Divine Fatherhood

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Throughout the centuries, the council of the Russian Orthodox Church prohibited certain icons that contained controversial themes or imagery. The Divine Fatherhood icon was disapproved of as it shows God the Father who, according to church doctrines, was invisible and should not be depicted. The theme of the icon is based on prophet Ezekiel’s vision of a divine being on a throne that was carried by winged creatures. Each creature had four wings ‘like burning coals of fire’ and, beneath them, four intersecting wheels (Ezekiel 1:1-28). Throughout history, Ezekiel’s encounter with the flying throne on wheels prompted various interpretations of what has become known as the Spaceship of Ezekiel.