Bestowing Unto Priests the Title of "Father"
edited by Martin Beckman
The Scriptures are clear on this issue, or so it seems to many. Ephesians 4:6 teaches that we have only one God and Father. The verse reads: "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." But if this wasn't clear enough for the Catholics, perhaps they would do well to check out Jesus' very own words when He spoke in Matthew 23:9. Jesus said, And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven."
It seems very clear from Mat. 23:9 that Catholics are breaking the command of Jesus by addressing their priests as "father". And one is never hard-pressed to hear the average Protestant say something like this:
"Matthew 23:9 tells us quite clearly, 'Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.' Therefore I obey Jesus Christ rather than the false doctrines and traditions of men. The Catholic Church would do well to read the Bible a little more closely and see how wrong they are on this issue and many other similar issues."
And so at first glance it does seem very obvious that the Roman Catholic Church is wrong in addressing priests as "father." But let's take a deeper look into Scripture and see what we find. I think you might be surprised by what Christ meant in Mat. 23:9.
There are three ways in which we might address a person as "father."
1) our male biological parent
2) a male spiritual leader
3) the first person of the Holy Trinity
There is a bit of a progression here, from the biological, to the spiritual, to the divine. Let's begin by taking a look at the biological use of the term "father", and then look at the spiritual (or religious) use of "father." I will skip the divine use of "Father" all together because it is a no-brainer.
Many Protestants say that in accordance with Mat. 23:9 we should NEVER call any man "father." But of course they don't really mean "never" because they understand that someone who took Mat. 23:9 to such a literal extreme would be off in left field. Scripture refers repeatedly to male biological parents as "father."
While there is really no need to cite the numerous verses in the Bible that refer to our male parent as our "father," I will remind you of one verse in which God Himself says in Exodus 20:12 to "…honor your father and mother…"
I think it is pretty clear that Christ did not mean for His words to be taken to such a literal extreme, as if the word f – a – t – h – e – r was a forbidden word that must only be applied to God. Rather we begin to catch a glimpse that there is a deeper truth to Jesus' words than what first meets the eye.
We see that when Jesus says that we are to call no man "father", He did not mean it in an absolute, all-encompassing way. It is obvious that when He said call "no man on earth father" He was not referring to our male parent. Few (if any) Protestants would argue this point. But what many Protestants would say is that Jesus would not have us refer to any spiritual or religious leader as "father." The Protestant would go on to say that this is where the Catholic Church is in err, by bestowing unto priests the forbidden title of "father." But let's see what Scripture says about referring to a spiritual leader as "father."
Abraham was not merely biologically kin to the Jews, he was in fact a spiritual leader to whom the Jews honored. Christ once told a group of Jews (who were in fact biologically related to Abraham) that they were not his "children" at all and Abraham was not their "father" because they were not of the same spirit as Abraham [chiefly John 8:37-44]. This passage and many others demonstrates that Abraham was in truth a spiritual father to the Jews.
In fact, the same Jesus that said, "call no man on earth your father" Himself referred to Abraham as "father Abraham" when telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man [Luke 16:24]. Paul also refers to Abraham as "father" seven times in Romans 4:1-18. And James likewise refers to Abraham as "our father" when in James 2:21 he says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?"
When the apostle John writes to the spiritual leaders of the Church he refers to them as "fathers" [I John 2:13-14]. "I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning…" We read in Acts 7:1-2 where Stephen refers to the Jewish High Priests as "fathers." We see in I Thes. 2:11 the idea of spiritual fatherhood when Paul says, "As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children." This idea of spiritual fatherhood becomes even more clear when Paul refers to Timothy as, "my son in the faith." [I Tim 1:2] (see also II Tim 1:2 and 2:1) Finally, we even have recorded in Scriptures where Paul reminds the Corinthians that he is their father: "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, you do not have many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel." [I Cor 4:14-15]
It seems strange that Paul, James, Stephen and John would break Jesus' command and refer to men as "father" if in fact Matt. 23:9 is to be interpreted the way most modern day Protestants interpret it.
Now let us examine the passage with the immediate following verses.
Matt 23:8-12 (RSV) "But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
In addition to "father", these additional verses also would place prohibitions on the use of the titles of teacher and master. Many people don't realize that the word "doctor", be they medical physicians, professors or scientists with Ph.D.s, is the Latin word for teacher. Mister and Mistress (Mrs.) are also forms of the word "master". Anyone calling a person "Doctor" or "Mister" would be as guilty as a Catholic who calls a priest "Father". Jesus himself tells the apostles to teach and make disciples all the nations (Matt. 28:19). Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, when explaining the various gifts people would receive says that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers" (Eph. 4:11).
So the passages must be read for their context and not in a harshly literal sense in which Jesus, Paul, and the Apostles themselves would violate the command.
Apologist and one-time Protestant, Tim Staples, says that our biological and spiritual fathers neither take away nor add to God's unique role as our Heavenly Father. He goes on to say: "The context of Matthew 23 shows that it's addressing the sin of pride among the scribes and Pharisees. They loved to be called 'teacher' and 'father.' But in their pride they pointed to themselves rather than to God the Father, from Whom they received true fatherhood, and in Whom their fatherhood subsisted. Outside of God the Father, there are no fathers at all in the true sense of the term.