Call No Man Father: Why Catholics Call Priests “Father”

Catholics call priests “Father” because a priest serves as a spiritual father: he teaches the faith, proclaims the Gospel, administers the sacraments, and helps lead Christians closer to Christ. The Catholic understanding is that this spiritual fatherhood does not compete with God’s unique fatherhood but participates in it.

When Jesus says, “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9), he is not forbidding every ordinary or spiritual use of the word “father.” The surrounding context shows that he is warning against pride and against treating any human teacher, leader, or father as an ultimate authority in place of God.

What Jesus Says in Matthew 23:9

Jesus’ statement appears in a passage directed at the scribes and Pharisees. He criticizes them because they desire public honor, authority, and recognition without practicing what they teach.

Jesus instructed his followers to “call no man father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father” (Mt. 23:9). How are we to understand the meaning of this command?

The whole passage reads, “But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called ‘masters,’ for you have one master, the Christ” (Matt. 23:8-10).

Jesus criticizes Jewish leaders who love “the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called ‘rabbi’ by men” (Matt. 23:6-7).

The Context: Hypocrisy and Spiritual Pride

First and foremost: context. You see from the very opening verse that Jesus is speaking to the crowds, but he is also focusing his words on his disciples.

He's addressing a particular group within first century Judaism known as the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes were the professional teachers of the law. They were trained to copy the Scriptures, but also to interpret the Scriptures for the people.

The Pharisees were a very strict sect within Judaism. Their Hebrew name perushim means the separated ones, and they were known for their strict fidelity to the Jewish law.

They also were basically the most authoritative and powerful group within the Jewish people of the first century A.D. So for example, Josephus tells us that although there were different Jewish sects like the Essenes, who lived by the Dead Sea, and the Sadducees, many of whom were in the priesthood, or the zealots, who were political revolutionaries; Josephus tells us that the Pharisees were the most influential.

Jesus confirms that here and he gives us a little more of a window into it. So he tells his disciples, this is striking, he says look, the Pharisees and the scribes sit on the seat of Moses, so do whatever they tell you.

So he tells them, do what they say but don't do what they do, because although they teach the law of God, they don’t actually practice it themselves. They don’t practice what they teach.

That's the famous saying, practice what you preach, do what you teach. That's the problem with the Pharisees. So essentially the Pharisees are the example of religious hypocrisy.

They know the truth, they even teach the truth to others, but they don't follow it themselves, which means that many of them are then a corrupt religious authority.

They are leading the people by teaching the truth, but not leading them by doing the truth.

The Titles “Rabbi,” “Father,” and “Master”

Jesus turns though and gives his disciples a different instruction, and here's where he makes the famous line, where he says, number one, “you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher.”

Second, he says you should call “no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” And then finally, he says don't be “called masters, for you have one master, the Christ.”

In other words, the Christos, the Messiah. Who is there one master? Jesus is their one master.

Now what does that mean? Well most of us, if you have read the New Testament, will know that the word rabbi (from John’s Gospel), which is still used to this day to address Jewish leaders in the synagogue for example (Jewish ordained ministers are called rabbi), essentially means teacher.

That's the basic meaning of it. The literal Hebrew, it's worth pointing out here, actually means “my great one.” Rab means great in Hebrew. I is the personal pronoun for me.

So rabbi means “my great one.” So you can imagine, that might be an exalting title to have, to come up and say my great one.

Obviously, that's a very exalted title, to call someone my great one. And that's what rabbi literally meant.

So what Jesus is saying here is that they love being called rabbi by others. So pause there. That's the context of what Jesus is about to say.

Everything he has just said up to this point is highlighting two aspects of the scribes and Pharisees. Although they are legitimate teachers of the Jewish people, they are hypocrites and they are also prideful. They want the praise of men.

Jesus Uses Hyperbole to Make a Point

Jesus here is using what’s called hyperbole. Hyperbole is exaggeration to make a point.

Christ used hyperbole often, for example when he declared, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:29, cf. 18:9; Mark 9:47).

Christ certainly did not intend this to be applied literally, for otherwise all Christians would be blind amputees! (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:15).

We’re not to regard anyone as our ultimate teacher except for God. We’re not to regard anyone as our ultimate master except for God. We’re not to regard anyone as our ultimate father except for God.

So that’s what Jesus’ fundamental point is. How do we know that he’s using hyperbole, though? Well, God doesn’t have a problem with telling the truth.

So consequently…there are people on earth who are clearly our fathers-namely, our biological fathers. I mean, that’s the truth.

So God doesn’t have a problem with us referring to our biological fathers as fathers. Similarly, there are people here on Earth who are clearly our teachers. You know, you’re in school, you’ve got a teacher. You could call that person a teacher.

God doesn’t have a problem with that, it’s the truth. In some societies, you have masters who are genuinely, truthfully somebody’s master. God doesn’t have a problem with acknowledging that.

So God doesn’t have a problem with acknowledging, when it’s true, that a person has a given role. And that shows us that Jesus, in this passage-like in other passages-is using hyperbole.

He’s exaggerating to make a point; the point being that we should not confuse the kind of teacher that God is, or the kind of master that God is, or the kind of father that God is, with any other kind.

Jesus Did Not Forbid Calling Biological Fathers “Father”

No one would deny a little girl the opportunity to tell someone that she loves her father. Common sense tells us that Jesus wasn’t forbidding this type of use of the word “father.”

In fact, to forbid it would rob the address “Father” of its meaning when applied to God, for there would no longer be any earthly counterpart for the analogy of divine Fatherhood.

The concept of God’s role as Father would be meaningless if we obliterated the concept of earthly fatherhood.

Jesus himself commanded people to honor their parents. He said, “Honor your father and mother” in Mark, chapter seven, when he talked about the traditions of the Pharisees that broke the fourth commandment.

On the other hand, when the rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, our Lord replied, “Honor your father and mother” (Matt. 19:19; Luke 18:20).

He excoriated the Pharisees for neglecting this commandment (Mark 7:10-13). Following Jesus, the early Church taught children to obey their parents and parents to treat their children well (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20-21).

The Bible Uses “Father” in Several Legitimate Ways

But in the Bible the concept of fatherhood is not restricted to just our earthly fathers and God. It is used to refer to people other than biological or legal fathers, and is used as a sign of respect to those with whom we have a special relationship.

For example, Joseph tells his brothers of a special fatherly relationship God had given him with the king of Egypt: “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:8).

Job indicates he played a fatherly role with the less fortunate: “I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know” (Job 29:16).

And God himself declares that he will give a fatherly role to Eliakim, the steward of the house of David: “In that day I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah . and I will clothe him with [a] robe, and will bind [a] girdle on him, and will commit . authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah” (Isa. 22:20-21).

This type of fatherhood applies not only to those who are wise counselors (like Joseph) or benefactors (like Job) or both (like Eliakim); it also applies to those who have a fatherly spiritual relationship with one.

For example, Elisha cries, “My father, my father!” to Elijah as the latter is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs. 2:12).

Later, Elisha himself is called a father by the king of Israel (2 Kgs. 6:21).

New Testament Examples of Spiritual Fatherhood

There are numerous examples in the New Testament of the term “father” being used as a form of address and reference, even for men who are not biologically related to the speaker.

There are, in fact, so many uses of “father” in the New Testament, that the objection to Catholics calling priests “father” must be wrong, as we shall see.

An examination of the New Testament shows “father” is a title applied to God, to the ancestors of Israel, to fathers of families, to Jewish leaders, to Christian leaders, and even to the Devil (the Father of Lies).

Every New Testament book except 3 John uses the word “father” at least once.

As the table illustrates, the New Testament usually (63% of the time) uses “father” as a reference to God the Father.

Abraham and Other Ancestors

Many will respond at this point and claim Jesus is not just condemning calling anyone father; rather, he is condemning calling religious leaders “father.”

This is easily dismissed when we consider the words of our Lord from Luke 16:24: And he (the rich man) called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.”

Abraham is clearly a “religious leader.” And Jesus is not alone in referring to him “father.”

St. James refers to Abraham as “father” in James 2:21, while St. Paul refers to Abraham as “father” seven times in Romans 4:1-18.

It also doesn’t exclude calling one’s ancestors “father,” as is shown in Acts 7:2, where Stephen refers to “our father Abraham,” or in Romans 9:10, where Paul speaks of “our father Isaac.”

If you believe in the inspiration of Sacred Scripture, St. James and St. Paul cannot contradict Jesus in Matthew 23:9.

Stephen Addresses “Brothers and Fathers”

In Acts 7:1-2, St. Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls both Abraham and the elders of Jerusalem “father” in the same breath:

And the high priest said, “Is this so?” And Stephen said: “Brethren and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham…”

Nearly half the uses of “father” in the Acts of the Apostles appear in Stephen’s speech in chapter 7 (17 out of 36 uses).

He refers to the ancestors as fathers, both individually and collectively (16 times), and once he addresses his audience as “brothers and fathers.”

Paul addressed a crowd of angry Jews in the Temple as “brothers and fathers” (Acts 22:1).

These are places in which “father” is given to Jewish religious leaders.

Paul Calls Himself a Spiritual Father

And in I Corinthians 4:14-15, St. Paul refers to himself as “father”:

I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

In fact, he insists on being called the spiritual father of the Corinthians when he says, “You have in Christ ten thousand teachers, but not many fathers, because in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through announcing the gospel. Therefore I exhort you to become imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:15).

Preaching the good news constituted Paul’s fatherly begetting of children, making him their spiritual father.

He requests they imitate him, not only in good behavior but in bringing others to spiritual rebirth.

Paul regularly referred to Timothy as his child: “Therefore I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ” (1 Cor. 4:17).

“To Timothy, my true child in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (1 Tim. 1:2).

“To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (2 Tim. 1:2).

He also referred to Timothy as his son: “This charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare” (1 Tim 1:18).

“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).

“But Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel” (Phil. 2:22).

Paul also referred to other of his converts in this way: “To Titus, my true child in a common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” (Titus 1:4).

“I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment” (Philem. 10).

None of these men were Paul’s literal sons. Rather, Paul is emphasizing his spiritual fatherhood with them.

John Calls Christian Men “Fathers”

In I John 2:13-14, St. John refers to the leaders of the church in Ephesus to whom he is most likely writing as “fathers” twice.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning…

Notice, he does not say they are “fathers” because they are married with children. They are “fathers,” spiritually speaking. And they are presumably “on the earth.”

John said, “My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

“No greater joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth” (3 John 4).

In fact, John also addresses men in his congregations as “fathers” (1 John 2:13-14).

Peter and the Spiritual Family

Peter followed the same custom, referring to Mark as his son: “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings; and so does my son Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13).

The apostles sometimes referred to entire churches under their care as their children.

Paul writes, “Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you; for children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Cor. 12:14).

“My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal. 4:19).

By referring to these people as their spiritual sons and spiritual children, Peter, Paul, and John imply their own roles as spiritual fathers.

“Father” Does Not Mean “God”

Jesus is not forbidding us to call men “fathers” who actually are such-either literally or spiritually.

He is warning people against inaccurately attributing fatherhood-or a particular kind or degree of fatherhood-to those who do not have it.

As the apostolic example shows, some individuals genuinely do have a spiritual fatherhood, meaning that they can be referred to as spiritual fathers.

What must not be done is to confuse their form of spiritual paternity with that of God.

Ultimately, God is our supreme protector, provider, and instructor. Correspondingly, it is wrong to view any individual other than God as having these roles.

Outside of God the Father, there are no fathers at all in the true sense of the term. But in God, we have all sorts of true “fathers.”

All Fatherhood Comes From God

Ultimately, the key to understanding all of these seemingly contradictory texts is found in a proper understanding of the nature of the Body of Christ.

For this cause I bow my knees to the Father (Gr. - patera - “father”) of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom all paternity (Gr. - patria- “fatherhood”) in heaven and earth is named.

God, the Father, is our one true Father. All other fatherhood, be it a father “on earth,” spiritual leaders in the Church, or our spiritual forefathers in heaven, participates in the Father’s unique Fatherhood and represents it to us.

They neither take away nor add to this one unique Fatherhood; they establish it on the earth.

The context of Matthew 23 emphasizes the sin of pride among the scribes and Pharisees. They loved to be called “teacher”, “father”, or “Rabbi,” but their pride pointed men to themselves rather than to God the Father from whom they received true fatherhood and in whom their fatherhood subsisted.

Ultimately, Jesus is condemning the usurpation of the fatherhood of God in Matthew’s Gospel, not the proper participation in that fatherhood.

Why Priests Are Called Spiritual Fathers

We call a priest Father because they are a spiritual father to us. They act in a way to help. They imitate Christ, they imitate God the Father.

They are our pastors in that sense that they help to. They take us as the priest stands in the person of Christ, the church is his bride.

And so we are kind of children for a priest to lead and guide closer to God. So they become a spiritual father to us.

Even if you have Catholic parents, the priest kind of serves as your spiritual father to help, you know, lead you to Christ to administer the sacraments.

The priest is the prime candidate for the title of spiritual father. By his training and ordination he is commissioned by the Church to proclaim the gospel.

His office charges him to speak for the Church, not for his own private opinions. He ministers the sacraments.

The Sacraments as Fatherly Ministry

The words spoken by him at baptism give rebirth by water and the Spirit, making the baptized a member of the Body of Christ. This is a fatherly act.

The living and enduring word of God spoken at the Eucharist transforms bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, offering the family of God the spiritual food necessary for eternal life (John 6:51-56).

This, too, is fatherly.

Fatherly also is a priest’s reconciling penitents in confession, overseeing the exchange of marriage vows, anointing the sick or dying.

The fatherly role of the bishop is a special privilege, strengthening the faithful in confirmation or ordaining priests to father the community of Christians.

Spiritual Rebirth and the Christian Family

This derives from the nature of Christianity, which offers not a philosophy or ideology, but new life and rebirth in Christ, modeled on birth into family life and its inheritance.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, gave us rebirth into the hope of life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an immortal, undefiled, and unfading inheritance, kept for us in heaven” (1 Pet. 1:3-4).

Peter notes that we “have been reborn, not from mortal seed, but immortal, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23).

The one who speaks this living and enduring word of God is like a spiritual father to us, playing an essential role in our rebirth in Christ.

The Other Titles in Matthew 23

The command about “father” cannot be isolated from Jesus’ statements about “rabbi,” “teacher,” and “master.” If Matthew 23:9 were interpreted as an absolute ban on every use of the word “father,” the neighboring commands would also need to be interpreted as absolute bans on every use of “teacher,” “rabbi,” and “master.”

The first problem is that although Jesus seems to prohibit the use of the term “teacher,” in Matthew 28:19-20, Christ himself appointed certain men to be teachers in his Church: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Paul speaks of his commission as a teacher: “For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle . a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Tim. 2:7).

“For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher” (2 Tim. 1:11).

He also reminds us that the Church has an office of teacher: “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers” (1 Cor. 12:28).

“His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11).

There is no doubt that Paul was not violating Christ’s teaching in Matthew 23 by referring so often to others as “teachers.”

Fundamentalists themselves slip up on this point by calling all sorts of people “doctor”; for example, professors and scientists who have Ph.D. degrees (i.e., doctorates).

What they fail to realize is that “doctor” is simply the Latin word for “teacher.” Even “Mister” and “Mistress” (“Mrs.”) are forms of the word “master,” also mentioned by Jesus.

So if his words in Matthew 23 were meant to be taken literally, Fundamentalists would be just as guilty for using the word “teacher” and “doctor” and “mister” as Catholics for saying “father.”

But clearly, that would be a misunderstanding of Christ’s words.

The Difference Between Honor and Usurpation

In Matthew 23 our Lord forbids us to call anyone rabbi, father, or teacher if that title in any way diminishes our dependence on God.

He echoes the Old Testament teaching that obeying God is more important than maintaining or exalting family ties.

These passages indicate the tension between our Lord’s call to place God above family and the necessity to maintain love of family.

The same principle applies to our attitude toward teachers and Church leaders such as priests. No human being can approach the authority of God, but teachers and Church leaders deserve respect and honor.

One of the ways Scripture calls us to honor Church leaders is to call them “father.”

It is this elevation of an individual man-the formation of a “cult of personality” around him-of which Jesus is speaking when he warns against attributing to someone an undue role as master, father, or teacher.

He is not forbidding the perfunctory use of honorifics nor forbidding us to recognize that the person does have a role as a spiritual father and teacher.

How to Explain the Catholic Practice

You could ask him a few questions. You could say, why does Jesus say we shouldn’t call people Father? And you could say, so which people?

And you can ask them, do you call your own father Father? Do you? I mean, do you do that?

Jesus said, honor your father and mother in Mark, chapter seven, when he talked about the traditions of the Pharisees that broke the fourth commandment.

Ask them to read the whole context, what Jesus is saying here. The Pharisees loved being called Father to fill up their pride.

Don’t call someone Father just to fill up their ego, so they take the place of God.

But you can point them back to First Corinthians, chapter 4, where St. Paul calls himself Father in 1 Corinthians 4, chapter, First Corinthians 4:15, St. Paul says to the Corinthians, for though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers.

For I became your Father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. I urge you then be imitators of me.

So there you go, right there. St. Paul can call himself a father to the Corinthians.

Spiritually, we can have the successors of the apostles, the bishops and the priests they ordained. We can call them fathers too.

“No One Comes to the Father Except Through Me”

Another question concerns Jesus’ words, “Nobody comes under the Father but through me,” or, more precisely, “No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Now, the question when Jesus says, no one can come to the Father except through me, that’s absolutely right. It is through the grace of Christ that secures our salvation and ultimately leads us to God and to eternal life.

But that doesn’t preclude us from participating in Christ’s one mediation that he has for us by being mediators for one another.

Asking Christians to Pray for One Another

When people say, why do you pray to Mary? Why do you pray to the saints? Why don’t you just go straight to God?

You can say to them, well, do you ever ask your friends to pray for you? Do you ask your family to pray for you? Why do you do that? Why don’t you go straight to Jesus?

It’s Jesus who takes us to the Father. Why would you ask other people to pray for you?

You say, well, because we’re the body of Christ. We’re supposed to pray for one another.

You say, yeah, exactly. So who belongs to the body of Christ.

The Intercession of Mary and the Saints

If someone’s dead and they’re a believer and they’re in heaven, are they a part of the body of Christ? If they’re not, where are they? Are they in hell?

No. So if a dead person who is saved is in heaven, they’re part of the body of Christ.

So they would logically pray for us, too, and we would ask for their intercession.

Especially because James chapter five says that the prayers of a righteous person are very powerful, and who’s more righteous than the saints in heaven?

What to Do When You Do Not Know the Answer

When they ask you a question you don’t know the answer to, you just tell them that is a really good question.

And I know people who have been studying this a lot longer than I have. So let me go get an answer from them so I can go get you a really good answer for your really good question.

Don’t feel stressed, like you got to have all the answers. Nobody has all the answers.

I don’t have all the answers. And I know that even people are Catholic. Answers. We don’t have all the answers.

We’re all journeying to the truth together.

tags: #call #no #man #father #catholic #answers