[2] This faith is the offspring born of those two Creeds. But as its swaddling clothes are unwrapped, what comes into view is not one but three, at first joined as if embracing, but later separated. For they lay down that essence joins them together, but they are separated by their individual functions - creating, redeeming and working; or imputation, imputed righteousness and realisation. This is the reason why, although they made one God out of the three functions, they still did not make one God out of the three Persons, to prevent the idea of three Gods being wiped out. For, as long as the belief persists that each Person singly is God, as the Creed says, then if the three Persons were as a result to become one, the whole edifice founded as it were on three columns would collapse into a pile of ruins.

[3] The reason why the Council introduced the idea of three Divine Persons from eternity was their failure to examine the Word properly, so that they could find from it no other refuge as a defence against the Arians. They then brought the three Persons, each of whom is by Himself God, together to make one God, through fear that every rational and pious person in the three continents would accuse them of believing in three Gods and slander them. They devised the doctrine of faith applied to all three in turn, because this is the inevitable consequence of that premise. A further reason was that if one of the three were overlooked, the third would not be sent, so that the whole working of Divine grace would be nullified.