― Catholicism in Plain Sight ―

The Title “Father”

The one Catholic symbol Messiah explicitly forbade by name

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This is the shortest and easiest study in this whole section. No history to walk through. No pagan iconography to unpack. No archaeological digs or ancient texts.

Just one verse. From Messiah's own mouth. In the Sermon on the Mount.

Read this slowly

▸ Matthew 23:8-10

"But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Messiah; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Messiah."

Three titles. Three prohibitions. Three reasons.

Don't call anyone Rabbi — because Messiah is our only Teacher.
Don't call anyone Father — because the Father in heaven is our only Father.
Don't call anyone Master — because Messiah is our only Master.

Now count how many Catholic priests are called "Father" around the world every single day. Every one of those is a direct violation of a direct command from Messiah. Not a metaphorical violation. A literal, word-for-word, He-said-this-and-we-do-the-opposite violation.

And the Pope has it worse

The Pope isn't just called Father. He's called "Holy Father."

Now look up where the phrase "Holy Father" appears in the Bible.

▸ John 17:11

"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given Me."

It appears once, in Messiah's prayer to God. "Holy Father" is a title Messiah used for God the Father. For any Pope to accept that title is to accept a name Scripture applies directly to God. That's not a minor title inflation. That's taking for yourself what belongs to God alone.

The usual defenses don't work

Catholic apologists have had 1,500 years to come up with defenses of calling priests Father. Here are the three most common ones, and why none of them hold up:

Defense 1: "But Paul called himself a spiritual father!"

In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul says he "begotten" the Corinthians through the gospel. Yes. He says he has been like a father to them in a spiritual sense.

But read it carefully. Paul is describing a relationship, not adopting a formal title. He never signed his letters "Father Paul." Nobody in Acts calls him Father Paul. The Corinthians called him Paul. There's a difference between saying "I've been a spiritual father to you" and having everyone address you as "Father" as your official title of respect.

Defense 2: "We call our biological dads Father!"

Read the verse again. "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." Messiah is contrasting earthly fathers with the Father in heaven.

The opposite of "Father in heaven" is not biological fathers. It's spiritual fathers on earth. Biological fatherhood is a relationship Yahuah Himself created in Genesis. The religious title claiming spiritual paternity is what's forbidden. When a Catholic calls a priest Father, she isn't saying he's her biological dad. She's saying he stands in a father-role between her and God. That's exactly what Messiah said no one should do.

Defense 3: "It's just a polite term of respect!"

If it were just polite respect like "Mister," it would be fine. But that's not how Catholicism uses it.

In Catholic theology, the priest is called Father because he IS a spiritual father. He hears confessions as a spiritual father. He presides at Mass. He administers sacraments. He is believed to have spiritual children — his parishioners. The title reflects a specific theological role the priest is claimed to have. That role is what Matthew 23:9 forbids.

What Messiah actually set up

Matthew 23 isn't just a list of don'ts. It paints a picture of what His church is supposed to look like:

One Master — Messiah. Everyone else is a servant.
One Father — God in heaven. Nobody on earth fills that role.
One Teacher — Messiah. Everyone else is learning.
All brethren — equal under Him.

In the first-century church, leaders were called by their names. Peter was Peter. Paul was Paul. Elders were called elders. Overseers were called overseers. Nobody was called Father Peter or Holy Father Paul. The whole titles-and-hierarchy thing came later, as the Catholic church drifted into a paternalistic structure the New Testament never sets up.

Thirteen words. "Call no man your father upon the earth." A billion people violate them daily because their church tells them to.

This one's the cleanest

We've looked at a lot of Catholic symbols in this section — mitres from fish-god priests, monstrances shaped like sun disks, pallliums descended from Attis cults, obelisks planted at the Vatican. Every one of them requires a walk through history to make the case.

The Father title requires no history. Messiah Himself named the exact title and forbade the exact practice. The Catholic Church accepted the title anyway, built its hierarchy around it, and now requires its use globally. This is the clearest rejection of a specific command of Messiah in the entire Catholic system.

So now what?

This one has a simple practical application. If you know a Catholic priest or encounter one, don't call him Father. Use his first name. Call him Mister. Call him Sir. Don't participate in a practice Messiah explicitly forbade.

Teach your kids the same. If they go to a Catholic school or have Catholic relatives, explain why we don't use that title. This isn't rudeness. It's obedience.

And keep an eye on Protestant churches too. We dropped "Father" but sometimes picked up "Reverend" (which is used for God's name in Psalm 111:9) or gave pastors hierarchical reverence that goes well beyond Scripture. The spirit of Matthew 23 isn't just about one title. It's about the whole posture of equality as brethren under one Father and one Master.

▸ Matthew 23:9

"Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

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Want the whole story? There's a full study on this page with the Catholic defenses examined, the history of how the title was adopted, and the problems with Protestant title-shifting.

→ Read the full Title Father study

This is the easiest study in the Catholicism section. Not easiest to hear — easiest to verify. Most of the symbols we have examined require walking through layers of history, pagan iconography, and comparative religion to establish the case. The title "Father" applied to religious leaders requires none of that. Messiah Himself directly addressed the practice, named it, and forbade it. The instruction takes one verse and 15 words in English. And every Catholic priest on earth violates it every day, as does every congregation that accepts the title when speaking to them.

This study walks through what Messiah actually said, examines the Catholic theological defense of the practice, traces the history of how the title "Father" was adopted despite the direct prohibition, and demonstrates why this single title represents one of the clearest and most deliberate rejections of Messiah's instruction in the entire Catholic system.

What Messiah Actually Said

In Matthew 23, Messiah delivered one of His most pointed teachings on spiritual authority. He had just finished warning the disciples about the Pharisees — the religious establishment of His day — and was instructing them on how His followers should relate to one another and to Him. In the middle of this teaching, He gave a set of three commands about religious titles. They are precise, parallel, and unambiguous:

▸ Matthew 23:8-10

Three titles, three prohibitions, three reasons:

"Rabbi" — a title of teaching authority. Forbidden because Messiah alone is the true Teacher, and all believers are brethren, equal under Him.
"Father" — a title of spiritual paternity. Forbidden because the Father in heaven alone holds that role, and no man on earth should claim it.
"Master" — a title of absolute authority. Forbidden because Messiah alone is Master, and to apply the title to another is to compete with Him.

These instructions are not a metaphor. They are not a cultural peculiarity of first-century Judaism that Christians no longer need to honor. They are direct commands from the King, applied to the question of what titles His followers should use for human religious authority figures. The specific word "Father" is named. The scope of the prohibition is stated: "upon the earth" — meaning in the ordinary human sphere. The reason is given: "for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

There is no room for interpretation. The command is as plain as any command in Scripture. And the Catholic Church requires its entire clergy, from the Pope down to the parish priest, to be called Father as a matter of ecclesiastical dignity.

The Catholic Defense and Why It Fails

Catholic apologists have produced several standard defenses of the "Father" title. They are all inadequate, and recognizing why is worth doing carefully.

Defense 1: Paul called himself a father

The first and most common defense is that the apostle Paul called himself a spiritual father to his churches. Catholic apologists cite 1 Corinthians 4:15 — "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Messiah, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Messiah Yahushua I have begotten you through the gospel." They argue that if Paul can describe himself as a spiritual father, then Catholic priests using the title "Father" is a legitimate continuation of apostolic practice.

This defense conflates two different things: describing a spiritual relationship and adopting a formal religious title. Paul is saying "I have been like a father to you" in the sense of having led the Corinthians to faith. He is not saying "Call me Father Paul." Paul consistently signs his letters with his name, sometimes adding "apostle" or "servant of Messiah" — never "Father." In Acts, when he is addressed by others, no one calls him Father Paul. The Corinthian believers he describes himself as having fathered in the gospel called him Paul, not Father. The metaphor of spiritual paternity is not in question; the formal ecclesiastical title is what Messiah forbade.

Moreover, Paul's "father" language appears in one letter about one specific relationship. It is not a template for a widespread institutional practice. Paul himself was aware of Matthew 23 (the gospel was circulating during his ministry), and he never instituted a policy of calling other leaders "Father" in his churches or of being called that himself. Elders in Paul's churches were called elders (presbyteroi) or overseers (episkopoi). Not fathers.

Defense 2: We call our biological fathers "Father"

The second defense is that Messiah's command cannot be taken literally because we call our biological fathers by that title without violation. Surely Messiah was not forbidding children to call their dads "Dad." Therefore, the argument goes, the prohibition must be narrower — perhaps only applying to divinizing the title, or to claiming it in some extreme sense, but not to the ordinary use that Catholic priests make of it.

Read the verse again: "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." Messiah specifies the context. The word father in this prohibition stands in contrast to the Father in heaven. The opposite of Father-in-heaven is not our natural father by biology. The opposite of Father-in-heaven is anyone on earth who claims the spiritual-fatherhood role that belongs to God alone. Biological fatherhood is a different category entirely — it is a natural relationship established by Yahuah in creation, not a religious title claimed by a human authority figure.

When a Catholic calls a priest "Father," she is not speaking of biology. She is addressing him with a title of spiritual paternity — acknowledging that he stands in a father-role between her and God. This is precisely what Matthew 23:9 forbids. The priest is claiming (or accepting) a title that belongs to God alone. The biological-fatherhood argument is a diversion from what the text is actually saying.

Defense 3: It's just a term of respect

The third defense is that "Father" in Catholic usage is simply a term of respect for a spiritual leader, analogous to "Doctor" for a physician or "Mister" for any man. It has no theological weight. It is a cultural convention. Therefore, Messiah's prohibition doesn't apply.

But Catholic theology itself does not treat "Father" as equivalent to "Mister." The title is tied to the priestly office. A priest is called Father because he has been ordained into a specific spiritual role — a role that Catholic doctrine explicitly describes as paternal. The priest hears confessions as a spiritual father. He presides at Mass in persona Christi. He administers sacraments that, in Catholic theology, actually confer grace. He is considered to have spiritual children — his parishioners. The title "Father" is not a polite address; it is a theological claim about the priest's relationship to his congregation.

And that is precisely what Messiah forbade. The spiritual-father role belongs to God. No human priest stands between the believer and God in a paternal capacity. Messiah Himself is the only mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The Catholic priesthood has built an entire ecclesiology on a relationship that Messiah specifically prohibited, and the title "Father" is the daily verbal affirmation of that prohibited relationship.

Call no man Father upon the earth. The instruction is 13 words. A billion people violate it daily because their church tells them to.

The Escalation: "Holy Father"

Beyond the ordinary title "Father" for priests, the Catholic Church has applied even more exalted versions of the title to higher-ranking clergy:

"Most Reverend Father" — applied to bishops.
"His Eminence" — applied to cardinals.
"His Holiness the Holy Father" — applied to the Pope.

"Holy Father" is the traditional formal title of the Pope. It is how he is addressed in official documents, by heads of state, and by the Catholic faithful. And it directly combines two things Scripture reserves for God alone — holiness and fatherhood — into a single honorific applied to a human being.

▸ John 17:11

"Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given Me."

The only time the title "Holy Father" appears in the New Testament is in Messiah's prayer to the Father. It is a title applied directly to God. For a Pope to accept this title is to appropriate a name that Scripture uses for the Father Himself. This goes beyond violation of Matthew 23:9; it enters the category of blasphemy in the technical sense — taking to oneself what belongs to God.

Catholic apologists typically argue that "Holy Father" for the Pope refers to his office, not to personal holiness. This defense fails on the same grounds as the previous ones. The title was used by Messiah Himself to address God the Father. Applying it to any human being is theological competition with God. That the office is said to warrant the title does not help; the question is whether any office on earth should warrant a title Scripture uses exclusively for God.

The History of How This Happened

In the first and second centuries, Christian leaders were called by their names or by functional titles: elder (presbyteros), overseer (episkopos), deacon (diakonos), apostle (apostolos, only applied to the original twelve and a few specific others). The New Testament letters show leaders addressing one another by name. Peter calls himself a fellow-elder. Paul calls himself a bondservant. None of them use or accept "Father" as a title.

The title "Father" began to be applied to Christian leaders in the 3rd and 4th centuries, first to theologians and teachers of wide influence — the "Church Fathers" (Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, etc.). Initially this was a descriptive term, not a formal title of address. By the early medieval period, the title was being formally applied to abbots and bishops in monasteries and dioceses, reflecting the increasingly hierarchical and paternalistic structure of the Western church. By the high medieval period, ordinary parish priests were routinely called Father. The practice has continued unchanged since.

Throughout this development, no Catholic theologian or council has ever convincingly addressed Matthew 23:9. The verse is acknowledged. Defenses are offered. None of them actually reckon with what Messiah said. The practice continues because the Catholic hierarchical structure requires it, not because the Scripture supports it.

The Reformation and the Continuing Issue

Protestant Reformers were aware of the Matthew 23 problem. Most Protestant traditions moved away from the "Father" title for clergy, using instead "Pastor," "Reverend," "Minister," or similar terms. This was an improvement, but it was not a complete solution. Many of those titles carry their own theological problems.

"Reverend" — applied to God in Psalm 111:9 ("holy and reverend is His name"). The word means "worthy of being revered." Applied to a human being, it approaches the same kind of appropriation as "Holy Father."
"Pastor" — means shepherd. Messiah identifies Himself as the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4) and the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). Using "Pastor" as a title for a congregational leader is at least less problematic than Father, but it still functions to create a hierarchical distinction that the New Testament does not prescribe.
"Minister" — simply means servant, which is closer to the New Testament model. Less problematic as a title than "Father," but still formalized into an office-holder role that the Bible does not set up as a distinct class separate from the rest of the congregation.

The Protestant churches have not resolved the Matthew 23 issue so much as shifted to different terminology. The spirit of Messiah's instruction — that believers are brethren under one Master and one Father, with no human hierarchical intermediary — is violated by many Protestant practices as well. The Catholic "Father" problem is the most visible. It is not the only one.

What Messiah Instituted Instead

Matthew 23 is not just a list of prohibitions. It establishes a positive pattern for how Messiah's followers should relate to one another:

One Master. Messiah Himself. All other believers are not masters but servants under Him.
One Father. The Father in heaven. No human being stands in the father-role for other believers.
One Teacher. Messiah. All other believers learn from Him, whether directly from Scripture or indirectly through one another.
All are brethren. The first and primary relationship between believers is not hierarchy but brotherhood. Elders, teachers, and leaders exist, but they exist as servants among equals, not as a caste apart.

The greatest among us shall be servant. Not Holy Father. Not Eminence. Not Reverend. Servant. This is the Master's program for His church, and the Catholic Father-title is one of the most visible and daily departures from it.

What to Do With This Information

This study has a practical application that is clearer than most of the others. If you interact with Catholic clergy, do not call them Father. If your children do, teach them why not. This is not rudeness. It is obedience to a direct command from Messiah. You can address a priest by his given name, or as Mister, or as Sir. You do not need to use the title "Father."

If you attend a Protestant church that has moved past the "Father" title but still uses "Reverend" or treats the pastor with hierarchical reverence that goes beyond Scripture, consider the same principle. The spirit of Matthew 23 applies across denominations. All believers are brethren. No human being is Holy anything. No human being is our spiritual Father.

Address the Father in heaven as Father. Address Messiah as Master and Lord. Address other believers by name. This is the pattern Messiah gave, and it is both humbler and more beautiful than the hierarchical titles the Catholic Church has constructed over fifteen centuries of drift from the apostolic pattern.

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Summary: The Title Father in One Paragraph

▸ a title Messiah Himself used to address God the Father (John 17:11). The Catholic defenses of this practice (Paul was a spiritual father, biological fatherhood, it's just respect) all fail when examined. The title was not in use in the first-century church; it was added in the medieval period as the Catholic hierarchy solidified into a paternal structure the New Testament never prescribes. This is the one item in the entire Catholicism section where the violation requires no historical excavation, no comparative religion, and no disputed interpretation. Messiah said do not do this. A billion people do it daily. It is the clearest and most daily rejection of a specific command of Messiah in the entire Catholic system.

"Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). Messiah's command is direct, specific, and unambiguous. Yet every Catholic priest on earth is called Father as a matter of official ecclesiastical practice, and the Pope is addressed as Holy Father

"Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven."

▸ Matthew 23:9