Justin Martyr, First Apology 23
Let this also become clear to you: whatever we say, having learned it from Christ and the prophets who preceded him, is alone true and older than every writer who has ever existed. We do not ask to be accepted because we say the same things they do, but because we speak the truth. Jesus Christ has been begotten as the unique Son of God; he is God's Word, firstborn, and power. By the Father's will he became a man and taught us these things for the transformation and restoration of the human race. Before he became a man among men, certain ones — I mean the evil demons already mentioned — anticipated him and spoke through the poets the myths they had fabricated, just as they also brought about the slanderous and impious deeds spoken against us, for which there is neither witness nor proof. We will refute this charge.
Greek
(??)να δὲ ἤδη καὶ τοῦτο φανερὸν ὑμῖν γένηται, ὅτι, ὁπόσα λέγομεν μαθόντες παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τῶν προελθόντων αὐτοῦ προφητῶν μόνα ἀληθῆ ἐστι καὶ πρεσβύτερα πάντων τῶν γεγενημένων συγγραφέων, καὶ οὐχὶ διὰ τὸ ταὐτὰ λέγειν αὐτοῖς παραδεχθῆναι ἀξιοῦμεν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι τὸ ἀληθὲς λέγομεν· καὶ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς μόνος ἰδίως υἱὸς τῷ θεῷ γεγέννηται, λόγος αὐτοῦ ὑπάρχων καὶ πρωτότοκος καὶ δύναμις, καὶ τῇ βουλῇ αὐτοῦ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν ἐπ᾿ ἀλλαγῇ καὶ ἐπαναγωγῇ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους· καὶ πρὶν ἢ ἐν ἄνθρωποις αὐτὸν γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπον φθάσαντές τινες, λέγω δὲ τοὺς προειρημένους κακοὺς δαίμονας, διὰ τῶν ποιητῶν ὡς γενόμενα εἶπον ἃ μυθοποιήσαντες ἔφησαν, ὃν τρόπον καὶ τὰ καθ᾿ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα δύσφημα καὶ ἀσεβῆ ἔργα ἐνήργησαν, ὤν οὐδεὶς μάρτυς οὐδὲ ἀπόδειξίς ἐστι, — τοῦτον ἔλεγχον ποιησόμεθα.¦