In article , Roger says...
>
>Lots. To start with, they call their priests and the pope "Father."

Most of the attacks in this posting are baseless. Among other things,
Catholics these days tend to know their Bible at least as well as
Protestants.

However I think there is a real issue with Mat 23:8 ff. The whole
context of Mat 23 is about religious leaders who inflate their
importance. It's not just Father, but Teacher, not to mention taking
the place of honor at banquets and synagogues. Jesus' ideal for
leadership is well-known: leaders are supposed to be servants, and
maintain their humility.

The typical defense of Father seems to make the passage meaningless.
No, I don't think Jesus forbids us to refer to our fathers as
fathers. However he isn't talking about a straight description. He's
talking about using the word as a title that sets our leaders above
others. I don't call my father Father Hedrick.

However using this to attack Catholics seems misguided.  I don't think
Protestants are any better.  There's no reason to think Jesus would
have thought Reverend any better than Father. Indeed in some ways it's
worse: it adds an implication of holiness. Jesus rejected "Good"
directed to himself. (Mark 10:17) It's hard to believe he would think
any better of his followers being called Reverend (not to mention "His
Holiness").
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