Call No Man Father: Understanding Matthew 23:9 ? Advice or Meaning

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englands123

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9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Am I right in thinking not to call our dad (Farther). Only call him Dad and the only exception to this rule would be to call a Priest (Fr) Father as a symbol of our Heavenly Father.
 
No, I mean your understanding is wrong.

It is permissible to call both your priest and your dad “father”.
 
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Why does St. Paul refer to himself in Scripture as a father to Timothy (he was not, in fact, Timothy’s biological father) if the cherry picked passage you quote literally meant that Jesus was telling us never to call a man a ‘father’ (and in fact, ‘father’ is an English word which Jesus didn’t even use).

And why does nobody go further as the text continues, and call no man ‘rabbi’ (teacher)? If you eschew “father” then you have to eschew ‘teacher’ as well. . .funnily enough, nobody ever seems to worry about that. . .
 
I never call my dad , father.

But I just wanted to know if that is correct as well as a priest.
 
I don’t address my dad as “father”, but it wouldn’t be wrong if I did. This is one of those parts of scripture where Jesus was not being literal and we have to understand the deeper meaning. People were giving titles to people without honoring the reason why in his day; he was calling them to think about who these people were. Did they deserve to be addressed as such?
 
Hi englands123

What Jesus was referring to here was that God our Heavenly Father is the one who provides for all of our needs and we are completly dependent on Him for these things.

Biological fathers and spiritual fathers (priests) participate in the Fatherhood of God. Theres nothing wrong in calling them ‘father’ but God is the source of all that we have and He comes first.
 
englands123 said:
9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Am I right in thinking not to call our dad (Farther). Only call him Dad
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What’s the difference between calling your father, Father or calling him Dad? Did Jesus say, call no man “father” or did he say, call no man your “pater”? Does Father mean “pater”? Does Dad mean “pater”?

I don’t think English even existed back then.
and the only exception to this rule would be to call a Priest (Fr) Father as a symbol of our Heavenly Father.
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There are no exceptions. Call no man “pater”.

Seriously, though, Jesus was making a point. He also said, "call no man teacher, call no man rabbi, call no man master. He could just as easily have continued and said, “call no man governor, call no man judge, call no man king.”

The point Jesus is making a point. He is pointing out that God is the authority above all those authorities. So, let’s look at that in more detail.

8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

You can’t understand that verse unless you quote the complete idea.
 
This is the worst. Saint Paul confessed to (I think it was bishop Timothy) that he (i.e. Timothy or Titus) was his begotten in Christ. That means his son in Jesus. You can’t be someone’s son unless the other is your parent (seeing as two men, necessarily FATHER).

Further, the Lord said on the Cross “behold your mother… behold your son.” This is impossible if Jesus abolished parenthood titles.
 
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This is one of those cliched, anti-Catholic cherry-picked Bible verses. It’s so uninformed and dishonest as to be slander. Many anti-Catholics (whose own “churches” popped up a few decades ago) think they have a real “gotcha” with this one, but in all honestly it just shows how pitiful and shallow their teachings are.
 
It also says not to call anyone teacher, how many people do you know that don’t call their physician, doctor? Which is what the word “doctor” means.
 
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