Matthew 23:8-10 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
So Catholic's argument is that because a child refers to his dad as a father, that justifies disobeying Jesus?
It never ceases to amaze me the rationalizations Catholics use to justify disobeying this clear, concise unequivocal command of Jesus.
“And call no man your father on earth...”
So “no man” really means “no man in a religious context” and not “no man” . . . but just when you want it to?
No, a better explanation is this one:
And this is not to say that I disagree with your "context" either...-
as Jesus himself refers to dads as "Fathers" often...
But you can't claim a specific context you may have an affinity for...
when there isn't one explicitly referenced in scripture.
Which by the way, some "scholars" claim strong evidence to prove that the "man" - in "Call no man father..."
Is a direct reference to the Roman emperor, who in fact claimed the Deity of "God" in their day.
So context can abound all over...
The problem with your assessment - of that Jesus was "addressing religious leaders"
Is NOT in that verse- and in fact it is something you are adding to scripture.
Now again, that is NOT to say you are incorrect in your interpretation- you could be right-
all I am saying is it means you are making an unverifiable statement-
one that develops from outside of scripture- which btw also goes against your own rules.
If we allow that external analysis as you would like, some can then - in that same method and manner- assume Jesus was (or was not) referring
to what St. Paul (a "religious leader" we would agree) would say later on, in Romans,
"Abraham is the Father of us all"...
"He is our Father - IN the sight of God "
or when he declared
"for in Christ Jesus I became your FATHER through the gospel."
We can also derive from that verse then perhaps,
in the same method you are applying,
that Jesus was not referring to much later on Catholic Priests
who would lead their congregations in The "Our Father" - the Lord's Prayer
together at every Mass- as we give worship to the ONE Father in Heaven.
So I have to ask, since you mentioned you are amazed
at Catholic "rationalizations" on this verse...
When Christ said "Call no man Father on earth, BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE Father in Heaven...
Are you rationalizing that Catholics Don't understand or know the difference
Between Father Bob down at the Parish Fish Fry in Scranton- and the ONE Almighty Father in Heaven, we worship at every Mass??
As seen in the Bible the concept of fatherhood is not restricted to just our earthly fathers and God. It is used to refer to people other than biological or legal fathers, and is used as a sign of respect to those with whom we have a special relationship.
For example, Joseph tells his brothers of a special fatherly relationship God had given him with the king of Egypt: “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:8).
Job indicates he played a fatherly role with the less fortunate: “I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know” (Job 29:16). And God himself declares that he will give a fatherly role to Eliakim, the steward of the house of David: “In that day I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah . . . and I will clothe him with [a] robe, and will bind [a] girdle on him, and will commit . . . authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah” (Isa. 22:20–21).
This type of fatherhood applies not only to those who are wise counselors (like Joseph) or benefactors (like Job) or both (like Eliakim); it also applies to those who have a fatherly spiritual relationship with one. For example, Elisha cries, “My father, my father!” to Elijah as the latter is carried up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs. 2:12). Later, Elisha himself is called a father by the king of Israel (2 Kgs. 6:21).
Jesus is not forbidding us to call men “fathers” who actually are such—either literally or spiritually. He is warning people against inaccurately attributing fatherhood—or a particular kind or degree of fatherhood—to those who do not have it.
This is seen in how Paul wrote “I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:14–15).
At LEAST there was no command to not call anyone MOTHER!
--Wannabe_Catholic_Dude(Hail Mary!)