Call no man on the earth your father

Published on Discipleship, Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ forbids us from using the word “father” for any man. However, St. Paul violated this prohibition. And so have most Christians ever since.

 

 

This study is based on the following verse:

Matthew 23:9. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.

 

Here is our exploration of that verse:

 

Call no man on the earth your father

This verse prohibits us from using the word “father” for any man: our biological male parent, or male spiritual leader.

Perhaps this is because Jesus refers to God as Father.

Not calling any man “father” is a part of our being a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

 

father

The Greek word is πατήρ (“patér”). It means father, begetter, originator, progenitor.

This verse prohibits us from calling any man as “father.”

 

Applying it

This verse prohibits us from calling our male parent “father.” Instead of calling our male parent by the prohibited word of “father,” we should call him by some other term. Perhaps “Joe” or “Bob” or whatever his actual name is.

There are many other words that derive from the term “father,” such as Dad, Pop, Sir, and the like. If the word “Father” is prohibited, then its derivatives are probably forbidden as well. Think of a military member refusing to call his superior officer “Sir.”

In later centuries, some Christians began using this forbidden title of “Father” for their clerics. Even though they have clever rationalizations for this practice, it is forbidden by this verse.

 

Paul the Apostle violates the Prohibition

St. Paul himself broke this rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. He called himself a father:

1 Corinthians 4:15. For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News.

This is a problem. Jesus Christ told us to use the word “father” only for God the Father. But here, St. Paul is using the term for himself.

St. Paul violated the prohibition. And so have most Christians ever since.

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.