Fathers of the Church
Although Jesus said that we should "call no man father," other New Testament scriptures use the term in the same sense that the Church does.
- "'For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ' (1 Corinthians 4:15, 16; cf. Galatians 4:19). The first teachers of Christianity seem to be collectively spoken of as 'the Fathers' (πατÎÏες, 2 Peter 3:4)."[1]