Call No Man Father

By Nina Leone

And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. Matthew 23:9

A frequent criticism by many Protestants is that they believe that Catholics go against Jesus’ teaching of not calling anyone “Father” since Catholics address their priests as “Father”. They quote Matthew 23:9 to support their objection. “You Catholics call your priests ‘Father.’ Matthew 23:9 says, "‘Call no man father.’” Before we examine what this passage means, here are a few different translations of the verse:

DR: And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.

KJV: And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

NIV: And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

NLT: And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah.

So what did Jesus mean when he said, “Call no man father”? We know he could not have meant it literally, or else the Bible would be contradicting itself. Firstly, Jesus says in Matthew 10:37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Here we see Jesus refer to our earthly fathers as “Father”. This also occurs in Mark 10:29, “Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel”. We see in Ephesians 6:2 Paul saying, ““Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise.” The genealogy in Matthew 1 mentions a list of fathers:
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” Matthew 1:2

Here we see multiple passages in which Jesus and His apostles call someone upon earth other than Christ a father, and we know that Jesus would never contradict Himself. Neither would His faithful apostles. Christ can never contradict Himself; only we can contradict Christ through our own methods of private interpretation.

The next argument becomes, “It is permissible to call your actual father “Father”, but you cannot call someone “Father” as a spiritual title. Let’s examine Scripture:

In the New Testament, Paul declares himself a spiritual 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.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-15) Here we see Paul referring to himself as a spiritual father. Is Paul contradicting Christ?

Peter follows Paul’s example in referring to Mark as his son: “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.” In Luke 16, Jesus refers to Abraham as “Father Abraham” when telling the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. James also calls Abraham our Father in James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?” In Romans 4:11-18, we see that Abraham becomes our spiritual father through faith:

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith, which he had, being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, being uncircumcised, that unto them also it may be reputed to justice: And might be the father of circumcision; not to them only, that are of the circumcision, but to them also that follow the steps of the faithful, that is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. For not through the law was the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world; but through the justice of faith. For if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, the promise is made of no effect. For the law worketh wrath. For where there is no law, neither is there transgression. Therefore is it of faith, that according to grace the promise might be firm to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (As it is written: I have made thee a father of many nations,) before God, whom he believed, who quickeneth the dead; and calleth those things that are not, as those that are.”

So what did Jesus really mean when he said, “Call no man Father”? Jesus was not speaking in the literal sense, or else all of the above passages would be in contradiction to Him. He is not saying it is wrong to call someone in the literal sense “Father”. Let’s examine the full context of Matthew 23:

“And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven. [10] Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.

[11 He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. [12] And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. [13] But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you yourselves do not enter in; and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter. [14] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment. [15] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.

[16] Woe to you blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple, is a debtor. [17] Ye foolish and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? [18] And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor. [19] Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? [20] He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it:

[21] And whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it: [22] And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. [23] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. [24] Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. [25] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.[26] Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean. [27] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all filthiness. [28] So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just, [30] And say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. [31] Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. [32] Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. [33] You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?

Catholic writer Joe Moreaux of ReturnoftheKing.live explains it this way: “The heart of this entire chapter comes to us in verse 12, where Jesus teaches, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The wider context is clear as day. Jesus is condemning the notion of merely desiring a title because of the perks that come with it, meanwhile remaining a hypocrite inside with no care whatsoever for God or your fellow human being in need. Our Lord instructs us to not call such individuals “father” or “teacher,” because it would only serve to inflate their pride and ego. Rather, He calls the leaders of His Church to be humble, giving us a pointed example at the Last Supper when He washed the feet of His own disciples. He wishes His Apostles to imitate His example in the way He sacrificed Himself even to the cross out of love for His Father in Heaven and for mankind.”

The sixteenth century heresy “Sola Scriptura”, or “Scripture alone”, causes us to often confuse the figurative, symbolic, and literal with each other. The message at hand is to not desire status or to be exalted by others.