Why you should not call your Pastor as Papa: Part 2 – The Four Reasons

…The HARD TRUTH with Dr. Kennedy Musonda, Ph.D.

I MENTIONED in last week’s article that controversy has continued to rage unabated concerning Jesus’ prohibition in Mathew 23:9 not to call anyone on earth father because there is only one Father who is in heaven” (of course this does not include your biological father).

You will agree with me that the readers’ response to last Tuesday’s article proves the validity of the above statement. Some readers were so offended by a mere title of the article that they called me an educated fool.

Several others ‘insulted’ my education in general and my Ph.D., particularly, which has nothing to do with the topic at hand because my Ph.D., is not in theology but business administration. They would have been remotely justified if I had written an article on business.

Wisdom demands that you hear the matter fully before you respond to it. The approach exhibited by my critiques is a form of logical fallacy, which in Latin is called argumentum ad hominem – a personal attack on the character or motive of someone making an argument instead of addressing the issue at hand. Argumentum ad hominem is based on feelings of prejudice rather than reason or logic.

Based on Mathew 23, I believe that there are four reasons why Jesus forbade the calling of religious leaders as Papa (father, dad, or abba), three of which are still applicable today. First, the First Century Papas made themselves indispensable to the Jewish Education system. Second, the First Century Papas took the place of God, like what many of the current Papas are doing.

Third, in spiritual matters, only God is our father. Lastly, Jesus introduced a different kind of leadership for the church, which replaced papalism with servant leadership.

Today, I will address the first reason why I think Jesus forbade calling religious leaders as fathers. I will discuss the other reasons in the coming weeks. Understanding the First Century Jewish Education system is critical to understanding Matthew 23:9.

Jesus in Matthew 23:2 accused Scribes and Pharisees of sitting in Moses’ seat. They were the ‘judge and jury’ of the Jewish educational and legal system based on the Law of Moses.

The education system in Judaism, over which the Scribes and Pharisees presided, consisted of three stages: Bet Sefer, Bet Tamuld, and Bet Midrash. Each stage focused on a particular age group, specifically Jewish boys, although the first stage included Jewish girls. Bet Sefer, the first stage, meant “House of the Book.”

It was taught in the Synagogues to children from the age of five or six to 10. The focus of this stage was teaching them to read, write and memorize the Torah or the first five books of the Bible.

The second stage, the Bet Talmud, also called the “House of Learning,” targeted boys between 10 and 12 years. It focused on studying the interpretation of the oral Toral and the rest of the Jewish Bible. Some scholars argue that memorization of the Torah continued to this intermediate stage of the Jewish education system.

Jesus must have completed and passed this stage, looking at how he performed at a three-day oral examination by a panel of ‘professors’ (doctors) of the Law (Luke 2:42,46-47) at the age of 12.

The Bet Midrash or “House of Study” was the third and final stage of the education system. Only gifted students from well-to-do homes progressed to this stage and had to be 13 or above. The student (disciple) left his family and his career to join and live with the Rabbi 24/7.

The student worked, ate, and studied the Torah as the Rabbi moved from town to town, teaching the Toral. The student was a Rabbi’s servant and totally submitted to his unquestionable authority, as one would submit to God. Some scholars assert that Scribes and Pharisees took the place of God in society and in the way they related and treated their students.

The word Rabbi means teacher, and it was a title of great respect and honour.  Rabbis were also called masters and fathers (Matthew 23:8-10), which were also titles of highest honour in society, and they loved to be called by these titles (Luk 11:43).

The central focus of the Bet Midrash was comprehension and application of the Torah and Oral Traditions to real life in a more forceful manner. Bet Midrash was an advanced stage, and the student or disciple needed to complete four critical tasks.

First, he had to memorize the teacher’s words. Second, he had to learn the teacher’s traditions and interpretation.

Third, he had to imitate the teachers’ deeds, speech, and behavior. Finally, the student had to recruit his disciples or student. A person who had not completed the Bet Midrash was considered uneducated (John 7:15; Acts 4:13).

The stage ended when a student or disciple reached 30 and would also become a Rabbi. For this reason, Jesus’ public ministry started at the age of 30 (Luke 3:23) because this is the age a Jewish male was considered mature to begin a public ministry.

Next week, I look at how the Scribes and Pharisees took the place of God in matters of the Law and the conscious.

Author: Dr. Kennedy Musonda an international development consultant holds a Bachelor and Master of Social Work, a Bachelor of Arts in Theology,  a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Ph.D. in Business Administration.

For feedback contact email: [email protected], WhatsApp/Telegram line +260977526404 or Skype: kmusonda45