Jump to Christ was condemning self-exaltation Scripture speaks of spiritual fatherhood A priest’s fatherhood is borrowed The title is not a declaration of perfection What should a visitor say?
The objection is straightforward.
Jesus said, “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Orthodox Christians routinely address priests as Father.
Are they ignoring a direct command of Christ?
Christ was condemning self-exaltation
The sentence appears in Matthew 23, where Christ condemns religious leaders who love places of honour, public recognition, and impressive titles while failing to practise what they preach.
In the same passage He says not to be called teacher or master. Yet the New Testament continues using ordinary language for teachers and fathers. If Christ intended an absolute ban on the word father, Christians could not refer to a male parent, an ancestor, or Abraham as father either.
The warning concerns claiming for ourselves the authority, honour, and spiritual source that belong ultimately to God.
No priest is the source of divine life. God alone is Father in the fullest and uncreated sense.
Scripture speaks of spiritual fatherhood
St. Paul told the Corinthians that although they had many guides, they did not have many fathers: “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” He called Timothy his true child in the faith and described his pastoral care with both paternal and maternal language.
St. Stephen addressed the Jewish council as “brothers and fathers.” Elisha cried “My father, my father!” to the departing Elijah. Scripture did not forget Christ’s command. It understood the difference between honouring genuine fatherhood and replacing God.
A priest’s fatherhood is borrowed
An Orthodox priest is called father because he has been entrusted with a pastoral relationship. He baptizes, teaches, blesses, hears confession, presides at the Eucharist, visits the sick, buries the dead, and helps guide a community toward Christ.
His fatherhood does not belong to him as personal spiritual property. It comes from his ministry within the Church and remains answerable to his bishop, the faith, and God.
A priest does not stand between a Christian and the heavenly Father as a competitor. His task is to bring people into the life of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.
The title is not a declaration of perfection
Calling a priest Father does not mean he is sinless, always correct, or entitled to unquestioning obedience in every area of life.
Spiritual authority can be abused. A title meant to describe sacrificial care can be used to demand attention, control, or immunity from correction—the very behaviour Christ condemned in Matthew 23.
The priest must therefore hear the title as a judgment upon himself. A father feeds rather than consumes, protects rather than exploits, and accepts responsibility rather than collecting privileges.
What should a visitor say?
If you are visiting and feel uncomfortable using the title, ordinary courtesy is sufficient. You may address the priest by his name, ask what is customary, or simply introduce yourself. No honest visitor should be treated harshly for not knowing church etiquette.
Orthodox Christians call a priest father because they recognize a pastoral relationship within the family of the Church. The title is valid only when it remains transparent to the one Father from whom every true fatherhood takes its name.
A note. These articles explain what the Orthodox Church teaches and why. They are not spiritual direction. Anything touching your own rule of prayer, fasting or confession belongs with your priest or spiritual father, who knows you and your circumstances.
- Matthew 23:1–12
- 1 Corinthians 4:14–17; 1 Timothy 1:2; Acts 7:2; 2 Kings 2:12
- Holy Orders, Orthodox Church in America
One passage. One week with it.
Words for the Narrow Way takes a single saying of Christ and gives it seven days — the passage in full, what the Greek is doing, how the Fathers read it, and one practice small enough to actually do.