Why Priests Are Called Father
“Call no priest father”; this is what I hear day in and day out. And if it isn’t that, then it is “why do you call them father? Don’t you know what the Bible says?” Sure. I understand that the Bible says the priesthood is spiritual fatherhood. Abraham was called the father of all nations in the Old Testament and is recognized as such according to Romans 4:16-17, “For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.” St. Paul names Abraham “our father in the sight of God”. Why? As St. Paul recognizes, “he [Abraham] is the father of many nations.” Didn’t anyone tell St. Paul about the verse “Call no man father” (Matthew 23:9) or did he understand it to mean that we have but one God who is the origin of all? Also, Jesus calls Abraham “father” in John 8:56!
If you think St. Paul’s terminology was a mistake, then let’s review more authors of Biblical text. St. Peter, though it seems to go against the grain of many anti-priestly-fatherhood Christians, recognizes that priests are our fathers. He writes in Acts 21:40-22:1 of St, Paul’s view, “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense. Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:” The commanders were called fathers as St. Paul knew. Not only did Paul know this but he found it permissible to use the term father. Even St. Paul acknowledges his spiritual fatherhood over us and calls himself our father, “I am writing you this not to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 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” (1 Corinthians 4:14-15). St. Paul says he became our father in Jesus through the gospel? Of course, because he understood that the priesthood is a part of spiritual fatherhood.
How about St. Stephen, the first one to be martyred [baptism by blood] and, according to the Church, Christ stood up from His throne to greet St. Stephen into heaven (Acts 7:55-56). But would Christ give such veneration to a man who called other men father? St. Stephen tells us the Jewish leaders are fathers in Acts 7:2, “And he replied, ‘My brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was in Mesopotamia, before he had settled in Haran’.”
Again, St. Paul confirms that priests are our fathers spiritually, “To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (1 Timothy 1:2). Once more, St. Paul acknowledges his own spiritual fatherhood by addressing Timothy as his “true son in faith”. Titus 1:4 reconfirms what St. Paul wrote, “To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” Again, St. Paul confirms that now Titus, just as Timothy, is his son and St. Paul is in spiritual fatherhood to them.
Hebrews 12:7-9 tells us we have earthly fathers to discipline us, “Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are without discipline, in which all have shared, you are not sons but bastards. Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not (then) submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live?” Can the infallible scripture, or the authors who are inspired by the Holy Spirit to convey to us this idea of spiritual fatherhood ordained to men, be in error? Inconceivable.
St. Luke, Jesus’ own apostle tells us that even Jesus acknowledged other men as ‘father’, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
Why are priests and paternal men called fathers? Because they look after those beneath their supervision. Remember, we have appointed overseers (Acts 20:28) and someone who oversees is called a father, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children” (1 Thessalonian 2:11).
As we can see, Paul was called into ministry and became a father via spiritual priesthood, “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains” (Philemon 10). St. Paul again acknowledges his judges and leaders as spiritually appointed fathers in 1 John 2:13-14, “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 conquered 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. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.”
What had enticed me to look into this more, is that not only did Jesus’ commandment in Matthew 23:9 baffle me, but Exodus 4:16 almost seemed to be an exact contradictory to giving God’s title to no man. “He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” As if Moses were God to Aaron? Did God just analogize Himself so that Moses would understand his role in as a spiritual father? Let’s read further into Exodus. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet’” reads Exodus 7:1. “I have made you like God to Pharaoh”. God did it again, using infallible scripture!
But we are not all to be spiritual fathers; to understand this better, please read article Apostolic Succession.
Lastly, let’s talk about taking things out of context. Not only has Matthew 23:9 been misinterpreted, but the people who recite this – using the same mindset – neglect that we are ‘to call no one teacher either’. This would mean the titles teacher, Sunday school teacher, and doctors[which the root word is teacher] and the like would have to be done away with. The verse following Matthew 23:9 reads, “Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ” Matthew 23:10. We understand this is isn’t to be taken literally, but to understand Who to appropriate the true origin of knowledge to. The Apostles, St. Paul and other New Testament writers use the terms “father” and “teacher” profusely.
Priests receive their spiritual fatherhood from the Father in heaven: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” Ephesians 3:14-15.
Beware of (and recognize) anti-Catholic sediment.
Your’s,
Drew Castel
