Catholicism: A Defense of the Faith

Catholics v/s "call no man father"

One of the commonest verses used by Protestants against the apparently "anti Biblical Catholicism" is Matthew 23:9:

"And call no man father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (KJV)

I had previously published an article from catholic.com on this topic. Since then, I've been reading a bit more and I think I can try to present my own defense — for growth's sake, not because the guys at Catholic Answers aren't great apologists.

1) Are we anti Bible?

First, we must acknowledge that those who bring up this verse present a valid charge, for if a teaching is contradictory to Scripture, it may be a candidate for heresy and St Paul says that upholding it may cause us to lose the Kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-22). That should be our greatest fear.

So the question is, are Catholics disobeying a Biblical teaching? No. We are not.

2) What Catholics forget
Catholics who get confused or skeptical of their faith due to this verse tend to forget three main things:
1) that Catholicism is Apostolic;
2) that the word "father" has been employed as a title of bishopric address since the days of the early Church. The word "Pope" is actually derived from the Latin word "papa" meaning "father", and it started being reserved for the Bishop of Rome in the 4th century;
3) and most importantly: to read our Bibles.

The first is worth noting because if the Church is Apostolic, then there is no way Her doctrine can be corrupted since She was the first recipient of Christ's teaching. It is important to always remember that.

The third is even greater in this case because without reading Scripture, it becomes difficult to refute this argument by reminding our Protestant brethren what they often forget (and many times purposely ignore):

3) What Protestants forget
a) that the Eternal Father who is apparently offended by man's use of this title is the same God who changed Abram's name to "father of many nations" (Gen 17:5) and promised Eliakim a fatherly role over all Israel (Is 22:20-21);

b) that Jesus condemns the titles "Master" and "Rabbi (teacher)" as well. The verses immediately before and after read:

8 Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ;

c) that Jesus Himself calls Abraham "father" in His parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk 16:24);

d) that James also calls Abraham "our father" when discussing justification by works (James 2:21);

e) that St Paul calls himself and other people "father" and "teacher". He is:
– a father to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:14-15);
– a father to Onesimus (Philemon 10);
– a father to Timothy (Philippians 2:22);
– a teacher, together with those appointed by Christ to hold those offices (2 Tim 1:11; 1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11);
– like the Roman Christians, a son of Isaac "their father" (Rom 9:10).

3. How to respond as a Catholic
Well the first thing we need to do is to have those verses in mind. The second thing is to not get defensive. There is no such thing as a foolish question and we must remember that we are debating an argument, not being attacked ourselves.

We can therefore respond by asking: "Does that mean you don't call your own dad 'father'?"

There are those who take the verse (and the commandment forbidding graven images...they consider pictures and paintings, even of themselves, idolatry) literally and actually do abstain from the title altogether. Most don't though and we can still argue it out either way.