Why do we call Priests "Father"?

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At RCIA we had a “question and answer” session. We had to write a question on a piece of paper, put it in a box and then the Priest, Deacon, Catechist, or Sisters from the Convent would take it in turns to pull out a piece of paper and answer that question. Two of mine were answered, one I forgot, and this is the one which they didn’t get round to.

It’s something I haven’t really questioned until recently. A quick google search produces conflicting answers. Can anyone help?
 
LemonAndLime said:
At RCIA we had a “question and answer” session. We had to write a question on a piece of paper, put it in a box and then the Priest, Deacon, Catechist, or Sisters from the Convent would take it in turns to pull out a piece of paper and answer that question. Two of mine were answered, one I forgot, and this is the one which they didn’t get round to.

It’s something I haven’t really questioned until recently. A quick google search produces conflicting answers. Can anyone help?
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We call priest father because they have the authourity to lead the lay people to Christ. Just like our biological father help protecst us and lead us to do the right thing, the priest are our spiritual father because they protect us from error and lead us to God.
 
Acts 7:2 - St. Stephen calls Jewish leaders “fathers”
Acts 21:40, 22:1 - St. Paul calls Jerusalem Jews “fathers”
Rom 4:16-17 - Abraham called the father of us all"
1Cor 4:14-15 - I became your father in Christ through gospel
1Tim 1:2 - my true child in our common faith
Heb 12:7-9 - we have earthly fathers to discipline us
Lk 14:26 - if anyone comes to me without hating his father…
1Thess 2:11 - we treated you as a father treats his children
Philem 10 - whose father I became in my imprisonment
1Jn 2:13, 14 - I write to you, fathers, because you know him
 
They spiritually nurture and bring us up the same way our biological fathers physically and emotionally nurture us.
 
In addition the Scripture Cristiano posted…

In Judeo-Christianity, spiritual leaders are customarily called “father”. For example:

Elisha calls the Prophet Elijah his “father”. (2Kings 2:12)

After Elisha replaces Elijah as a prophet, he is called “father” by the king of Israel. (2Kings 6:21)

In the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, Jesus used the term “Father Abraham.” (Luke 16:24)

As a side note, it may be worth mentioning that the title of “father” given to priests is simply meant as an affectionate term (as well as a term of respect). The official title of a Catholic priest is not “father” but “Reverend.”
 
EricFilmer said:
In addition the Scripture Cristiano posted…

In Judeo-Christianity, spiritual leaders are customarily called “father”. For example:

Elisha calls the Prophet Elijah his “father”: 2Kings 2:12

After Elisha replaces Elijah as a prophet, he is called “father” by the king of Israel (2Kings 6:21)

In the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man, Jesus used the term “Father Abraham” (Luke 16:24)

As a side note, it may be worth noting that the title of “father” given to priests is simply meant as an affectionate term (as well as a term of respect). The official title of a Catholic priest is not “father” but “Reverend.”
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Thanks I will add your references to my apologetics Bible cheat sheet.👍
 
In Jesus day there were a number of Jewish sects. The most well known are the Pharisees, Saducees, Essenes, and the Zealots.

These sects had houses of teaching within them .

Within the Pharisees there were two famous rival houses.
They were the House of Shammai(Beit Shammai) and the House of Hillel (founder of the Beit Hillel school). The individuals that these houses were named after were considered the **“father” **of the house.

Jesus warns the apostles not to be fathers to “separate” houses for there is but one house of the Lord. Jesus also says to call no man “teacher” or “master.”

Paul was taught by Gamaliel[Acts22:3], a pharisee from the house of Hillel. Gamaliel was, in fact, the grandson of Hillel. Gamaliel was known as an elder and had the title of “Rabban” which means “Our Master.” This title explains why Jesus also said call no one “master”, for there is but one house and one master of all.

Again, Jesus wanted unity see John 17], and does not want the apostles to set up separate houses or schools of thought. The corollary of this is clearly expressed in Paul’s complaint in 1 Cor 1:10-15 where some are arguing their superiority by being baptized by, and belonging to, Paul vs. Apollos, or Cephas, etc. Paul goes on elsewhere to further warn against factions and divisions, and stresses the importance of one mind and unity of doctrine.

The meaning of “call no man father, teacher, or master” concerns unity and consistency of doctrine and has nothing to do with the commonly used references that are seen elsewhere in scripture or everyday use.

I hope this helps.
 
Thank you all for your responses! It did help, thanks. 🙂 Glad I asked this here rather than at RCIA, its nice to have lots of answers and background information they might not know.
 
ConstantineTG said:
But Abraham is the biological patriarch of all Jews. They directly descend from him.
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True, but Abraham is also the spiritual father of all Christians by way of his faith. Paul tells us this in Romans 4:16 where he says:
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,
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God bless.
 
Pax said:
True, but Abraham is also the spiritual father of all Christians by way of his faith. Paul tells us this in Romans 4:16 where he says:

God bless.
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Right, but the context where Jesus calls Abraham father is the fact that he and all the other Jews he was talking to biologically descended from Abraham, as the genealogy of Christ tries to prove in the Gospels. Within the context of that passage, it was both biological and spiritual fatherhood, as the promise to make them the chosen people was given to Abraham.
 
LemonAndLime said:
At RCIA we had a “question and answer” session. We had to write a question on a piece of paper, put it in a box and then the Priest, Deacon, Catechist, or Sisters from the Convent would take it in turns to pull out a piece of paper and answer that question. Two of mine were answered, one I forgot, and this is the one which they didn’t get round to.

It’s something I haven’t really questioned until recently. A quick google search produces conflicting answers. Can anyone help?
Click to expand...
Actually, this very site has an excellent tract on exactly that subject. Here’s the link:

catholic.com/library/Call_No_Man_Father.asp
 
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