Question about a verse in Matt. (23:9)

Ive always thought it was referring to the spiritual sense, as when God is referred to as our "Father" it is in the sense of spiritual fatherhood.

We only have one spiritual Father, and there is no need to consider another mortal man our spiritual "father."

 

1Co 4:15 For you can have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you can't have many fathers. Now I have fathered you in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Mom, I wonder what Paul had in mind when he wrote this?

 

With regard to Matt 23:9 it was common practice for Jews to refer to rabbi's as "father" in much the same way as Roman Catholics do their priests, intimating a spiritual authority over them. But Jesus was teaching us there is only one who is our spiritual father, that being God - He is our ultimate authority. He certainly was not teaching that we should not refer to our dad's as father, after all Jesus himself employed that term in that context in the parable of the prodigal son.

With respect to 1 Cor 4:15, the context is set in verse 14 where Paul is admonishing the Corinthians"as my beloved sons". It was to do with his disposition toward not spiriritual Lordship over them. Admonition is fatherly instruction - Paul was simply trying to teach the Corinthians as a father would teach his son. Those who would be "instructors" to the Corinthians had no vested interest in them, no real relationship to them, no genuine care of them.

Paul used this term he was using an analogy. He was not establishing a pastoral title. He was simply using the term illustratively, just as he had described himself as a farmer, builder, steward etc. As a father, he was admonishing them, lovingly carefully, with their best interest at heart.