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what follows, what the Son means, I will state briefly: to be the first offspring for the Father, not as having come into being (for from the beginning God, being eternal mind, had the Word in Himself, being eternally rational), but as coming forth to be the idea and energy for all material things, which lay like a nature without quality and inert earth, the denser elements being mixed with the lighter. And the prophetic spirit agrees with this statement; "for The Lord," it says, "created me the beginning of His ways for His works." And yet we also say that the Holy Spirit Himself, who operates in those who prophesy, is an effluence of God, flowing forth and returning like a ray of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear those called atheists who hold God the Father, and God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, showing both their power in unity and their distinction in order? And our theological teaching does not stop with these, but we also speak of a multitude of angels and ministers, whom God the maker and creator of the world distributed and appointed through His Word to be over the elements, and the heavens, and the world, and the things in it, and their good order. And do not be surprised if I explain our doctrine precisely; for I speak with precision so that you may not be carried away by the common and irrational opinion, but may know the truth; since, even through the doctrines themselves to which we adhere, which are not human but spoken by God and taught by God, we are able to persuade you not to think of us as atheists. What, then, are our teachings in which we are brought up? "I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Permit me here to elevate my discourse, which has become audible with a loud cry, to freedom of speech, as one making a defense before philosopher-kings. For who of those who analyze syllogisms and resolve ambiguities and explain etymologies, or of those who promise to make their followers happy through these and similar discussions about homonyms and synonyms and categories and axioms and what is the subject and what is the predicate, are so purified in their souls as, instead of hating their enemies, to love them, and instead of, what is the most moderate thing, speaking evil of those who first reviled them, to bless them, and to pray for those who plot against their lives? Who, on the contrary, always persist in wickedly prying into these secret matters of one another, and are always desiring to work some evil, having made the matter an art of words and not a demonstration of deeds.

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ἔπεισιν, ὁ παῖς τί βούλεται, ἐρῶ διὰ βραχέων· πρῶτον γέννημα εἶναι τῷ πατρί, οὐχ ὡς γενόμενον (ἐξ ἀρχῆς γὰρ ὁ θεός, νοῦς ἀίδιος ὤν, εἶχεν αὐτὸς ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν λόγον, ἀιδίως λογικὸς ὤν), ἀλλ' ὡς τῶν ὑλικῶν ξυμπάντων ἀποίου φύσεως καὶ γῆς οχιας ὑπο κειμένων δίκην, μεμιγμένων τῶν παχυμερεστέρων πρὸς τὰ κου φότερα, ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἰδέα καὶ ἐνέργεια εἶναι, προελθών. συνᾴδει δὲ τῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα· "κύριος γάρ", φησίν, "ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ." καίτοι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐνεργοῦν τοῖς ἐκφωνοῦσι προφητικῶς ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἀπόρροιαν εἶναί φαμεν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀπορρέον καὶ ἐπαναφερόμενον ὡς ἀκτῖνα ἡλίου. τίς οὖν οὐκ ἂν ἀπορήσαι <τοὺς> ἄγοντας θεὸν πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν θεὸν καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον, δεικνύντας αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ ἑνώσει δύναμιν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ τάξει διαίρεσιν, ἀκούσας ἀθέους καλουμένους; καὶ οὐδ' ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ θεολογικὸν ἡμῶν ἵσταται μέρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλῆθος ἀγγέλων καὶ λειτουργῶν φαμεν, οὓς ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ δημιουργὸς κόσμου θεὸς διὰ τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῦ λόγου διένειμε καὶ διέταξεν περί τε τὰ στοιχεῖα εἶναι καὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὸν κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν τούτων εὐταξίαν. Eἰ δὲ ἀκριβῶς διέξειμι τὸν καθ' ἡμᾶς λόγον, μὴ θαυμάσητε· ἵνα γὰρ μὴ τῇ κοινῇ καὶ ἀλόγῳ συναποφέρησθε γνώμῃ, ἔχητε δὲ τἀληθὲς εἰδέναι, ἀκριβολογοῦμαι· ἐπεὶ καὶ δι' αὐτῶν τῶν δογμάτων οἷς προσέχομεν, οὐκ ἀνθρωπικοῖς οὖσιν ἀλλὰ θεοφάτοις καὶ θεο διδάκτοις, πεῖσαι ὑμᾶς μὴ ὡς περὶ ἀθέων ἔχειν δυνάμεθα. τίνες οὖν ἡμῶν οἱ λόγοι, οἷς ἐντρεφόμεθα; "λέγω ὑμῖν· ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωμένους, προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς, ὅπως γένησθε υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὃς τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ βρέχει ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους." ἐπιτρέψατε ἐνταῦθα τοῦ λόγου ἐξακούστου μετὰ πολλῆς κραυγῆς γεγονότος ἐπὶ παρρησίαν ἀναγαγεῖν, ὡς ἐπὶ βασιλέων φιλοσόφων ἀπολογούμενον. τίνες γὰρ ἢ τῶν τοὺς συλλογισμοὺς ἀναλυόντων καὶ τὰς ἀμφιβολίας διαλυόντων καὶ τὰς ἐτυμολογίας σαφηνιζόντων ἢ τῶν τὰ ὁμώνυμα καὶ συνώ νυμα καὶ κατηγορήματα καὶ ἀξιώματα καὶ τί τὸ ὑποκείμενον καὶ τί τὸ κατηγορούμενον εὐδαίμονας ἀποτελεῖν διὰ τούτων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων ὑπισχνοῦνται τοὺς συνόντας, οὕτως ἐκκεκαθαρ μένοι εἰσὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ὡς ἀντὶ τοῦ μισεῖν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀγαπᾶν καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ, τὸ μετριώτατον, κακῶς ἀγορεύειν τοὺς προκατάρξαντας λοιδορίας εὐλογεῖν, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπιβουλευόντων εἰς τὸ ζῆν προσεύχεσθαι; οἳ τοὐναντίον ἀεὶ διατελοῦσι κακῶς τὰ ἀπόρρητα ἑαυτοὺς ταῦτα μεταλλεύοντες καὶ ἀεί τι ἐργάσασθαι ἐπιθυμοῦντες κακόν, τέχνην λόγων καὶ οὐκ ἐπίδειξιν ἔργων τὸ πρᾶγμα πεποιη μένοι.