Images of an old man representing
God the Father are justified as making visible, certain traits expressing the
idea of the first Person’s fatherhood. . . . These images are therefore
personifications of the idea of fatherhood and are not intended to be
images of God the Father himself. (Steven Bigham, The Image of God the
Father in Orthodox Theology and Iconography and Other Studies [Torrance,
Calif.: Oakwood Publications, 1995], 201, italics in original)
