Actually "Father" was associated with religious leaders in both Tanakh and NT.
Jdg 17:10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a
father and priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
Jdg 18:19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a
father and priest: is it better for thee to be
a priest unto the house of one man,
or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
1Th 2:11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you,
as a father doth his children, (Paul)
1Co 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the
ministers of Christ, and
stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover
it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
1Co 4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but
as my beloved sons I warn you.
1Co 4:15 For
though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus
I have begotten you through the gospel.
1Co 4:16 Wherefore I beseech you,
be ye followers of me.
1Co 4:15 clinches it. They have ten thousand instructors in Christ - but not many of them are yet Church Fathers.
Also he very specifically considers himself FATHER - as he says he has BEGOTTEN them. And OBVIOUSLY he is saying he wants more of them to be FATHERS.
And as PopeADope pointed out -
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).
Acts 7:2, where Stephen refers to "
our father Abraham," or in
Romans 9:10, where Paul speaks of
"our father Isaac."
Then Paul said
1 Corinthians 4:15
for in Christ Jesus
I became your father through the gospel.
Funny how things get twisted over time - YES? Like the attack on Catholic FATHERS?
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