Call No Man Father
“Not According to the Bible”

Fundamentalists Protestants love to quote (Matthew 23:9) to confuse unsuspecting Catholics because it states, “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven”. Arrogant Fundamentalists will then exclaim, ‘see you Catholics are going against the Word of God because you call your priests father’. Are these Protestants correct in their assertion? The answer is a resounding no! One must first look at this Bible verse in context in order to understand its meaning. “they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt 23:7-12) After reading the verse the proper interpretation of the passage becomes crystal clear. Jesus did not intend a prohibition of titles, but is is a warning to the prideful and arrogant not to seek titles that would make them superior to others while they usurped authority that comes from God.

If one would actually make the absurd argument that the three titles found in these verses (Rabbi, Father, and Teacher) are the issue, then a whole series of synonyms are also prohibited such as, professor, coach, doctor, dad, or grandfather. No serious student of the Bible adheres to this silly interpretation of this verse. The Catholic practice of calling priests fathers is right in line with the Bible. In both testaments, priest and father are used quite often. Micah addressed the Levite: "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest.” (Judges 17:10) St. Paul writes: "For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:15). So the next time someone says it is wrong to call a catholic priest “father”, you can respond, 'Not according to the Bible!'