A secret doctrine known to the whole world
Next, since he often calls our doctrine secret, we must refute him on this point too, for nearly the whole world knows the preaching of Christians better than the opinions of the philosophers. For who is unaware of Jesus' birth from a virgin, and of the Crucified, and of his resurrection, believed by many, and of the judgment that is proclaimed, which will punish sinners as they deserve and count the righteous worthy of reward? Even the mystery of the resurrection, though not understood, is widely talked about, and unbelievers laugh at it. In view of all this, to say that the doctrine is secret is quite absurd.
That there are some things, as it were, beyond the outward teachings, which do not reach the many, is not peculiar to the Christian teaching alone; it is true of the philosophers as well. Among them some discourses were outward and others inward. Some heard Pythagoras on the principle “He said it himself,” while others were taught in secret the things not fit to reach ears that were profane and not yet purified. And all the mysteries everywhere, throughout Greece and the barbarian world, are secret, yet they have not been discredited for it. So it is in vain that he discredits the secret element in Christianity, when he has not even understood it accurately.
Greek
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 γέννησις Ἰησοῦ καὶ ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος καὶ ἡ παρὰ πολλοῖς πεπιστευμένη ἀνάστασις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ καταγγελλομένη κρίσις, 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 ἐξωτερικὰ, μὴ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς φθάνοντα, οὐ μόνου ἴδιον τοῦ Χριστιανῶν λόγου ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ φιλοσόφων, παρ᾿ οἷς τινες μὲν ἦσαν ἐξωτερικοὶ λόγοι ἕτεροι δὲ ἐσωτερικοί· καί τινες μὲν ἀκούοντες Πυθαγόρου, ὡς „αὐτὸς ἔφα,“ ἄλλοι δ᾿ ἐν ἀποῤῥήτῳ διδασκόμενοι μενοι 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.