Why do the Catholics call their pastor “Father” when in the Holy Bible Jesus tells us in Mathew 23:9, “Do not call anyone on Earth your Father”????  Thank You.

Sincerely,
Not A “Father” Figure

Dear Not A “Father” Figure,

The Catholics say it because the Catholics are wrong.  Matt 23:9 commands us to never give people the position of father other than the Father in heaven.  The Catholic church also calls their religious leaders ‘priests’ when the Bible clearly states that all christians are priests (1 Pet 2:9).  They also reserve the title of ‘saint’ for only the most pious of Catholics… all christians are saints (1 Cor 14:33, 2 Cor 13:13).  The word ‘saint’ simply means ‘someone set apart for a special purpose’.  Throughout the millennia, the Catholic church has added these doctrines of men and turned its back on the Scriptures.  We are commanded to never add or subtract from God’s Word, or we will be condemned (Rev 22:18-19, Gal 1:8).  The Catholic church has done that very thing.

Hello.  I am young and new to my Christian faith, and I was wondering if you could explain to me exactly how the Godhead of the Father, Son, and Spirit work.  I can grasp Jesus as the Son and Him becoming the Holy Spirit, and I know that Jesus is God, but why does God refer to Jesus as "my Son"?

P.S. This is probably the 5th question I have asked and have always gotten an awesome answer, so thank you!

Sincerely,
New To This

Dear New To This,

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three separate and distinct Beings.  The easiest way to see this is to look at the baptism of Jesus.  At Jesus’ baptism, Jesus came out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father spoke from heaven (Lk 3:21-22).  All three of Them are God.  Jesus is described as deity in Jhn 1:1.  The Holy Spirit is described as deity in 1 Cor 2:11 and Gen 1:2.  And last, but not least, the Father is described as deity in Gen 1:1 and numerous other locations.  They are each distinct entities, but They are one in purpose.  We will try and summarize Their responsibilities:

The Father – The Father has total authority to plan and oversee the salvation of mankind.  The Father was the one that sent Jesus at the proper time to die on the cross (Gal 4:4).  The Father answers our prayers (Lk 11:2).  The Father provides for the needs of mankind (Lk 12:30).  He is the great master builder and planner of our salvation.

The Son – Jesus made the Father’s plan happen.  Jesus emptied Himself and became a human (Php 2:4-8).  Jesus is God’s son because He was miraculously born (Matt 1:18).  His blood cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn 1:7).  He is the head of the church and its Savior (Eph 1:22, Col 1:18).  If the Father was the architect of our salvation, Jesus is the carpenter… which is ironic, since He actually was one! (Matt 13:55)

The Holy Spirit – The Holy Spirit is the most misunderstood of all the Godhead.  We have answered many questions on His role.  If you want an in-depth look at the Holy Spirit, read “What The Holy Spirit Does”.  For the sake of brevity, we will simply say that the Holy Spirit’s primary job was to create the Bible and keep it preserved throughout all time.  It is the Holy Spirit that guided the minds of the apostles as they wrote down the words of the Bible (Jhn 14:26, 1 Cor 2:13).  If the Father was the architect, and Jesus was the carpenter, then the Holy Spirit is the realtor.  He made sure that everyone would know what Jesus did and how to be saved through Christ’s blood.

Hopefully, that helps give you a basic idea of how the Godhead works.  We are glad that you’ve been so pleased with the answers we give.  We strive very hard to always give Bible answers to Bible questions… that way you can check the verses for yourself to make sure we are only teaching what God wrote.

In your post this morning, "The Power of Choice", you made two points that interest me:

1. "Anyone can trust God, but very few people are interested in doing so."
2. "Whenever you give people freedom, expect most of us to abuse it."

But given that God created us, why didn't He create us so that more people are interested in choosing Him?  He could have made us in any way He desired.  But He gives us freedom to choose what we want, plus a natural inclination to turn away from Him.  It doesn't make much sense.

Sincerely,
Free To Fail

Dear Free To Fail,

Your question has a built-in contradiction.  You wrote, “Why didn't He create us so that more people are interested in choosing Him?” – if God designs us to choose one thing over another, we aren’t really choosing at all.  It would be like engineering a car that automatically stayed on the road; it would take driver error away, but it would also take driver freedom away.  God didn’t make man with a natural inclination to rebel against Him or choose Him.  God makes every human a blank slate and gives us equal opportunity to decide between righteousness and wickedness.  In the Garden of Eden, God walked with Adam & Eve (Gen 3:8), and the serpent offered deception (Gen 3:1)… both options were available.  Adam & Eve had equal freedom to choose to do the right thing or the wrong thing – perfect freewill.  God sets before us life and death (Deu 30:15), and we have the total freedom to choose either option.  God hasn’t stacked the deck one way or the other.  The entire world is full of sinful temptation, but none of those temptations are beyond our capacity to resist (1 Cor 10:13).  There are false prophets who proclaim false gods (1 Jn 4:1), and yet the entire creation screams of God’s existence, so that we are without excuse (Rom 1:20).  The evidence is there; the choice is ours to freely make.

Something I struggle with is trying to understand why the gate is so narrow (Matthew 7:14).  God could have created us any way He chose to, but He created us in such a way that most of us are not interested in taking the appropriate steps to become a christian.  Living life as a christian is hard, and we are so tempted to do the wrong thing at every turn.

Why would God create us in this way?  If He is so loving, why did He create us this way KNOWING that most of us are going to fail?

Sincerely,
Uphill Battle

Dear Uphill Battle,

The road is narrow, but it is also accessible to anyone (Jhn 3:16).  The road to salvation is designed so that salvation can only be found in Christ (Jhn 14:6).  God created mankind with the freedom to choose.  We can choose to live for ourselves (which is a wide road with a zillion different paths based upon our interests, desires, etc.), or we can choose to live for God (Rom 12:1).  The road to salvation is narrow because it is based off of one question: “Do we trust God?” (Heb 11:6).  Anyone can trust God, but very few people are interested in doing so.  It isn’t because He created us poorly; it is because He created us with the ability to choose.  Whenever you give people freedom, expect most of us to abuse it.  If God had made us without freedom, everyone would go to heaven… but no one would have chosen to go there.  So God, in His infinite wisdom, believed it better to create mankind with choice and have most people choose poorly than to create humans as mindless robots devoid of freewill.

(This is a follow-up question to “Women Preachers”, “Women Preachers (Part 2)”, and “Women Preachers (Part 3)”)

Thank you very much for indulging me in our debate about women and women's roles.  I have read in earnest your replies and appreciate your forthrightness (is that a word? LOL).  The root of the reason that I ask these questions stems from my struggle with God's Word and who I am.  God made me, right?  Then why did He make me so stubborn and pig-headed? (Partly a joke, but not all the way.)  Because of the life I have lived and all the stuff I have been through, the only thing that kept me alive and sane was to be as hard as nails.  I am tired of being the "tough guy" on one hand, but on the other, I am strong because of it.  Society gives women conflicting signals: be "your own woman" BUT "find a good man".  Why can't I do both?  How now am I supposed to throw away who I am to live a life that makes me feel like I am in too-tight, itchy, wool clothing (i.e. be someone I am not)?  Am I simply being pig-headed again when I feel that in order to be what I am "supposed" to be, I will actually become a pretender?  I do not know how to be anyone other than who I am, who God made me to be.  How am I to live an honest life if I always go around trying to be something I am not?

Sincerely,
The Not-So-Feminist

Dear The Not-So-Feminist,

Who said anything about women not being allowed to be tough?!  Some of the most godly, brilliant, and faithful women are tough as nails and as resilient as sand under the tide.  Esther had the courage and bravery to stand up to the king and save the entire nation of Israel (Esther 4:16)!  It was women like Mary, Joanna, and Susanna who provided for Christ while He preached the gospel – it was their courage to stand by Him that made a difference in so many lives (Lk 8:1-3).  Abigail put her life in her hands and stood up against a wicked husband and prevented the deaths of an entire settlement of people (read the story in 1 Samuel 25); not to mention, she rebuked David in such a clever way that he adored her for her forthrightness (yes, it is a word).  Rahab risked her life to protect two of God’s servants and left a life of harlotry to become a faithful Jew (Heb 11:31).  There isn’t enough room to tell of the perseverance and knowledge of Priscilla, the devotion of Lydia, the strength of Hannah, or the wisdom of Deborah.  Suffice it to say, the Bible is simply brimming with stories of women who’ve been beaten down and assailed on every side, but they kept getting back up again.  Women and men may have different roles, but women have played a vital and truly epic part in the delivery of God’s Word to mankind.

Will your past affect the way you are as a christian today?  Definitely.  Will you have to change some things in your life to serve God?  Of course.  Will the essence of your personality be lost?  Absolutely not. God doesn’t want you to stop being tough – He wants to channel that into the right arenas.  Like you said, society sends women conflicting signals.  The Bible is designed to remove that conflict and give you real answers to what being a woman looks like… courageous, faithful, and utterly unflappable.  Being a woman isn’t the same as being a doormat.