Why don't we have more artwork representing the Christian God (i.e. the Father)?

[Vishvavajra]

The ancient prohibitions against his depiction in sculpture might have something to do with it.

When he is depicted he just ends up looking like a generic bearded patriarch, which is a rather less impressive image in this day and age, not to mention of questionable usefulness. Nobody wants to see more pictures of old beardy dudes.

If he were done in Indian style with blue skin and multiple arms, each holding something interesting, that might be a different story.

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

no one has son the Father so no one knows what He looks like. that makes it difficult to paint a picture. Jesus had the form of a man so it is easier to paint pictures but most pictures are probably not very accurate. Jesus is usually shown with long hair and a dirty robe but since He was a carpenter He probably had strong muscles and His clothes were so good that the Roman soldiers gambled over who would get to keep some of them. they probably would not have done that for a dirty old robe

 

[Desert Snake]

Aside from the fact that it is 'creating' some image, of Deity, from imagination. Doesn't make sense in the first place.

 

[aoji]

why don't we have more pictures, more sculpture, etc. of God the Father?

1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

Exodus 20

It therefore is implied that the God of Israel is formless, without form, in-conceivable. God is Spirit. God is Love. God is Life. How would you depict a Spirit? Vapous? An ephemeral wisp of smoke? It would have be through an intermediary image, just as art can depict Hope, Faith and Love. The temptation would then be to worship those images instead of what they represent. And you would then be breaking the first two Commandments.

The fragments underlined represents the crux of the matter - religious worship.

 

[aoji]

IIRC, the robe was a present from a wealthy benefactor.

 

[aoji]

I consider Him to be my Father in Heaven, and the individual in whose image I was created.

What father among you, if [your] son asks for [bread .. will he give him a stone,] [if he asks for a] fish, ... give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Luke 11:11-13

God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Psalm 53:2-3

Maybe that is where the idea of God being "up" in Heaven came from, that it was taken literally, after all it does say He "looks down from heaven..." Maybe it means that the Spiritual realm is the higher realm and that the physical realm is the lower realm, just as Upper and Lower Egypt are not up and down coordinates on a map, they are elevations, with Upper Egypt being in the South and Lower Egypt being in the North; mountains to sea level.

 

[Katzpur]

Exodus 20

It therefore is implied that the God of Israel is formless, without form, in-conceivable. God is Spirit. God is Love. God is Life. How would you depict a Spirit? Vapous? An ephemeral wisp of smoke? It would have be through an intermediary image, just as art can depict Hope, Faith and Love. The temptation would then be to worship those images instead of what they represent. And you would then be breaking the first two Commandments.

The fragments underlined represents the crux of the matter - religious worship.

I'm curious as to why you included "God is life." Which passages of scripture says that?

 

[Katzpur]

Luke 11:11-13


Psalm 53:2-3

Maybe that is where the idea of God being "up" in Heaven came from, that it was taken literally, after all it does say He "looks down from heaven..." Maybe it means that the Spiritual realm is the higher realm and that the physical realm is the lower realm, just as Upper and Lower Egypt are not up and down coordinates on a map, they are elevations, with Upper Egypt being in the South and Lower Egypt being in the North; mountains to sea level.

Excuse me for being so dense, but why did you cross out most of the verses you quoted?

 

[ether-ore]

It's easy to find pictures of Jesus Christ. We see pictures of Him teaching the Sermon on the Mount, pictures of Him on the Sea of Galilee, pictures of Him walking on water, pictures of Him raising Lazarus from the dead, pictures of Him blessing the little children, pictures of Him healing the sick, pictures of Him dying on the cross, pictures of Him as a resurrected being on Easter morning.

So why don't we have more pictures, more sculpture, etc. of God the Father? Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel and God the Father is depicted there. I'm aware of another few pictures of Him. But why is He so "ignored" in Christian art in general?

Because no man cometh unto the Father but by Jesus Christ? Our primary focus while in this sphere of existence is on the Christ. But as you and I are told, he who hath seen the Son hath seen the Father because, just as Seth was in the express image of his father Adam, so is Christ in the express image of His Father.

 

[Katzpur]

Because no man cometh unto the Father but by Jesus Christ? Our primary focus while in this sphere of existence is on the Christ. But as you and I are told, he who hath seen the Son hath seen the Father because, just as Seth was in the express image of his father Adam, so is Christ in the express image of His Father.

Well, I'll be darned.

 

[ether-ore]

Well, I'll be darned.

 

[jojom]

Well, I'll be darned.

Besides, pictures of god don't sell well.

 

[Diomedes]

They are merely illustrations and representations of Jesus. And the 10 commandments explicitly says not to make images of him

 

[syo]

It's easy to find pictures of Jesus Christ. We see pictures of Him teaching the Sermon on the Mount, pictures of Him on the Sea of Galilee, pictures of Him walking on water, pictures of Him raising Lazarus from the dead, pictures of Him blessing the little children, pictures of Him healing the sick, pictures of Him dying on the cross, pictures of Him as a resurrected being on Easter morning.

So why don't we have more pictures, more sculpture, etc. of God the Father? Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel and God the Father is depicted there. I'm aware of another few pictures of Him. But why is He so "ignored" in Christian art in general?

in orthodoxy there are not any pictures of the Father, instead there are only pictures of the Son, because the Son is the revealed god. the Father doesn't have a revealed form that's why there are no pictures of Him.

 

[whirlingmerc]

There are prohibitions against images of God from human imagination
also attributes of God include 'immortal, invisible, God only wise'