Its "Worshipping" men. Calling our human father, Father is not the same as "Worshipping" him. As you know millions worship the Pope and priests, confess to him, them and give him and them reverence. All against Bible teachings. Man-made ideas.
Why do we call priests and the Pope father, when in the bible it says not to call anyone on earth Father? Matt 23:9 I called my dad, Father would this being going against Gods word?
The conflict arises most prominently among the Catholic Church, where such issues are quite commonplace. Again --as Jan said--, man-made ideas, to serve the agenda of the clergy, which frequently contrasts with the teachings of dogma (See Martin Luther's 95 Theses of 1517 as examples).
IMO, calling a celibate priest "Father" is a gross disservice to that word, and an insult to those of us men who raise children. As such, I never address any cleric as Father.
In the Abrahamic religions the deity is always considered male. It isn't necessarily so in other equally valid (or equally invalid) religions.
I have less trouble calling a Catholic priest "father" than calling a pimply-faced, 20 year old Mormon evangelist "elder".
The Catholic church claims to stand "in loco parentis", representing God's interests on Earth and looking after his children. To that end, they cite Matthew 16 "Thou art Peter and upon this rock shall I build my church... " as their authority.
No matter how foolish or exploitative their interpretation, and no matter how much it has been massaged to maximise their influence, it's the basis for the sundry family titles: Father, mother, sister, brother for various religious orders.
It certainly doesn't disrespect "God". Nor does calling your own parent "Father", though that's a bit stuffy. I always called my father, "Dad".
Did you ever address you biological male parent as "father?"
(I know you did, but how would most respond to that?)
Would you deny a child the opportunity to tell someone that he or she loves his or her father?
"In the Bible the concept of fatherhood is not restricted to just our earthly fathers and God. It is used to refer to people other than biological or legal fathers, and is used as a sign of respect to those with whom we have a special relationship."
And of course, as individuals, we can interpret what we read any way we want.
But that doesn't mean that every interpretation is correct.
god is a particle not a person.
You are the god you seek.
Hi Pea Nuts,
Here is a link to MANY Biblical contradictions - http://infidels.org/library/modern/jim_meritt/bible-contradictions.html
Here is a graphic representation of what these contradictions look like from Old Testament to New testament.
