Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 19
One may therefore see from this that some Greeks bear witness to the truth. In the Acts of the Apostles Paul is recorded as saying to the Areopagites, "I see that you are very religious." For as he passed through and observed their objects of worship, he found an altar bearing the inscription, "To an unknown god." What you worship without knowing, he declares, that is what he proclaims to them. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. From one he made every nation of humanity to dwell over the whole face of the earth, having fixed appointed seasons and the boundaries of their habitation, so that they might seek the divine, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, "For we are also his offspring."
From this it is clear that he also uses poetic examples, drawing from Aratus' Phaenomena, to approve the things well spoken among the Greeks and to honor the unknown god. Through the unknown god he intimated the creator God to the Greeks by a circumlocution, but it is necessary to receive and learn through the Son by true acknowledgment. Therefore he says, "I have sent you to the nations to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those sanctified by faith in me." These, then, whose blind eyes are opened, possess the acknowledgment of the Father through the Son, which is the grasping of the Greek circumlocution; and the turning from the power of Satan is the turning away from sin, through which slavery came to be.
We do not, however, simply accept all philosophy, but only that concerning which Socrates also speaks in Plato. For, as those around the mysteries say, there are many thyrsus-bearers but few bacchoi, hinting that many are called but few are chosen.
Greek
Ὅτι οὖν μαρτυροῦνται ἀληθῆ τινα δογματίζειν καὶ Ἕλληνες, ἔξεστι κἀντεῦθεν σκοπεῖν. ὁ Παῦλος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀναγράφεται λέγων πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρεοπαγίτας· δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ. διερχόμενος γὰρ καὶ ἱστορῶν τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν εὗρον βωμὸν ἐν ᾧ ἀνεγέγραπτο· ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ. ὃν οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτον ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν. ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὑπάρχων κύριος οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸς δοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὰ πάντα· ἐποίησέ τε ἐξ ἑνὸς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ ἐπὶ παντὸς προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ὁρίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν, ζητεῖν τὸ θεῖον, εἰ ἄρα ψηλαφήσειαν ἢ εὕροιεν ἄν, καίτοι οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντος· ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν· τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν. ἐξ ὧν δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ποιητικοῖς χρώμενος παραδείγμασιν ἐκ τῶν Ἀράτου Φαινομένων δοκιμάζει τὰ παρ’ Ἕλλησι καλῶς εἰρημένα καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἀγνώστου θεοῦ τιμᾶσθαι μὲν κατὰ περίφρασιν πρὸς τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὸν δημιουργὸν θεὸν ᾐνίξατο, κατ’ ἐπίγνωσιν δὲ δεῖν δἰ υἱοῦ παραλαβεῖν τε καὶ μαθεῖν. ἀπέστειλα οὖν διὰ τοῦτό σε εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, ἀνοῖξαι, φησίν, ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐπὶ θεόν, τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτοὺς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ κλῆρον ἐν τοῖς ἡγιασμένοις πίστει τῇ εἰς ἐμέ. οὗτοι οὖν οἱ ἀνοιγόμενοι τυφλῶν ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡ δἰ υἱοῦ ἐπίγνωσίς ἐστι τοῦ πατρός, ἡ τῆς περιφράσεως τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς κατάληψις, τό τε ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐπιστρέψαι τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτία ἐστὶ μεταβάλλεσθαι, δἰ ἣν ἡ δουλεία ἐγεγόνει. οὐ μὴν ἁπλῶς πᾶσαν φιλοσοφίαν ἀποδεχόμεθα, ἀλλ’ ἐκείνην περὶ ἧς καὶ ὁ παρὰ Πλάτωνι λέγει Σωκράτης· εἰσὶ γὰρ δή, ὥς φασι οἱ περὶ τὰς τελετάς, ναρθηκοφόροι μὲν πολλοί, βάκχοι δέ τε παῦροι, πολλοὺς μὲν τοὺς κλητούς, ὀλίγους δὲ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αἰνιττόμενος.