I am thinking of some verses to refute Catholicism, and the “father” thing came up. Would Matthew 23:8-10 be a legitimate argument against calling a Catholic priest “father?”<\/p>\n\t
“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted<\/em>” (Matthew 23:5-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The motivation behind religious titles is to elevate some men above others. I’ve always been amazed that one of the titles Jesus specifically mentions not to use is one Catholics use for their priests (“father”) and their pope (the Latin word for “father”).<\/p>\n
Christianity is about seeing every Christian as equal. “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others<\/em>” (Philippians 2:2-4). Rather than exalting oneself, true leaders in Christianity see themselves as servants to other Christians. “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted<\/em>” (Matthew 23:11-12).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I am thinking of some verses to refute Catholicism, and the “father” thing came up. Would Matthew 23:8-10 be a legitimate argument against calling a Catholic priest “father?” Answer: “But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1599,125],"class_list":["post-18769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-titles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23016,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-catholics-call-their-leaders-father-and-is-the-church-the-light-of-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":0},"title":"Should Catholics call their leaders “Father” and is the church the light of the world?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My questions are about: Catholics call their spiritual leaders \"father.\" In doing so they claim they follow Paul\u2019s example: \"I became your father in Jesus Christ through the gospel\" (I Corinthians 4:15). Jesus said his church would be \"the light of the world.\" He then noted that \"a city\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-preacher-be-referred-to-as-reverend\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":1},"title":"Should a preacher be referred to as “reverend?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Very often here preachers are referred to as reverend.\u00a0 Is it correct to refer to a preacher, minister or elder as reverend? Answer: The word reverend indicates that a person is worthy of adoration or reverence, entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection. Such a description would apply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-those-assigned-tasks-in-the-church-have-titles\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":2},"title":"Should those assigned tasks in the church have titles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for the answer: Can a church organize tasks without elders? So the risk in this type of set up is that members need not shun their individual responsibilities because tasks have been assigned to one brother to ensure the tasks are done.\u00a0 I can see the wisdom in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41662,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-use-titles\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":3},"title":"Why do some use titles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello brother Hamilton. Hope you're doing well. I have a question that pertains to \"titles\" given to those in position in the church and mainly I'm speaking on preachers and the title that some give themselves such as reverend, pastor, evangelist, etc. Now, I read some of your articles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55194,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-condemns-catholic-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":4},"title":"The Bible Condemns Catholic Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by David J. Riggs from\u00a0Catholic Teaching Examined Why would Catholics want to defeat the Bible as the only authority? The answer is: it is their way of trying to justify their own traditions. How else would they justify them? Furthermore, the reason Catholics try to discredit the Bible as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87534,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/no-titles-please\/","url_meta":{"origin":18769,"position":5},"title":"No Titles, Please","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joe Slater One of the minor annoyances of being a preacher is that well-meaning people frequently put some title before your name. It may be Reverend, Pastor, Father, or some other title. They are trying to be respectful, which I appreciate even though I repudiate the titles. I tell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18769\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}