38. It is necessary neither to be so devoted to
the Father, as to rob Him of His Fatherhood, for whose Father would He
be, if the Son were separated and estranged from Him, by being ranked
with the creation, (for an alien being, or one which is combined and
confounded with his father, and, for the sense is the same, throws him
into confusion, is not a son); nor to be so devoted to Christ, as to
neglect to preserve both His Sonship, (for whose son would He be, if
His origin were not referred to the Father?) and the rank of the Father
as origin, inasmuch as He is the Father and Generator; for He would be
the origin of petty and unworthy beings, or rather the term would be
used in a petty and unworthy sense, if He were not the origin of
Godhead and goodness, which are contemplated in the Son and the
Spirit: the former being the Son and the Word, the latter the
proceeding and indissoluble Spirit. For both the Unity of the
Godhead must be preserved, and the Trinity of Persons confessed, each with His own
property.