Call no man father? But what about my dad?

[confusedgirl]

Everyone who is anti catholic that I’ve met uses that bible verse to condemn my leaving protestant roots. I acknowlege my father as father out of respect because I would get in trouble for calling him by his first name. Is it bad to call him father? People talked about their pastor being like their father so why that okay but calling a priest father heresy?

Why do we call priests father in the first place?

 

[CalCatholic]

In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul tells the Corinthians, "For you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel."
So a priest can be a spiritual father to us also.

 

[philv]

I was struggling about this as a protestant earlier too. He’s not saying we can’t call each other by title, but he’s saying he’s the ultimate father, the ultimate teacher, etc. Priests have spiritual titles, like what Paul says above. Abraham is also called a father of many nations. He’s basically saying we’re not above him and need to become a little more humble. I forget the cultural term, but sometimes Jesus says something shocking to get their attention for the higher meaning. Hope that helps!

 

[CalCatholic]

Here is another reference from Paul in the NT:

Philemon verse 10, "I appeal to you my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment."

 

[Arizona_Mike]

So you can still call your biological father pop, dad, pop-pop, daddy, popster, and da.

 

[getysbg]

Jesus used three primary styles of teaching:

Factual: Verily, verily I say unto you…

Parables: The Good Samaritan is the most famous

And Hyperbole - teaching by exaggeration.

The ‘Call no man Father’ is an example of that. It also says ‘Call no man teacher’ and so on. Another example would be when He tells us to pluck out our eye or cut off our hand if it offends us. I haven’t seen that many half blind amputees lately. And, what about the teaching that unless we hate our mother, father, brother sister we can’t be followers of Him.

And if no one has mentioned it, turn to Acts where Stephen addresses the Sanhedrian as “Fathers and Brothers”.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t have an answer to something. Tell them that you’ll find out and get back to them, preferably with the same crowd around!

 

[Church_Militant]

These two articles cover this pretty well and you can always print them and just give it to the person.

• Call No Man “Father”?
• Call No Man “Holy Father”!

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Jesus used three primary styles of teaching:

Factual: Verily, verily I say unto you…

Parables: The Good Samaritan is the most famous

And Hyperbole - teaching by exaggeration.

The ‘Call no man Father’ is an example of that. It also says ‘Call no man teacher’ and so on. Another example would be when He tells us to pluck out our eye or cut off our hand if it offends us. I haven’t seen that many half blind amputees lately. And, what about the teaching that unless we hate our mother, father, brother sister we can’t be followers of Him.

And if no one has mentioned it, turn to Acts where Stephen addresses the Sanhedrian as “Fathers and Brothers”.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t have an answer to something. Tell them that you’ll find out and get back to them, preferably with the same crowd around!

Well stated.

Christ affirmed loving obedience to His earthly parents by His example as well as to our Father in Heaven, and found no conflict between the two loyalties. Interesting short article:

catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2013/12/making-sense-of-one-of-most-shocking.html

 

[steve_b]

Everyone who is anti catholic that I’ve met uses that bible verse to condemn my leaving protestant roots. I acknowlege my father as father out of respect because I would get in trouble for calling him by his first name. Is it bad to call him father? People talked about their pastor being like their father so why that okay but calling a priest father heresy?

Why do we call priests father in the first place?

If you ask those people, do they celebrate “father’s day” or ignore it, I suspect they celebrate it.

I’m wondering if they say to their children, I’m NOT your father so don’t call me your father.

I’m wondering how they interpret the commandment, Honor your mother and father?

If you really investigate what these people believe, I venture to say, you’ll find private interpretation of scripture is their standard, but a blueprint for nonsense… I further suspect they believe in what they like in the scriptures, and reject what they don’t like, therefore, it’s not the scriptures they believe, but themselves.

We’ve already been warned about those who have no business interpreting scripture for themselves or others [2 Peter 3:16](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2 Peter+3:16&version=RSVCE).