Justin Martyr, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
A name decides nothing, whether for good or for evil, apart from the actions the name implies. If we are convicted as evildoers, we do not ask to be acquitted on account of the name; but if we are found to have done no wrong, either in so naming ourselves or in our conduct as citizens, then it is for you to guard against bringing just punishment on yourselves by punishing the unconvicted.1
Your own practice convicts you. Among yourselves, the accused are not punished before they are proved guilty; in our case you take the name itself as the proof. If a man denies the name, you let him go as one against whom no wrong is shown; if he confesses it, you punish him for the confession.2 Justice requires you to inquire into the life of him who confesses and of him who denies, so that by his deeds it may be seen what manner of man each is.2
I do not speak in the air. Under Urbicus, Ptolemaeus, who had taught a woman the Christian doctrines, was asked one question only, whether he was a Christian, and when he confessed, he was led off to punishment. Lucius, who stood by, asked Urbicus why he had punished a man who was no adulterer, fornicator, murderer, thief or robber, convicted of no crime at all, but only confessed the name.
Urbicus had no answer but to say, "You also seem to me to be such an one," and had him led away too.3 As to loyalty, we pay the taxes, ordinary and extraordinary, more readily than all other men, as Christ taught us when he said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." To God alone we render worship; in everything else we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your power you may be found to possess sound judgment.4
And the gods we refuse? I will not hide it. We confess ourselves atheists so far as gods of that sort are concerned, but not toward the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues.5 The beings you call gods are evil demons, who appeared in fearful shapes, defiled women and corrupted boys, and were named gods by men too frightened to use their reason.
The same demons had Socrates put to death as an atheist for trying to bring these things to light by true reason, and they now stir up your judges against us.5 So the refusal is not sedition. It is the same refusal Socrates made, and the Word himself, who became man and was called Jesus Christ, condemned these things among the barbarians as Socrates did among the Greeks.5
If you disregard our prayers and our frank explanations, we shall suffer no loss, for we are persuaded that every man will be punished in eternal fire according to the merit of his deed, and will give account according to the power he received from God.4 I tell you this as a warning, not as a threat from men who have power to carry it out.
A name decides nothing.6 Convict the Christian of a crime and punish him; otherwise acquit him. To condemn a man for confessing the name and to free him for denying it is to judge by rumour and by the prompting of demons, not by reason. Christians pay taxes more readily than anyone, pray for the emperors and are the rulers' best allies in peace, because the kingdom they look for is with God and not of this world.
They worship God alone and will not lie to save their lives. You can kill them, but you cannot hurt them, and you will answer to God.78
But as we do not think it just to beg to be acquitted on account of the name, if we be convicted as evil-doers, so, on the other hand, if we be found to have committed no offence, either in the matter of thus naming ourselves, or of our conduct as citizens, it is your part very earnestly to guard against incurring just punishment, by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted.The First Apology
if any of the accused deny the name, and say that he is not a Christian, you acquit him, as having no evidence against him as a wrong-doer; but if any one acknowledge that he is a Christian, you punish him on account of this acknowledgment. Justice requires that you inquire into the life both of him who confesses and of him who denies, that by his deeds it may be apparent what kind of man each is.The First Apology
Why have you punished this man, not as an adulterer, nor fornicator, nor murderer, nor thief, nor robber, nor convicted of any crime at all, but who has only confessed that he is called by the name of Christian?The Second Apology
Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment.The First Apology
we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity.The First Apology
For if, when ye have learned the truth, you do not what is just, you will be before God without excuse. Chapter IV.--Christians unjustly condemned for their mere name. By the mere application of a name, nothing is decided, either good or evil, apart from the actions implied in the name; and indeed, so far at least as one may judge from the name we are accused of, we are most excellent people.The First Apology
For as for us, we reckon that no evil can be done us, unless we be convicted as evil-doers or be proved to be wicked men; and you, you can kill, but not hurt us. Chapter III.--Claim of judicial investigation.The First Apology
And this you granted. And her quondam husband, since he was now no longer able to prosecute her, directed his assaults against a man, Ptolemaeus, whom Urbicus punished, and who had been her teacher in the Christian doctrines. And this he did in the following way.The Second Apology
The plea that founded Christian apologetic and the first Christian argument for equal justice under Rome; whether it was written for the emperors or for the Christians who read it is now disputed.