1-13:13
Ἄθεοι μὲν οὖν ὡς οὔκ ἐσμεν, τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς σεβόμενοι, ἀνενδεῆ αἱμάτων καὶ σπονδῶν καὶ θυμιαμάτων, ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν, λέγοντες, λόγῳ εὐχῆς καὶ εὐχαριστίας ἐφ οἷς προσφερόμεθα πᾶσιν, ὅση δύναμις, αἰνοῦντες, μόνην ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ τιμὴν ταύτην παραλαβόντες, τὸ τὰ ὑπ ἐκείνου εἰς διατροφὴν γενόμενα οὐ πυρὶ δαπανᾶν, ἀλλ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις προσφέρειν, ἐκείνῳ δὲ εὐχαρίστους ὄντας διὰ λόγου πομπὰς καὶ ὕμνους πέμπειν ὑπέρ τε τοῦ γεγονέναι καὶ τῶν εἰς εὐρωστίαν πόρων πάντων, ποιοτήτων μὲν γενῶν καὶ μεταβολῶν ὡρῶν, καὶ τοῦ πάλιν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ γενέσθαι διὰ πίστιν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ αἰτήσεις πέμποντες, — τίς σωφρονῶν οὐχ ὁμολογήσει; Τὸν διδάσκαλόν τε τούτων γενόμενον ἡμῖν καὶ εἰς τοῦτο γεννηθέντα Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν σταυρωθέντα ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, τοῦ γενομένου ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐπὶ χρόνοις Τιβερίου Καίσαρος ἐπιτρόπου, υἱὸν αὐτὸν τοῦ ὄντως θεοῦ μαθόντες καὶ ἐν δευτέρᾳ χώρᾳ ἔχοντες, πνεῦμά τε προφητικὸν ἐν τρίτῃ τάξει ὅτι μετὰ λόγου τιμῶμεν, ἀποδείξομεν. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ μανίαν ἡμῶν καταφαίνονται, δευτέραν χώραν μετὰ τὸν ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀεὶ ὄντα θεὸν καὶ γεννήτορα τῶν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπῳ σταυρωθέντι διδόναι ἡμᾶς λέγοντες, ἀγνοοῦντες τὸ ἐν τούτῳ μυστήριον, ᾧ προσέχειν ὑμᾶς ἐξηγουμένων ἡμῶν προτρεπόμεθα
That we are not atheists, then, worshiping as we do the Maker of this universe—declaring, as we were taught, that he has no need of blood and libations and incense, but that we praise him to the best of our power by the word of prayer and thanksgiving over all that we partake of; having received this as the only honor worthy of him: not to consume by fire the things he made for our nourishment, but to offer them to ourselves and to those in need, while to him we send up processions and hymns in word, being thankful both for our existence and for all the means of well-being, the qualities of created things and the changes of the seasons, and sending up petitions that we may come again into incorruption through faith in him—who that is sober will not confess this? And that Jesus Christ, who became our teacher in these things and was born for this very purpose, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, who was procurator in Judea in the times of Tiberius Caesar, is the Son of the true God—having learned this, we hold him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third rank; and we shall show that we honor him with reason. For here they declare us mad, saying that we give the second place after the unchangeable and ever-existing God and Begetter of all things to a crucified man, not knowing the mystery in this—to which we urge you to attend as we expound it.
我們既敬拜這宇宙的造物主，便不是無神論者——我們照所受的教導，宣稱祂不需要血、奠祭與香品，乃是我們竭盡所能，藉禱告與感謝的言語，為我們所領受的一切讚美祂；我們領受了這作為唯一配得祂的尊崇：就是不用火焚燒祂為我們的養生所造之物，乃將其分給自己和有需要的人，並向祂以言語獻上行列與詩歌，為我們得以存在、為一切康健之資、為受造之物的各樣性質、為四時的更迭而感恩，又獻上祈求，盼望藉著對祂的信再次進入不朽壞——凡清醒的人，誰不承認這事呢？至於那在這些事上作我們教師、正為此而生、在猶太地、提庇留凱撒時、本丟彼拉多作巡撫時被釘十字架的耶穌基督，乃是那真神的子——我們既學了這事，便把祂置於第二位，把那預言的靈置於第三等次；我們要證明，我們尊崇祂乃是合乎理性的。因為在這事上他們斥我們為瘋狂，說我們把那不改變、永遠存在、萬有的生育者神之後的第二位，給了一個被釘十字架的人，卻不曉得其中的奧祕——我們勸你們留心，容我們將這奧祕講解出來。