Defending the Faith: The 'Father' Title

Today's post is up there with one of the most common objections of the Episcopal and Catholic denominations I come across. When I first heard the objection I was so stunned that it would even be an issue I had absolutely no ammunition to back up why we use the title in question. That soon changed however...

The Evangelical Stance - Those denominations that call their priests or preachers "Father" are directly disobeying the commandment of Jesus Christ Himself when He says, "And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. (Matthew 23-9)" I have lost track of the times I have heard this argument - especially, it seems, from Church of God, Primitive Baptists, and many non-denominational members.

The Counter Argument - Is Jesus prohibiting the use of the word "father" as a religious title? In a word, NO. And the evidence to refute that claim made by the evangelicals is so numerous, it's scary.

• Acts 7:2, "And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran..."
• Luke 16:24, "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."
• Romans 4:12, "And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."
• Romans 9:10, "And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac..."
• John 4:12, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?"
• Acts 4:25, "You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot futile things?"

You get the idea. But it doesn't stop there - in the same Acts 7:2 quoted above, the "fathers" made mention of are the religious Jewish elders. In 1 Corinthians 4:15-16, Paul calls himself Father. With this massive amount positive evidence in contrast to the evangelical argument against it, we can take this even farther. In the two verses that sandwich Matthew 23:9, (Matthew 23:8,10) we read, "But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ [which means teacher] for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers....Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah." Again, is Jesus prohibiting the use of the words teacher and instructor as a religious title? And again, NO. The evidence for this is also there -

• 1 Timothy 2:7, "And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles."
• 1 Corinthians 12:28, "And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues."
• James 3:1, "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."

One never hears these verses quoted with the regularity of Matthew 23:9 and there's reason for that - if we believe Matthew 23:9, we must also believe vv.8, 10. And if we must believe vv. 8,10 - we can kiss the organized church system goodbye because all pastors, lay leaders, Sunday School teachers, VBS instructors, and seminary professors will have to look for other avenues of work. It doesn't make sense. Because if Jesus is saying look only to Him and there should be no other teachers or instructors of the faith, why would Christ Himself appoint teachers to carry on his cause? Why would Peter call himself a teacher? Why would James explain the merits and hardships of being a teacher and an instructor for Christ? The evangelicals' argument has cracked and simply cannot hold water.

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So what does Christ mean by this commandment he sets down in Matthew 23:8-10? Christ uses hyperbole in these instances to emphasize the equality of God's people which the Pharisee's had lost sight of. And before you start to question the use of hyperbole in the Bible - this isn't the only time Jesus uses it. Look at Luke 14:26, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." Is Jesus actually telling us that the only way we can be His disciple is to hate our family, our children, and our very life? No, of course not. That's why it's called hyperbole - an exaggeration that is used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally. Another example of hyperbole is Romans 9:13, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Obviously, Christ hates no one because God is love and cannot exist with hate (1 John 4:8) so he cannot love Jacob and turn around and hate Esau. These are not even close to covering all the hyperbole examples inside Scripture, but enough so that people may understand what is occurring in Matthew 23:9.

In a nutshell, it comes down to a word - putting this verse in CONTEXT. Most evangelicals forget to do just this and only read what they perceive a verse to be on it's face value. And any true theologian will tell you - context is the name of the game when it comes to proper and responsible biblical interpretation. So let's zoom out and stop looking at Matthew 23:9 alone and focus on the full context of Jesus' words. Matthew 23 begins with Jesus talking to the crowd about the Pharisees. He accuses them of being hypocrites. He also makes a point to say that they, "love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others." THEN comes vv. 8-10. Jesus is admonishing the Pharisee's hypocritical nature and their love of honorific titles and uses vv. 8-10 hyperbolically to emphasize that fact. That's the verse in context. That's what really is going on and it has nothing to do with me addressing my priest as "Father" or me referring to my Sunday School leader as my teacher.

Click here for Defending the Faith: Repetitious Prayer
Click here for Defending the Faith: Statues and Icons