Call no man father...
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.' |
The fact is, NOBODY in the NT would have agreed with your absurdly literal, private interpretation, which would foolishly forbid calling any man on earth a "father". That is foolish because you have no Biblical context. Many dozens of times in the New Testament men upon this earth are rightly called "father,"--- men who are being called this for symbolic, honorary or spiritual reasons, or as a term of respectful address, not necessarily just male parents --- and there is no offense given to anyone in heaven or on earth.
This is what God's Word says:
Acts 22:1
Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I now make before you. Romans 4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations)
1 Corinthians 4:15
Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
Ephesians 6:4
And, father, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Philemon 1:10
I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become during my imprisonment.
1 John 2:13
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
The Church has always understood these uses of "father" as well as "master" and "teacher", to be proper. So, you might want to re-think your own personal interpretation, Fr. Elsie.
Yes, father.