Calling Priests 'Father': What Did Jesus Mean?

"Did Jesus literally forbid calling anyone 'father,' including our own dads?"

5 Scripture passages3 objections answered3 Church Father quotes

The Short Answer

When Jesus said 'Call no man father' (Matthew 23:9), He was condemning pride and hypocrisy, not prohibiting the term. Scripture uses 'father' for Abraham, patriarchs, church leaders, and biological parents. Paul called himself the Corinthians' father. Jesus used hyperbole to make a point about humility.

Quick Overview

Did Jesus mean we literally can't call our own dads 'father'? Of course not! In the same passage, Jesus also said 'call no man teacher' - but we all have teachers. Jesus was using exaggeration to make a point: don't seek fancy titles for pride, and remember that ultimately all fatherhood comes from God. The apostle Paul called himself a spiritual father to people he converted (1 Corinthians 4:15). If Jesus meant it literally, Paul sinned. But Paul didn't sin - he understood what Jesus meant.

Biblical Evidence

What the Scriptures say

Matthew 23:9

"And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven."

Why This Matters

Jesus condemns religious leaders seeking status and titles hypocritically. Read in context with v. 8 ('call no man rabbi/teacher') and v. 10 ('call no man master'). If literal, we couldn't call anyone teacher or master either.

1 Corinthians 4:15

"For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you."

Why This Matters

Paul explicitly calls himself the spiritual father of the Corinthians. Either Paul disobeyed Jesus, or Jesus's words weren't meant literally.

Acts 7:2

"Who said: Ye men, brethren and fathers, hear. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham."

Why This Matters

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, calls the Jewish leaders 'fathers' and calls Abraham 'father.' He didn't violate Jesus's teaching.

1 John 2:13

"I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning."

Why This Matters

The apostle John addresses elder Christians as 'fathers.' This inspired Scripture uses the term Jesus supposedly prohibited.

Ephesians 6:2-3

"Honour thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment with a promise."

Why This Matters

Paul quotes the commandment to honor your father. Obviously, the term 'father' for biological dads was not prohibited.

What the Church Teaches

Official Catholic doctrine

The Church understands Matthew 23:9 as Jesus's condemnation of pride and the seeking of honor that belongs to God alone, not as a literal prohibition of the word 'father.' The Catechism uses 'father' for bishops and priests as spiritual fathers to their flocks, following the apostolic example (CCC 1554). As St. Paul was a spiritual father to those he brought to faith, so priests continue this spiritual fatherhood. The title reminds priests of their responsibility to care for souls as a father cares for children.

Common Objections

Questions answered

Early Church Fathers

What the first Christians believed

St. John Chrysostom

c. 390 AD

"So in calling someone father, we call him not literally what he is not, but the name which love confers upon him. For it is as though Christ said, 'Have no respect for persons in matters of doctrine and truth, but only accept that which the Father of all teaches.'"

— Homilies on Matthew 72

St. Jerome

c. 400 AD

"We call no man father in the sense that Christ alone is Father. But we call elders of the Church 'Father' insofar as they bring us to birth in Christ."

— Commentary on Matthew

Clement of Alexandria

c. 200 AD

"Those who have been nurtured in this faith, call that man truly a father who has educated them in Christ."

— Stromata 1.1

Deuterocanonical Books

Church Hid Bible Myth

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