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| Recovering from Religious Abuse: 11 Steps to Spiritual Freedom |
In Matthew 23:1-12 Jesus appeared to ban religious titles like Rabbi and Father. Is that true? The Gospels refer to Abraham several times as Father Abraham and Paul referred to himself as a Father in the faith. There is no contradiction here. Let’s understand that Jesus often employed what we call hyperbole, an exaggeration to make a point. In comparison to God then, no man is our father and in comparison to Jesus, we have no other teacher or rabbi, and we ought not idolize any such teacher. Jesus was condemning those who love religious titles for the purpose of self-aggrandizement and adulation. On the other hand, he recognized certain believers as spiritual fathers of the faithful. The issue here is not to create a new rule banning titles, but showing the proper honor to whom honor is due.
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