Chapter VII.

Moreover, since he frequently calls the Christian doctrine a secret system (of belief), we must confute him on this point also, since almost the entire world is better acquainted with what Christians preach than with the favourite opinions of philosophers.  For who is ignorant of the statement that Jesus was born of a virgin, and that He was crucified, and that His resurrection is an article of faith among many, and that a general judgment is announced to come, in which the wicked are to be punished according to their deserts, and the righteous to be duly rewarded?  And yet the mystery of the resurrection, not being understood,24    The words, as they stand in the text of Lommatzsch, are, ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴν νοηθὲν τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μυστήριον.  Ruæus would read μή instead of μήν.  This emendation has been adopted in the translation.    τοὺς καρποὺς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείας ἀποδώσουσι τῷ Θεῷ, ἐν τοῖς ἑκάστης πράξεως οὔσης καρποῦ τῆς βασιλείας καιροῖς. is made a subject of ridicule among unbelievers.  In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine as a secret system, is altogether absurd.  But that there should be certain doctrines, not made known to the multitude, which are (revealed) after the exoteric ones have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also of philosophic systems, in which certain truths are exoteric and others esoteric.  Some of the hearers of Pythagoras were content with his ipse dixit; while others were taught in secret those doctrines which were not deemed fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently prepared ears.  Moreover, all the mysteries that are celebrated everywhere throughout Greece and barbarous countries, although held in secret, have no discredit thrown upon them, so that it is in vain that he endeavours to calumniate the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing he does not correctly understand its nature.

Εἶτ' ἐπεὶ πολλάκις ὀνομάζει κρύφιον τὸ δόγμα, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ αὐτὸν ἐλεγκτέον, σχεδὸν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου ἐγνωκότος τὸ κήρυγμα Χριστιανῶν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἀρέσκοντα. Τίνα γὰρ λανθάνει ἡ ἐκ παρθένου γένεσις Ἰησοῦ καὶ ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος καὶ ἡ παρὰ πολλοῖς πεπιστευμένη ἀνάστασις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ καταγγελλομένη κρίσις θεοῦ, κολάζουσα μὲν κατ' ἀξίαν τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας γέρως δ' ἀξιοῦσα τοὺς δικαίους; Ἀλλὰ καὶ μὴ νοηθὲν τὸ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως μυστήριον θρυλεῖται γελώμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπίστων. Ἐπὶ τούτοις οὖν λέγειν κρύφιον εἶναι τὸ δόγμα πάνυ ἐστὶν ἄτοπον· τὸ δ' εἶναί τινα οἷον μετὰ τὰ ἐξωτερικά, μὴ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς φθάνοντα, οὐ μόνου ἴδιον τοῦ Χριστιανῶν λόγου ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ φιλοσόφων, παρ' οἷς τινὲς μὲν ἦσαν ἐξωτερικοὶ λόγοι ἕτεροι δὲ ἐσωτερικοί· καὶ τινὲς μὲν ἀκούοντες Πυθαγόρου, ὡς "Αὐτὸς ἔφα", ἄλλοι δ' ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ διδασκόμενοι τὰ μὴ ἄξια φθάνειν εἰς ἀκοὰς βεβήλους καὶ μηδέπω κεκαθαρμένας. Καὶ πάντα δὲ τὰ πανταχοῦ μυστήρια κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον κρύφια ὄντα οὐ διαβέβληται· διόπερ μάτην μηδὲ νοήσας ἀκριβῶς τὸ κρύφιον τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ διαβάλλει αὐτό.