Call No Man Father

"Good day, Father!" "How are you, Father?" "Good sermon, Father!"

Who is being addressed? A Catholic priest?

Would you believe a Baptist minister in a Baptist church?

Neither would I, but, believe it or not, its true. For the first 300-400 years after the Reformation, most Reformation congregations addressed their ministers as "Father". Also, the honorific "Father" was not reserved for clergy alone. Missionary pioneers were also referred to as "Father" and "Mother". Early American Methodists referred to John Wesley as "Father Wesley".

Strangely enough, before 1840 most Catholic congregations addressed their priests as "Mister," "Monsieur," or "Don", but not "Father".

What changed?

The sudden immigration of Irish Catholics was the catalyst. Irish Catholics called all priests "Father". That was more than some Reformation "Fathers" could stand. Many ministers began forsaking the now tainted title. Scripture was searched and a polemic found. Matthew 23:9.

"But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ."
Matthew 23:8-10

While the Irish were the catalyst, the new 19th Century Doctor of Divinity degree was the fuel. Coveted by Protestant ministers, "Doctor" gradualy replaced "Father" as the common honorific.

Bizzarly, like the word "Rabbi", the word "Doctor" means "teacher". "Doctor" is from the latin verb docere (to teach). Matther 23:8 seemingly forbids the now common Protestant tradition of calling ministers "Doctor". Will this also change, perhaps in response to the many college and university faculty that are atheists and agnostics? Only time will tell. Perhaps "Father" will return to vogue.

Update

Seldom does God allow me to gain knowledge without Him providing me an opportunity to apply said knowledge. Shortly after posting the above, I made my regular weekend visit to Michael Spencer's Internet Monk blog to follow-up on developments there. Michael had posted on ordinations and made the aside comment "(Not calling someone Father or Reverend seems like a can’t-miss teaching of Jesus.)". Knowing the Michael was Baptist and Michael's burning desire for the truth in all things, I commented on the above fact that for the first 200-240 years of his denominations existence that Baptist had called their ministers Father in seeming defiance of the Bible. The ensuing denials and discussions had the unintended consequence of hijacking Michael's intended thread on ordinations. My apologies, Michael.

Secondly, I chased yet another theological "rabbit". Matthew 23:10 basically states to call no man "master". As the days of slaves and masters are largely long past and its now only in movies that one hears "Yes, master", most of us don't give this verse a second thought. But, are the days of using "master" truely gone? Not so. It turns out that "mister" is a cognate of "master". Per Wikipedia, cognates in linguistics are words that have a common origin. Not only is "mister" a cognate, but also "mistress" and all our modern abbreviations of Mr., Mrs., and Ms. So, for the more sola scriptura among us, was Jesus banning all use of the word "master", and its future cognates, or was Jesus expressing something else and using hyperbole to make His point?

Source: Are ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ Appropriate Titles for Protestant Clergy?