Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

Call No Man Father

One of my parishioners recently recounted an exchange that he had with one of our Protestant brothers who shared with him one of the big problems he had with the Catholic Church. “You all call your priests father,” he said, “in the Bible, Jesus says we should call no man father.” Having grown up in the South, I have heard this argument made many times. Matthew 23:9 says call no man father, and you Catholics call your priests father and that is wrong. The implication is that if we are wrong on this one point, we must be wrong on many others.

Perhaps one of the biggest real differences in believe between Roman Catholics and many Protestants is that the way we read the Bible is fundamentally different. The Catholic method of reading the Bible is very different than those who claim the Bible is our only source of revelation. The Catholic method of reading the Bible does not hold to a strictly literal understanding of the words that are written on its pages, but rather pays close attention to the context surrounding what is found there. The Catholic method of reading the Bible relies heavily upon the wider Christian Tradition to help inform our reading.

With these things in mind, let’s take a look at what is written in the 23rd Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. This chapter is more or less a rant by Jesus against the Scribes and Pharisees who at the time were talking the talk, but not walking the walk. It begins,

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all the things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. they widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-12)

Jesus goes on throughout the rest of this chapter to add many more woes to the scribes and Pharisees, pointing out many of the ways they continue to say the right things and to perform the correct deeds, all the while with hearts that are far from sincere and far from God.

When one looks at verse 9 in this context it seems very clear that what Jesus is denouncing is not the use of the title Father, but rather the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who it seems spent quite a bit of their time seeking places of honor above everything else. I would dare say that Jesus might indeed make a similar statement today about many religious leaders who continue to preach well while ignoring their own words of wisdom.

But when we get too literal with this one verse of a very big book, I believe we miss the point of what Jesus was saying entirely. In fact, how are we to understand who God is without an understanding of the word Father? And who are we to learn first about what it means to be a father, but from the best of our earthly fathers, both biological and spiritual? Who are we to learn what it means to be a teacher from, but from the best of the teachers who cross our path? Those fathers who truly love their children and show them the way to our Father in heaven deserve our praise and gratitude. Those who are hypocrites deserve to be treated as such. A beautiful prayer that reminds earthly fathers of their responsibility to love and teach their sons and daughters is found in the Rite of Baptism:

God is the giver of all life, human and divine. May he bless the father of this child. He and his wife will be the first teachers of their child in the ways of faith. May they be also the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what they say and do, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What have been the most common challenges to your Catholic faith from those who do not share it? How do you continue to grow in your faith so as to respond with confidence to those who have questions about Catholicism?

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This entry was posted by on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • Greg

    Although individual practice may vary from Protestant to Protestant, the true Protestant way of reading the Bible (at least the way I was taught and the way I taught others…and the way it is taught in Christian colleges and seminary) is to read it in context.

    I haven’t heard anyone have a problem with the use of “Father”…you learn something new every day.

    Blessings

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    One always falls into a problem when speaking in such broad strokes about a group as diverse as Protestant or Catholic. Perhaps I should clarify that I did not mean all Protestants when putting together this post. It have, however, been challenged by many who seem to take individual verses out of context. I have also had the experience of Protestants who, as you say Greg, put things in proper context and who have taught me things about the Scripture that I did not know. One great example would be my great grandfather who was a Methodist minister. My earliest memories of learning about the Bible always seem to point to him. 

    Thanks for continuing to read and comment here. 

  • http://metanoia-mrc.blogspot.com/ Robin

    This post saddened me — one of a number that I’ve come across recently that proclaim a certain bent toward Catholic chauvinism vis-a-vis those of us who are Protestant.  I know that they must come as a response to stinging misunderstandings uttered by Protestants, but still.

    Certainly in many mainline churches those of us who would be pastors devote many seminary hours learning to read Hebrew and Greek and to exegete texts with care and attentiveness to all sorts of contexts, and those of us in the pews expect that of our pastors.  None of us would be satisfied with a mere literal reading of Scripture.

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    First of all Robin, thank you for taking the time to comment here and to express your feelings of sadness. It is clear to me that you were somewhat hurt by what was written in this post. It was not my intent to say that all Protestants think in the same way with regards to the Bible, or that they all treat Catholics with disdain. Certainly many of the best Scripture scholars in the world come from Protestant traditions and I have many non-Catholic friends. 

    I don’t agree that it is Catholic chauvinism to respond to groups of people who choose to frequently tear down the faith of those who believe what our Church professes. The fact is that the part of the country where I have grown up and live is filled with a certain brand of Protestants who are taught that Catholics are not even Christians. This expresses itself very often through conversations that begin with a polite exchange about where one goes to church. When it is learned that one is Catholic, the first thing expressed is some specific reason why this particular belief is lacking at best and demonic at worst. Perhaps other groups experience the same thing from this one particular brand of Protestants. I don’t know if they do or not, but I would suspect if they did, it would be hurtful and not seen as chauvinism on their part to point out that this is wrong. 

    I think what saddens me the most, and it has for all of my life, is the fact that Christianity has been broken into pieces and we don’t have a unified set of beliefs. I pray that Christians of all sorts will continue to talk with one another about both the things we still hold in common, but also about those things we continue to be in disagreement about so that we can begin to move back in the direction of unity. 

    Thanks again for your comment.

  • Greg

    What I should have added is that although the “Protestant way” is to look at things in context, sadly, many don’t, as you have learned…

  • Greg

    by the way, I headed out to watch the rivers clap their hands and the mountains sing (Ps 98)  Just hope that I can get it on video :)

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    Fortunately, many do. One of these days we need to have lunch.

  • Sara

    I get challenged about my faith by my Jewish friends and family. Sometimes I am asked to explain something (like literal interpretation of some Scripture passages) that is contrary to Catholic faith. These people understand that there are different denominations, teachings, etc within Christianity but they don’t quite grasp the scope of the differences.

    Some have had very hurtful experiences with Christians. They don’t want to hear that Catholic Christians are sometimes treated just as disrespectfully by the same Protestants that are proselytizing to them (and, Catholics don’t have a perfect history here either…).   Mostly, the challenge for me is correcting some basic misconceptions about the faith and the Church, but doing so in a way that is honest and not dismissive.

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