இயேசு கூறினார், "அப்பாவை அழைக்க வேண்டாம்"

Jesus says in மத்தேயு 23:9, “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.”

Some have misused this verse to denounce the Catholic practice of calling priests “Father.” Jesus’ words here are not meant to be taken literally, இருந்தாலும். They are an hyperbole designed to emphasize our heavenly Father’s sovereignty: that He is the true source of life and wisdom (பாலை பார்க்கவும் எபேசியர்களுக்கு கடிதம் 3:14-15).

We know the Apostles did not take Jesuswords in மத்தேயு 23:9 literally, for they called themselves Father!

Saint Paul, உதாரணத்திற்கு, wrote in his கொரிந்தியர்களுக்கு முதல் கடிதம், “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” (4:15).

Paul considered himself the “father” of the Corinthians because he had spiritually begotten them through the Gospel. This is the same sense in which the title is used by Catholic priests today. We call priests “அப்பா,” not because they somehow take the place of God the Father, but because they are meant to serve as witnesses, living reminders, of His love, guidance and authority in our lives.

உண்மை என்னவென்றால், the interpretation of மத்தேயு 23:9 goes against the overwhelming evidence of Scripture.

நீதிபதிகள் 18:19, உதாரணமாக, என்கிறார், “Come with us, and be to us a father and a priest.” In First Thessalonians 2:11, Paul writes, “You know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you.” (See also Matt. 1:2 ff.; 15:4-5; லூக்கா 14:26; செயல்கள் 7:2; 21:40-22:1; ரோம். 4:11 ff.; 1 Cor. 4:14-16; Eph. 6:2; Phil. 2:22; 1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philem. 1:10; Heb. 12:9; Jas. 2:21; 1 Pet. 5:13; 1 ஜான் 2:1, மற்றும் பலர்.).

Early Christianity

The practice of calling priests Father continued in the early centuries of the Church. பற்றி 107 கி.பி., உதாரணத்திற்கு, Saint Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch implored the faithful to “respect the bishop as a type of the Father” (Letter to the Trallians 3:1).

இல் 177, the leaders of the Church of Lyons wrote to Pope Saint Eleutherus, கூறுவது, “We pray, Father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always” (Letter of the Holy Martyrs of Lyons; Eusebius Pamphilus, தேவாலயத்தின் வரலாறு 5:4:2).

தற்செயலாக, the title “Pope” (கிரேக்கம், Papa), which means Father, was for a time commonly used for all bishops, but eventually came to refer exclusively to the Bishop of Rome.

Given the biblical and historical evidence, Catholics might rightly ask why others do not call their spiritual leaders “Father.”

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