the same things as the idol honored among you, to which is sprinkled not only the blood of irrational animals but also of humans, making the offering of the blood of those who have been slain through the most distinguished and noblest man among you, becoming imitators of Zeus and the other gods in sodomy and mixing with women without fear, bringing forth the writings of Epicurus and the poets as a defense? But since we persuade men to flee these teachings and those who do and imitate them, as even now we have striven through these words, we are warred against in various ways; but we do not care, since we know God to be the just overseer of all things. Would that even now someone, having mounted a high platform, would cry out with a tragic voice: Be ashamed, be ashamed of what you openly practice, attributing it to the innocent, and imputing to them things which belong to yourselves and to your gods, in which they have no share, not even in the least. Repent, be brought to your senses. For I myself, having learned of the evil veil thrown over the divine teachings of the Christians by the wicked demons for the aversion of other men, and that these things were falsely reported, laughed at both the veil and the opinion of the many. I confess that I both pray and strive with all my might to be found a Christian, not that the teachings of Plato are alien to Christ, but that they are not in all respects the same, just as neither are those of the others, Stoics and poets and historians. For each one, seeing what was kindred from a portion of the seminal divine Logos, spoke well; but those who have said contradictory things to themselves in more important matters appear not to have possessed the unassailable knowledge and irrefutable cognition. Therefore, whatever things have been said well among all men belong to us Christians. For after God, we worship and love the Logos from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since for our sakes He became man, so that by becoming a partaker of our sufferings He might also bring about healing. For all the writers were able to see reality dimly through the innate seed of the Logos which was in them. For a seed of something and an imitation given according to ability is one thing, and another is the thing itself, of which the participation and imitation occurs according to the grace from it. And so we ask you to endorse what seems good to you and publish this little book, so that our affairs may be known to others also, and they may be able to be freed from false opinion and ignorance of what is good, who through their own fault become liable to punishments for these things to be known to men, because in the nature of men there is the ability to recognize good and evil, and because of us, whom they do not know to be such

τὰ ἴσα τῷ παρ' ὑμῖν τιμωμένῳ εἰδώλῳ, ᾧ οὐ μόνον ἀλόγων ζώων αἵματα προσραίνεται ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθρώπεια, διὰ τοῦ παρ' ὑμῖν ἐπισημοτάτου καὶ εὐγενεστάτου ἀνδρὸς τὴν πρόσχυσιν τοῦ τῶν φονευθέντων αἵματος ποιούμενοι, ∆ιὸς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν μιμηταὶ γενόμενοι ἐν τῷ ἀνδροβατεῖν καὶ γυναιξὶν ἀδεῶς μίγνυσθαι, Ἐπικούρου μὲν καὶ τὰ τῶν ποιητῶν συγγράμματα ἀπολογίαν φέροντες; ἐπειδὴ δὲ ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα πράξαντας καὶ μιμουμένους φεύγειν πείθομεν, ὡς καὶ νῦν διὰ τῶνδε τῶν λόγων ἠγωνίσμεθα, ποικίλως πολεμούμεθα· ἀλλ' οὐ φροντίζομεν, ἐπεὶ θεὸν τῶν πάντων ἐπόπτην δίκαιον οἴδαμεν. εἴθε καὶ νῦν τις ἂν τραγικῇ φωνῇ ἀνεβόησεν ἐπί τι βῆμα ὑψηλὸν ἀναβάς· Aἰδέσθητε, αἰδέσθητε ἃ φανερῶς πράττετε εἰς ἀναιτίους ἀναφέροντες, καὶ τὰ προσόντα καὶ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὑμετέροις θεοῖς περιβάλλοντες τούτοις ὧν οὐδὲν οὐδ' ἐπὶ ποσὸν μετουσία ἐστί. μετάθεσθε, σωφρονίσθητε. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ, μαθὼν περίβλημα πονηρὸν εἰς ἀπο στροφὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων περιτεθειμένον ὑπὸ τῶν φαύ λων δαιμόνων τοῖς Χριστιανῶν θείοις διδάγμασι, καὶ ψευδο λογουμένων ταῦτα καὶ τοῦ περιβλήματος κατεγέλασα καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξης. Χριστιανὸς εὑρεθῆναι καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ παμμάχως ἀγωνιζόμενος ὁμολογῶ, οὐχ ὅτι ἀλλό τριά ἐστι τὰ Πλάτωνος διδάγματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ' ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι πάντη ὅμοια, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, Στωϊκῶν τε καὶ ποιητῶν καὶ συγγραφέων. ἕκαστος γάρ τις ἀπὸ μέρους τοῦ σπερματικοῦ θείου λόγου τὸ συγγενὲς ὁρῶν καλῶς ἐφθέγξατο· οἱ δὲ τἀναντία ἑαυτοῖς ἐν κυριωτέροις εἰρηκότες οὐκ ἐπιστήμην τὴν ἄποπτον καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν ἀνέλεγκτον φαίνονται ἐσχηκέναι. ὅσα οὖν παρὰ πᾶσι καλῶς εἴρηται, ἡμῶν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐστι· τὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀρρήτου θεοῦ λόγον μετὰ τὸν θεὸν προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς ἄνθρω πος γέγονεν, ὅπως καὶ τῶν παθῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων συμμέτοχος γενόμενος καὶ ἴασιν ποιήσηται. οἱ γὰρ συγγραφεῖς πάντες διὰ τῆς ἐνούσης ἐμφύτου τοῦ λόγου σπορᾶς ἀμυδρῶς ἐδύναντο ὁρᾶν τὰ ὄντα. ἕτερον γάρ ἐστι σπέρμα τινὸς καὶ μίμημα κατὰ δύναμιν δοθέν, καὶ ἕτερον αὐτὸ οὗ κατὰ χάριν τὴν ἀπ' ἐκείνου ἡ μετουσία καὶ μίμησις γίνεται. Καὶ ὑμᾶς οὖν ἀξιοῦμεν ὑπογράψαντας τὸ ὑμῖν δοκοῦν προθεῖναι τουτὶ τὸ βιβλίδιον, ὅπως καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ ἡμέτερα γνωσθῇ καὶ δύνωνται τῆς ψευδοδοξίας καὶ ἀγνοίας τῶν καλῶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι, οἳ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν αἰτίαν ὑπεύθυνοι ταῖς τιμωρίαις γίνονται εἰς τὸ γνωσθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ταῦτα, διὰ τὸ ἐν τῇ φύσει τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τὸ γνωριστικὸν καλοῦ καὶ αἰσχροῦ, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἡμῶν, οὓς οὐκ ἐπίστανται τοιαῦτα