the devil's children gather together.
Let not the Christian be found among them. I warn you plainly against the
frequenting of theaters. The tendency of stage plays is
manifestly immoral. Their whole tone is antagonistic
to the spirit of Christianity. Can a man touch pitch and not
be defiled? Can a believer feed on folly
and not weaken his soul? Robert Dabney. The theater is
the school of lust and vanity, of vice and blasphemy. It is
the polished instrument of Satan to destroy souls under the guise
of mirth. Albert Barnes. No man can regularly
attend the theater without injury to his soul. It is a house of
spiritual disease and all its associations are unfavorable
to piety. Thomas Guthrie. The theater is
not the school of virtue, but the house of temptation. scriptural principles regarding
Christian entertainment. The call to holiness and separation
from the world. Therefore, come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I
will receive you. The danger of feeding the flesh.
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do
not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Guarding the eyes and the heart.
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless
men I hate, they will not cling to me. Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4.23 avoiding the appearance of evil.
Avoid every kind of evil. Not loving the world. Do not
love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. Fleeing youthful lusts. Flee
the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith,
love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a
pure heart. setting our minds on things above.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Friendship with the world is
enmity with God. You adulterous people, don't
you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?