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Irenaeus mentioned the three members of the Godhead at many points throughout his writings,
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several of which provide insight into his views on the intratrinitarian relationships. There is but one
God--Father, Son, and Spirit (A.H. 4.6.7; 4.9.2), who are prefigured symbolically in the Old Testament
(4.20.12), and are together objects of faith (4.33.7; 5.9.2). However, amidst this unity of the Godhead,
there is also order in their functioning (3.9.3). Irenaeus explicitly stated as much in 4.38.3:

But being in subjection to God is continuance in immortality, and immortality is the glory of the uncreated
One. By this arrangement (tavxew"), therefore, and these harmonies (rJuqmw'n), and a sequence of this nature
(ajgwgh'" oJ genhtoV"), man, a created and organized being, is rendered after the image and likeness of the
uncreated God,--the Father planning everything well and giving His commands (tou' meVn PatroV"
eujdokou'nto" kaiV keleuvonto"), the Son carrying these into execution and performing the work of creating
(tou' deV UiJou' uJpourgou'nto" kaiV plavssonto"), and the Spirit nourishing and increasing [what is made]
(tou' deV Pneuvmato" trevfonto" kaiV au[xonto"), but man making progress day by day, and ascending
towards the perfect, that is, approximating to the uncreated One. For the Uncreated is perfect, that is, God.
In another passage, Demonstration 6, the clear, dynamic, and advanced Trinitarian thought was also
expressed in terms of the church's three points of the rule of faith:
This then is the order of the rule of our faith, and the foundation of the building, and the stability of our
conversation: God, the Father, not made, not material, invisible; one God, the creator of all things: this is the
first point of our faith. The second point is: The Word of God, Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, who was
manifested to the prophets according to the form of their prophesying and according to the method of the
dispensation of the Father: through whom all things were made; who also at the end of the times, to complete
and gather up all things, was made man among men, visible and tangible, in order to abolish death and show
forth life and produce a community of union between God and man. And the third point is: The Holy Spirit,
through whom the prophets prophesied, and the fathers learned the things of God, and the righteous were led
forth into the way of righteousness; and who in the end of the times was poured out in a new way upon
mankind in all the earth, renewing man unto God.
We have already seen that the Father created all things by the Word and Wisdom,
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but there also
appears to be a distinct order with regard to fellowship and interaction between God and humans. When
God reaches out to humanity in blessing or salvation, the order is from the Father, through the Son, and
in the Holy Spirit.
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When humans respond to God in prayer, worship, faith, or obedience the ascent is
most often to the Father, through the Son, and by (or in) the Holy Spirit.
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An example of this concept
is found in Against Heresies 5.36.2, where Irenaeus noted that believers "ascend through the Spirit to the
Son, and through the Son to the Father" (A.H. 5.36.2; cf. Dem. 7).
It is precisely with the Triune God that Irenaeus ended his Demonstration of the Apostolic
Preaching, and it is also where we end our examination of his writings. He pointed out the various errant
notions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit prevalent among the heretics of his age:
So then in respect of the three points of our seal error has strayed widely from the truth. For either they reject
the Father, or they accept not the Son and speak against the dispensation of His incarnation; or else they
receive not the Spirit, that is, they reject prophecy. And of all such must we beware, and shun their ways, if in
very truth we desire to be well-pleasing to God and to attain the redemption that is from Him.
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A modification of the Matthean baptismal formula is actually found in Dem. 3: "First of all it bids us bear in mind that we
have received baptism for the remission of sins, in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
who was incarnate and died and rose again, and in the Holy Spirit of God."
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A.H. 2.30.9; 4.20.1; 4.20.2; 4.20.4.
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A.H. 3.17.3; 3.18.7; 3.19.1; 4.11.1; 4.20.6; 4.20.7; 5.1.1; 5.1.1; 5.2.1.
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A.H. 1.23.1; 2.11.1; 3.4.2; 3.6.4; 3.9.1; 3.11.6; 3.12.14; 3.13.2; 3.16.3; 3.17.1; 3.17.2; 3.18.7; 3.19.3; 3.24.1; 3.24.1; 4.5.1;
4.6.5; 4.7.1; 4.7.3; 4.13.1; 4.17.6; 4.18.4; 4.20.1; 4.20.4; 4.20.5; 4.20.7; 4.20.9; 4.33.7; 5.14.3; 5.16.2; 5.32.2; Frag. 26; 39; Dem. 5;
7; 40; 47; 94; 95.
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Dem. 100.