Question on Matt. 23:9 for Catholics

[OwenW]

Hello!

This question is for Roman Catholics. I'm putting it here not for debate but simply for feed back. If Matt. 23:9 does not condemn/ proscribe calling priests Father, then what does it condemn/proscribe.


Thanks for your answers.

Owen

[Belteshazzar]

Matthew 23
8 As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.
10 Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah.

You either have to take what Christ says literally, or it means something else. Was Christ saying that nobody should address anyone as 'father' even children to their parents? Catholic Answers addresses this pretty well here http://www.catholic.com/library/call_no_man_father.asp but they exclude NT references to places where others are called father.

Luke uses 'father' a lot in Acts where it does not apply to our heaventy Father including Acts 7:29, Acts 16:1, Acts 16:3, Acts 28:8. Paul uses it a lot too, and especially in Romans 4:12 where he calls Abraham our father, which appears to contradict Christ's admonishment that anyone should call Abraham their father. Paul later calls Isaac father too.

Paul even goes so far to say that he became our father through the Gospel in several places, and Peter does too.
1 Corinthians 4:15
Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

So it seems pretty clear that Christ was trying to tell us something different than establishing a literal ban on using the phrase 'father' as it applies to an earthly person. Paul and Peter show us that father is a spiritual term, and we should recognize our spiritual fathers whom we believe are Christ's representatives through the Gospel.

Jerry

[Jude3b]

To the first ministers Christ said, "Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matt. 23:8). And when some of their number sought for a position of preeminence over the rest, Christ referred to conditions among the Gentiles, how the great men domineer over the others, and said, "IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU: but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Matt. 20:20-28)
No minister in the early church possessed such great gifts and spiritual qualifications as did the apostle Paul, and his responsibilities were doubtless greater than all; nevertheless he humbly acknowledges himself to be "less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3:8). A very different attitude than the Popes, Cardinals, and Priests of Romanism who want to be called "Father" - don't you think?
Sincerely, Jude 3b