Jesus says in 马修 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, 尽管. They are an hyperbole designed to emphasize our heavenly Father’s sovereignty: that He is the true source of life and wisdom (见保罗的 给以弗所人的信 3:14-15).
We know the Apostles did not take Jesus’ words in 马修 23:9 literally, 为了 they called themselves Father!
圣保罗, 例如, wrote in his 给哥林多人的第一封信, “因为虽然你在基督里有无数的向导, 你没有很多父亲. 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 “父亲,” 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.
事实上, the interpretation of 马修 23:9 goes against the overwhelming evidence of Scripture.
评委 18:19, 例如, 说, “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; 卢克 14:26; 使徒行传 7:2; 21:40-22:1; 只读存储器. 4:11 ff。; 1 Cor. 4:14-16; Eph. 6:2; 菲尔. 2:22; 1 蒂姆. 1:2; 提图斯 1:4; Philem. 1:10; 赫布. 12:9; Jas. 2:21; 1 Pet. 5:13; 1 约翰 2:1, 等人。).
Early Christianity
The practice of calling priests Father continued in the early centuries of the Church. 大约在 107 广告。, 例如, 圣依纳爵, the Bishop of Antioch implored the faithful to “respect the bishop as a type of the Father” (Letter to the Trallians 3:1).
在 177, the leaders of the Church of Lyons wrote to Pope Saint Eleutherus, 说, “We pray, Father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always” (Letter of the Holy Martyrs of Lyons; Eusebius Pamphilus, 教会史 5:4:2).
无独有偶, the title “Pope” (希腊语, 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.”