Dear Editor,
In the May issue of en, Ken Brownell, in his article on icons in Eastern Orthodoxy, writes: “images of the invisible Father the Orthodox agree are not permitted”. Orthodoxy is not a monolith with one supreme leader. There are variations in doctrine and practice. Although there have been synods that have prohibited images of God the Father, this has not prevented certain iconographers from portraying Him in their icons.
Here are a few examples. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, has an image of God the Father. The cathedral’s interior features a ceiling fresco portraying the Holy Trinity, with God the Father depicted in human form. The dome fresco of the Pantokrator Monastery at Mount Athos has a painting of the Father with the title O Anarkhos Pater / The Father without Beginning.
The Hospitality of Abraham is an early 15th-century icon by the Russian painter Andrei Rublev. This icon depicts the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and is located in the Trinity Cathedral in Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow. Therefore, there are some within Orthodoxy who have no qualms in having images of God the Father.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Karageorgis
By email
