For Cyril of Alexandria, the name “Father” is superior to that of God because “He is called ‘Father’ by the One who is best and most worthy, that is by the Son. He is called God by slaves, by those who are least; so great is the distance between the Master and the slave, between the Creator and the creature. Just as the word Father is related to the Son, so the word God is related to slaves and those who do not have the same nature of God, whatever that nature may be” (Cyril of Alexandria, Relic 5, PG 75, cols. 65-8).