2-13:13
Καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ, μαθὼν περίβλημα πονηρὸν εἰς ἀποστροφὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων περιτεθειμένον ὑπὸ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων τοῖς Χριστιανῶν θείοις διδάγμασι, καὶ ψευδολογουμένων ταῦτα καὶ τοῦ περιβλήματος κατεγέλασα καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξης. Χριστιανὸς εὑρεθῆναι καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ παμμάχως ἀγωνιζόμενος ὁμολογῶ, οἰχ ὅτι ἀλλότριά 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 ἄπτωτον καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν ἀνέλεγκτον φαίνονται ἐσχηκέναι. Ὅσα οὖν παρὰ καλῶς εἴρηται, ἡμῶν τᾶν Χριστιανῶν ἐστι· τὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀῤῥήτου θεοῦ λόγον μετὰ τὸν θεὸν προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ δι ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπος 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 αὐτό, οὗ κατὰ χάριν τὴν ἀπ ἐκείνου ἡ μετουσία καὶ μίμησις γίνεται
因為我也是這樣，當我得知那些邪惡的鬼魔在基督徒神聖的教訓之上披了一層邪惡的外衣、為要使別人轉離時，便既譏笑那些捏造這些事的人與那外衣，也譏笑眾人中間所持的意見。我承認，我又禱告、又竭力爭取要被發現是個基督徒，這並不是因為柏拉圖的教訓與基督的教訓相異，乃是因為它們並非在各方面都相像，正如其餘各派——斯多亞派、詩人與散文作家——的教訓也是如此。因為各人藉著看見那種子之神聖之道的一部分，看見與之相關的，便說得美善;但那些在更要緊的事上自相矛盾的人，便顯為並未擁有那無誤的知識與不可駁倒的見識。所以凡美善地說出來的事，都是屬於我們基督徒的;因為我們在神之外，敬拜並愛那從非受生、不可言喻之神而出的道，因祂為我們的緣故成了人，為要成為與我們同受苦的，從而也成就醫治。因為一切作家都只能藉著他們裡面所植入的道的種子，朦朧地看見實際。因為一物的種子、並按其能力所賜的仿本是一回事，而那物本身——就是那藉著從祂而來的恩典而有的分享與仿效所指向的——又是另一回事。
For I too, when I learned of the wicked covering that the wicked demons had cast around the divine teachings of the Christians, for the turning away of other men, both laughed at those who fabricated these things and at the covering, and at the opinion held among the many. And I confess that I both pray and strive with all my might to be found a Christian, not because the teachings of Plato are alien to those of Christ, but because they are not in every respect like them, just as neither are those of the others—Stoics and poets and prose writers. For each spoke well, seeing through a part of the seminal divine Word what was akin to it; but those who have contradicted themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the unfailing knowledge and the irrefutable understanding. Whatever things, therefore, have been well said by anyone, belong to us Christians; for we worship and love, next to God, the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since for our sake he became man, that, becoming a partaker of our sufferings, he might also bring about healing. For all the writers were able to see realities dimly, through the implanted seed of the Word that was in them. For the seed of a thing and an imitation given according to capacity is one thing, and the thing itself, of which the participation and imitation come about according to grace from him, is another.