Chapter III.
But having cast aside these wickednesses and idolatries, we, as the blessed Apostle Paul says: There is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and one Holy Spirit, in whom are all things (1 Corinthians 8:6). And this very thing that we say, from whom, and by whom, and in whom are all things, we do not divide nature, but we confess the unity of nature, will, and operation. Therefore, there is one God in these three, and these three are one God. The Apostle confirms that it is so, saying: 'From him, and through him, and in him, all things: to him be glory forever and ever, amen' (Rom. XI, 35). In agreement with this, the prophet David says: 'May God bless us, our God, may God bless us; and may all the ends of the earth fear him' (Psalm LXVI, 8). Therefore, the Father is the Father without beginning; for there is nothing else from which the Father is. And the Son is the Son without beginning, only from the Father, and he is the creator of all times. And therefore, he does not take his beginning from time, for he is the Word, power, and wisdom, which made and anticipated all time (I Cor. I, 24). The Holy Spirit is truly a Spirit, proceeding indeed from the Father, but He is not Himself the Son; for He is not begotten, but proceeds from the Father. For everything that exists is either uncreated, created, or made. Therefore, there is something that is neither begotten nor made; there is something that is begotten and not made; there is something that is neither begotten nor made; there is something that is made and not begotten; there is something that is made and begotten and reborn; there is something that is made and begotten and not reborn. Now, however, let us remember the things that have been proposed and let us designate substances for each of them. Therefore, what is neither born nor made is the Father: for he is not from anyone. But what is born and not made is the Son, who is begotten from the Father. And what is neither born nor made is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father. And what is also made and not born is the heaven, and the earth, and the other things that exist. But what is made, and born, and reborn is man, who is first born carnal and is reborn spiritual in baptism. But what has been done, and what has been born, and what has been reborn, are animals.