Christians want everyone to believe
In what follows he plainly lies, so let us also set out his very words. He says: “If all men should wish to be Christians, these people would no longer wish it.”
That this is false is clear from the fact that Christians, so far as it rests with them, do not neglect to sow the word in every part of the world. Some, indeed, have made it their work to travel round not only cities but also villages and farmsteads, so as to make others, too, devout toward God. And no one could say that they do this for the sake of wealth. Sometimes they do not even accept what they need for food; and if ever want of it forces them to accept it, they are content with what they need and no more, even when more people are willing to share with them and to give them more than they need.
Now, perhaps, when because of the great number who come to the word even the rich, and some people of rank, and refined and well-born women welcome those who preach the word, someone will dare to say that some become leaders in the Christian teaching for the sake of a little glory. But at the beginning, when the danger was great, above all for those who taught, no one could reasonably suspect any such thing. And even now the ill repute they have among everyone else is greater than the supposed glory they have among those who share their belief, and not all of them have even that. So it is false on its face that “if all men should wish to be Christians, these people would no longer wish it.”
Greek
Ἐπεὶ δ᾿ ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς προφανῶς ψεύδεται, φέρε καὶ τὴν λέξιν αὐτοῦ ἐκθώμεθα λέγοντος· εἰ ἐθελήσουσι πάντες ἄνθρωποι εἶναι Χριστιανοὶ, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι οἵδε ἐθέλοιεν, ὅτι δὲ ψεῦδος τὸ τοιόνδε, δῆλον ἐκ τοῦ τὸ ὅσον ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτοῖς Χριστιανοὺς μὴ ἀμελεῖν τοῦ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐπισπείρειν τὸν λόγον, τινὲς γοῦν ἔργον πεποίηνται ἐκπεριέρχεσθαι οὐ μόνον πόλεις ἀλλὰ καὶ κώμας καὶ ἐπαύλεις, ἵνα καὶ ἄλλους εὐσεβεῖς τῷ θεῷ κατασκευάσωσι. καὶ οὐκ ἂν πλούτου τις ἕνεκα φήσαι αὐτοὺς τοῦτο πράττειν, ἔσθ᾿ οτε μὲν οὐδὲ τὰ πρὸς τροφὴν λαμβάνοντας, εἴ ποτε δὲ ἀναγκάζοιντο ὑπὸ τῆς ἀπορίας ταύτης, τῇ χρείᾳ μόνῃ ἀρκουμένους, κἂν πλείους αὐτοῖς κοινωνεῖν ἐθέλωσι καὶ μεταδιδόναι τὰ ὑπὲρ τὰς χρείας. νῦν μὲν οὖν τάχα, ὅτε διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν προσερχομένων τῷ λόγῳ καὶ πλούσιοι καί τινες τῶν ἐν ἀξιώμασι καὶ γύναια τὰ ἁβρὰ καὶ εὐγενῆ ἀποδέχονται τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου, τολμήσει τις λέγειν διὰ τὸ δοξάριον προΐστασθαί τινας τῆς κατὰ Χριστιανοὺς διδασκαλίας· οὐ μὴν κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν, ὅτε πολὺς ὁ κίνδυνος μάλιστα τοῖς διδάσκουσιν ἦν, οἷόν τε τὸ τοιοῦτον εὐλόγως ὑπονοεῖν. καὶ νῦν δὲ πλείων ἐστὶν ἡ παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀδοξία τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ὁμοδόξοις νομιζομένης δόξης, καὶ ταύτης οὐ πᾶσι. ψεῦδος οὖν αὐτόθεν ὅτι, εἰ ἐθελήσουσι πάντες ἄνθρωποι εἶναι Χριστιανοὶ, οὐκ ἂν ἔτι οἵδε ἐθέλοιεν.