The last few weeks have been quite eventful for us Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world by announcing that he would be stepping down as head of the 1.2 billion-member Catholic Church.
His decision has thrust the papacy and Catholicism in general into the cultural spotlight and has provoked the ire of many Fundamentalists, who have long been scandalized by the adulation Catholics pay to the man we call “Holy Father.“
The recent images of massive throngs of Catholics gathered in St. Peter’s Square to express their love and gratitude to the 85-year-old Pontiff were sure to provoke many of these Fundamentalists to assert how contrary to Scripture all of this was.
At Mass recently I heard the very Gospel passage that lies at the heart of the matter in question: Matthew 23:1-12. It contains the “gotcha” verse that many Fundamentalists are fond of quoting to Catholics:
“Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.”
The argument that is often put forth asserts that the Catholic practice of calling our priests “father” is unbiblical and contrary to Christ’s command. You can be sure that calling the Pope “Holy Father“ would only compound this perceived blasphemy.
What we have here is a classic example of eisegesis (reading into and imposing one’s views and biases upon a passage) as opposed to exegesis (drawing out the meaning of a passage from its full and proper context).
My intention here is not to lay out an apologetic argument on this issue. For those who are interested, I would direct you to some of our excellent online tracts and Quick Questions.
Tract: Call No Man “Father”?
Quick Questions: How can we respond to the “call no man father” question?
Quick Questions: Why do Catholics call the pope the “Holy Father,” if the Bible says only Persons of the Trinity may be called holy?
Instead, what I would like to simply point out is that it seems that the problem of eisegesis is not limited to the interpretation of Scripture but is also widely applied to Catholicism in general. It is clear that there are many who approach, interpret, and understand the Catholic faith through the lens of their own presuppositions, agendas, and biases (a kind of hermeneutic of suspicion and contempt) instead of approaching it with an objectivity that sees the faith for what it is (regardless of whether you agree with it or not).
I would challenge our Fundamentalist friends and the world at large to pay close attention to Pope Benedict XVI as he gracefully, and with great humility, models for the world the very virtues espoused by Christ. He is a loving and holy father who in no way resembles the scribes and Pharisees of old, but instead reflects the countenance of the heavenly Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
By Hector Molina
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Sometimes fewer words can say so much more … During the time that original texts were written, people had an infinitely smaller vocabulary. God was referred yo as Allah, Abba or Adonai. Each meant father and also meant head, leader or almighty, depending upon application.
When protestants began to rewrite scripture, there had not been a credible interpreter of Aramaic languages on Earth for a thousand years. These folks created the King James book from a completely unprepared posture.
The interpreted text should have read (in my opinion), “never regard any human as almighty.”
This, I believe, is the most powerful defense of the misunderstood verse.
We must remember that the bible wasn’t always one book available at Wal Mart. It took hundreds of years to assemble and is not copywrite protected. Hate-filled heretics will continue to reinterpret the scriptures as an assault upon the one true Christian church.
Sometimes fewer words can say so much more … During the time that original texts were written, people had an infinitely smaller vocabulary. God was referred yo as Allah, Abba or Adonai. Each meant father and also meant head, leader or almighty, depending upon application.
When protestants began to rewrite scripture, there had not been a credible interpreter of Aramaic languages on Earth for a thousand years. These folks created the King James book from a completely unprepared posture.
The interpreted text should have read (in my opinion), “never regard any human as almighty.”
This, I believe, is the most powerful defense of the misunderstood verse.
We must remember that the bible wasn’t always one book available at Wal Mart. It took hundreds of years to assemble and is not copywrite protected. Hate-filled heretics will continue to reinterpret the scriptures as an assault upon the one true Christian church.