Page 14 - ENTERTAINMENT

or if a person’s job had anything to do with idols

or the making and selling of idols, many times

individuals were barred from coming into the

local churches, especially in the second and

third centuries.

Public entertainment dominated the Roman

Empire from the time of the first century until

the end of that Empire around the fifth or sixth

century, and most public amusement was of

pagan origin. Now, I'm going to be addressing

all three of these – the theater, the sports, and the

banqueting. Basically, as far as Greece and

Rome are concerned, the origins of public

amusement were pagan. They originally were

connected with the festivals of the gods even

though some had lost their religious connection. In

other words, over the years, they began losing

that religious connection and affiliation, but

originally, all of these areas of public amusement

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