A Different Image of Trinity

I’m sure you are familiar with Rublev’s icon showing Abraham’s Three Visitors from Genesis 18. It is a popular depiction of the Trinity, with lots a beautiful symbolism in the details. You can read a post about it here.

I have recently discovered this new version (below), from self-taught icon-writer, Kelly Latimore. Read more about it underneath.

I was immediately struck by the assumptions we make about God, and how this new image challenges us. The traditional representation shows three male figures, and some may be shocked by the three young female figures in the version below. But God, of course, is neither male nor female, so why should one depiction be considered the norm and the other a divergence?

The answer lies in our two thousand years of gendered language. English, along with Hebrew and Greek, requires a ‘he’ or ‘she’ for a person. You can’t use ‘it’, even if the person’s gender is not clear. (You just try saying, “What a beautiful baby, what is IT’S name?” to a new parent and see what scowls you get.)

So we have God as Father, God as Son and God as (non-gendered) Holy Spirit and we paint pictures in our heads that God is a man. Probably with a big white beard. And so we miss the feminine images of God in the Bible due a phenomenon called ‘Confirmation Bias’, meaning that we tend to take note of and believe things that reinforce our current views, and ignore things that contradict them. That’s why it took Peter so long to get the message that God’s love was for ALL people, not only the Jews (Acts 10). God had actually been saying that since Genesis 12, but no one was paying attention. Confirmation Bias.

And that’s why the image below might cause a stir amongst many Christians even though we ‘know’ that God is not really a man. Think I’m being heretical? Before you reach for the kindling, here’s a sampling of Bible passages that use feminine mages for God. There are plenty more.

Genesis 1:27 woman and man both created in God’s image
Deut 32:11-12 God as a mother eagle
Deut 32:18 God giving birth to Israel
Ruth 2:12 God as a female bird
Job 38:8-9, 28-29 God giving birth
Psalm 22:9 God as midwife
Psalm 57:1, 61:4, 91:4 (and lots) more God as mother bird
Psalm 123:2-3 God compared to a woman
Psalm 131:2 God as a mother
Isaiah 42:14 God as a woman in labour
Isaiah 46:3-4 God as mother of a toddler
Isaiah 49:15 God as a nursing mother
Isaiah 66:9-13 God as a midwife and a mother
Hosea 11:1-4,8-9 God describing himself as a mother
Hosea 13:8 God as a mother bear
Matt 11:9 Holy Wisdom as a woman
Matt 23:37 Jesus as a mother hen
Luke 7:35 Holy Wisdom as a woman
Luke 11:45 Holy Wisdom as God
Luke 13:34 Jesus as a mother hen
Luke 15:8-10 God as woman looking for her lost coin
John 1:12 God giving birth
John 3:5-6 The Holy Spirit giving birth
I John throughout, God giving birth

In addition, the Hebrew concept of Holy Wisdom (= Sophia = Logos in the New Testament), is depicted as a woman throughout Solomon’s book of Proverbs

Great Commission / Trinity Resources

Trinity

Icon ‘Trinity’ by Kelly Latimore

From Latimore’s Website

“I started painting icons in 2011 while I was a member of the Common Friars from 2009-2013. Our collective work was about being more connected: to ourselves, each other, our surrounding community and the land. This manifested itself as a place called “The Good Earth Farm” where we held weekly services and meals, and grew produce for our community and local food pantries.

Iconography has since become a practice of more considerations: of color and light, of brush stroke and form, symbol and meaning. However, I do not wish to approach Iconography as an art form that simply follows an inherited tradition, knowledge and practice. I want it to be a creative process, meditation, and practice that brings about new self knowledge for the viewer and myself. Who are the saints that are among us here and now?

I was not taught by a traditional Iconographer, and so to some, I am breaking many rules. There are icons here that people may find theologically unsound and wrong, or for others, helpful and inspiring. I think both reactions are important. My hope is that these icons do what all art can potentially do, which is, to create more dialogue.

The other may have something to teach us about what we know, about who God is, the world we live in and who are our neighbors. This is the real work of being human and of art. Being more present.”

To purchase prints and other works by Kelly Latimore, visit kellylatimoreicons.com