117. If we pay such excessive regard to
order, then the Son ought not to sit at the right hand of the Father,
nor ought He to call Himself the First and the Beginning. The
Evangelist was wrong in beginning with the Word and not with God, where
he says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God.” S. John i. 1. For,
according to the order of human usage, he ought to name the Father
first. The Apostle also was ignorant of their order, who
says: “Paul the servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an
Apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God;” Rom. i. 1. and elsewhere: “The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Ghost.” 2 Cor. xiii. 14. If we
follow the order of the words, he has placed the Son first, and the
Father second. But the order of the words is often changed; and
therefore thou oughtest not to question about order or degree, in the
case of God the Father and His Son, for there is no severance of unity
in the Godhead.