The Bible says we can't call priests "Father"?

Question

I am a Roman Catholic. Today I had a long discussion with a born again Christian and he said a lot of things I could not respond to. He showed me Matthew 23:9 which says don't call any man Father. Yet we Catholics call our priests Father. How do I respond to this?

Answer 1

This has been asked (and answered) several times before. It is the cheapest of anti-Catholic polemics.

The quick scriptural response that most Catholic apologists will employ is to invoke Acts 7:2, where Stephen called other men "father," Acts 22:1, where Paul called other men "father," and especially 1 Corinthians 4:15, where Paul states that he became our father through the gospel.

That last verse is particularly interesting, because it does not mean Paul was our literal, biological father; rather it means he is our father in a spiritual, or religious sense. Father Paul!

But there is one other passage that no apologist seems to bring up, but I consider the most relevant, and that is 1 Timothy 5:1. If you consult the original Greek text, you will find the word "prebytero" (i.e. presbyter). The literal reading would be a command that we not disrespect a Presbyter, rather we should address them as father. So, why do Catholics and Orthodox Christians address their presbyters as "father"? Because the Bible tells them so.

As a side note, 1 Timothy 5:1-2 provides a structure very similar to what we find in the Roman Catholic Church today, with Father Presbyters, Mother Superiors, Brother Monks, and Sister Nuns.

Answer 2

No where in the bible does Jesus Christ call any man his father. There is no account of Jesus calling Joseph his father.

When ever Jesus refers to his and our father he is only ever referring to God.

In the same sense as Jesus Christ did not call any earthly man father. It is my understanding that we should follow his example and not call any earthly man your father.

Jesus Christ gives a reason why we shouldn't call anyone on earth your father and that is because we have only one Father, and he is in heaven.

We can refer to men as having fathered us or to other men as being a father and we can refer to ourselves as having fathered others or that we are a father to others but to call anyone on earth your father goes against the teachings of Jesus.

We have only one Father, and he is in heaven.

Answer 3

The response is a hard one to make but to accept the truth the Bible is telling you. Man has changed so many teaching of the Bible but it is God's Word and must be followed or not. To not means you will suffer the consequences. Yes, the Bible does say that and it was straight from the Christ's mouth. So, does a person stay in a religion that teach false teachings? Personally, I wouldn't as it is God I am to please, not man. You have some hard thinking to do. Start by praying to God and asking Him what His plans are for you in His Will. I will also pray for you.

Answer 4

There is a tendency in Catholicism to teach that a priest of the church is at a higher level of divine authority than a member of the congregation (which they refer to as you probably know as "laity"). And that is kind of insinuated when one says father - denoting superior authority. Yet Jesus said, "You are all brothers and you have but one master." Even more so, Peter, whom Catholicism claims to be it's first pope, wrote, “…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Thus, we are all priests according to Peter. That is not to say the church cannot have leaders, but that we should remember we all have but one Father. And we are all brothers, and priests, in the true church of God - that is, the body of Christ. God Bless.

Answer 5

We must read the whole context of Matthew 23:9 to understand what CHrist is saying. Jesus condemmed the Jewish leaders for using "father" in a vain and empty way with their hipocrisy. Jesus didn't literally mean call no one "father", or else we couldn't call our biological dads, "father", or refer to the founding "fathers" of America, etc. Jesus doesn't mind titles and roles, but the self-aggrandizing abuse of "father" by the scribes and pharisees.
For example, Matthew 23:10, says "call no one teacher, but Christ"....yet Jesus called Nicodemus the "teacher" of Israel in John 3:10. Therefore, we must take the context and know what Jesus is saying. Priest are called "Father", because they bear many spiritual children through baptism and are the bread winners in Holy Communion. They imitate God the Father. God bless.

Answer 6

I am a born again Christian who came from a Catholic background. What this man says is true and there are many other examples. The endless repetition of the rosary also contradicts Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:7 to "not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard by their many words".
Jesus strongly rebuked the religious order of His day saying:
"Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." Mark 7:6-13

I could go on, but my best advice to you is to forget all about religion and the denominations, and realize when you boil it all down, the issue comes down to this:
Are you really following Jesus Christ according to the things He taught us in the Bible? Do you have that genuine faith which gives you an assurance you are His, that He has forgiven you your sins, and that the blood He shed once for all on the cross was shed for you? Make up your mind to settle the matter between you and God. Call upon Him today in prayer to save you by His grace; and then begin a humble searching out of His Word, the Bible, to see if you are really doing what He wants you to do. Suggest you start with the Gospel of John, then the other Gospels, and through the New Testament. Then begin to look into the Old Testament too.
Peace to you.

Answer 7

Ask him if he actually thinks God is upset about something like this. Then quote him the 2 greatest commandments.

For you Catholic bashers, priests hear confessions because Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins. The Pope comes from a chain of apostles going back to Saint Peter himself. We pray to God. We ask the saints to do the same for us. We do not worship them, we just aren't arrogant enough to put ourselves on the same level as a martyr, and we ask that they intercede for us. We don't worship statues. We use them as reminders of God's sacrifice and love for us. They help us to focus and not be distracted during prayer.

Answer 8

When you read the Bible you need to understand the times and culture in which it was written.
There are parts of the bible we do not take literally. An example is where we are told that if our eye is causing us to sin, we should pluck it out and if our hand is causing us to sin, we should cut it off.
I don't see any one eyed, one handed Christians.
Be careful of people to do not have an educated understanding of how and why the Bible was written. They tend to quote the Bible to how it suits them and disregard the rest.

Answer 9

He is correct. We are not to esteem one person over another, all believers are equal in God's eyes.

Mat 23:9 -
And call no man your Father ... - This does not, of course, forbid us to apply the term to our real father. Religion requires all proper honor to be shown to Him, (Exo_20:12; Mat_15:4; Eph_6:1-3). But the word “father” also denotes “authority, eminence, superiority, a right to command, and a claim to particular respect.” In this sense it is used here. In this sense it belongs eminently to God, and it is not right to give it to people. Christian brethren are equal. Only God has supreme authority. He only has a right to give laws; to declare doctrines that shall bind the conscience; to punish disobedience. The Jewish teachers affected that title because they seem to have supposed that a teacher formed the man, or gave him real life, and sought, therefore, to be called father. Christ taught them that the source of all life and truth was God, and they ought not to seek or receive a title which properly belongs to him.

Answer 10

The classic response you will get from a catholic is "then we can't call our biological dad father?"

This argument stems from a misunderstanding of the scripture and the context of the discussion when Christ made this statement.

Catholic priests try to dodge the force of Jesus' command by telling us that if we interpreted our Lord's words literally, we could not call our parent "father." However, in the context of Matt. 23, Jesus is condemning the religious leaders of His time who did all their works to be seen of men (vs. 5), loved marks of distinction (vs. 6), and craved the flattering titles given by men (vs. 7). The writer of Hebrews by inspiration used the term "father" for our earthly parent. He said, "Furthermore, we had fathers of our flesh to correct us..." (Heb. 12:9). In view of these things, when Jesus said "call no one on earth your father," what could he have meant but that we are not to call men "father" in a religious sense?

Thus, Jesus was stating that our religious leaders must not be called Father (or Rabbi, as seen from the verse prior).

Do not let your "priest" confuse you. Father is a forbidden title when referring to a religious leader, period.