4:4
Διὰ τί γάρ, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ὥσπερ ἐν πυγμῇ συγκρούειν βούλεσθε τὰς πολιτείας καθ ἡμῶν; Καὶ εἰ μὴ τοῖς τινῶν νομίμοις συγχρῆσθαι βούλομαι, τίνος χάριν καθάπερ μιαρώτατος μεμίσημαι; Προστάττει φόρους τελεῖν ὁ βασιλεύς; Ἕτοιμος παρέχειν. Δουλεύειν ὁ δεσπότης καὶ ὑπηρετεῖν; Τὴν δουλείαν γινώσκων. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπον ἀνθρωπίνως τιμητέον, φοβητέον δὲ μόνον τὸν θεόν· ὅστις ἀνθρωπίνοις οὐκ ἔστιν ὁρατὸς ὀφθαλμοῖς, οὐ τέχνῃ περιληπτός. Τοῦτον μόνον ἀρνεῖσθαι κελευόμενος οὐ πεισθήσομαι, τεθνήξομαι δὲ μᾶλλον, ἵνα μὴ ψεύστης καὶ ἀχάριστος ἀποδειχθῶ. Θεὸς ὁ καθ ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἔχει σύστασιν ἐν χρόνῳ, μόνος ἄναρχος ὢν καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπάρχων τῶν ὅλων ἀρχή. Πνεῦμα ὁ θεός, οὐ διήκων διὰ τῆς ὕλης, πνευμάτων δὲ ὑλικῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ σχημάτων κατασκευαστής· ἀόρατός τε καὶ ἀναφής, αἰσθητῶν καὶ ἀοράτων αὐτὸς γεγονὼς πατήρ.Τοῦτον διὰ τῆς ποιήσεως αὐτοῦ ἴσμεν, καὶ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ τὸ ἀόρατον τοῖς ποιήμασι καταλαμβανόμεθα. Δημιουργίαν τὴν ὑπ αὐτοῦ γεγενημένην χάριν ἡμῶν προσκυνεῖν οὐ θέλω. Γέγονεν ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη δι ἡμᾶς· εἶτα πῶς τοὺς ἐμοὺς ὑπηρέτας προσκυνήσω; Πῶς δὲ ξύλα καὶ λίθους θεοὺς ἀποφανοῦμαι; Πνεῦμα γὰρ τὸ διὰ τῆς ὕλης διῆκον ἔλαττον ὑπάρχει τοῦ θειοτέρου πνεύματος· ὅπερ δὲ ψυχῇ παρωμοιωμένον οὐ τιμητέον ἐπ ἴσης τῷ τελείῳ θεῷ. Ἀλλ οὐδὲ τὸν ἀνωνόμαστον θεὸν δωροδοκητέον· ὁ γὰρ πάντων ἀνενδεὴς οὐ διαβλητέος ὑφ ἡμῶν ὡς ἐνδεής. Φανερώτερον δὲ ἐκθήσομαι τὰ ἡμέτερα
Why, O men of Greece, do you wish, as in a boxing-match, to pit the polities against us? And if I am unwilling to make use of the customs of certain people, why am I hated like the foulest of men? Does the emperor command the paying of taxes? I am ready to render them. Does the master bid me serve and minister? I acknowledge servitude. For man must be honored as a man, but God alone must be feared—he who is not visible to human eyes, nor comprehended by any art. Him alone, when I am commanded to deny, I will not be persuaded, but will rather die, that I may not be shown to be a liar and ungrateful. Our God has no beginning in time, being alone without origin and himself the beginning of all things. God is spirit, not pervading matter, but the maker of material spirits and of the forms within it; invisible and intangible, he himself having become the Father of things both sensible and invisible. Him we know through his creation, and we apprehend the invisibility of his power by his works. I refuse to worship the workmanship that was made by him for our sake. The sun and moon came into being for us; how then shall I worship my own servants? How shall I declare wood and stones to be gods? For the spirit that pervades matter is inferior to the more divine spirit; and this, being likened to soul, must not be honored equally with the perfect God. But neither must the God who is beyond naming be bribed; for he who is in need of nothing must not be slandered by us as needy. But I will set forth our teaching more plainly.
希臘人哪，你們為何要像拳賽一般，挑動各邦的制度來與我們相鬥呢？我若不願遵行某些人的習俗，為何竟像最污穢的人一樣被人憎恨？皇帝吩咐納稅嗎？我甘心繳納。主人吩咐我服事供役嗎？我承認自己當盡奴僕之分。因為人當以待人之道受尊重，唯有神當受敬畏——祂是人眼所不能見的，是任何技藝所不能把握的。唯獨對祂，當我被命否認祂時，我絕不順從，倒寧可死，免得被顯為說謊與忘恩之人。我們的神在時間中沒有起始，唯獨祂無源無始，且祂自己就是萬有的起始。神是靈，不貫穿於物質之中，乃是物質性諸靈與其中各樣形態的創造者；祂不可見、不可觸，祂自己作了可見之物與不可見之物的父。我們藉祂的創造認識祂，並藉祂的作為領會祂大能中那不可見的部分。我不願敬拜祂為我們所造之物。日月是為我們而造的，那麼我怎能敬拜我的僕役呢？我怎能宣稱木石為神呢？因為那貫穿物質的靈低於那更神聖的靈；這靈既與魂相類，就不可與那全備的神同受敬奉。然而那不可名狀的神也不可受賄賂；因為那無所需求的，不可被我們當作有所缺乏而妄加非議。如今我要把我們的道理更明白地陳述出來。