Exactly! Not to mention their habit of calling the high ranking members "holy father" when there is only one we are to call Father. Matthew 23:29.
Well, we have biological fathers we call father, and I guess "grandfather" counts too. The label is somewhat superficial, just making the insitution/ community feel more like a family, but the issue is the system/ hierarchy and the covetousness with who gets to read or interpret what. With Jehovahs Witnesses, they believe the Governing Body are guided directly by God and anyone who interprets for themselves is seen as an "apostate," essentially. Only if they took an oath (baptism) though.
The Levitical priesthood weren't exactly a "class," it's not as if any of them could join that with training, they were a physical bloodline that did all the administrative work of Israel & Judea as well as managing the ceremonial practices.
Indeed.
I haven't looked into the Greek around the word Father in the context Christ used it. Everyone had an emma and an abba (momma and poppa). We have labels for these in the familial sense but the Catholics use the word "father" as a title and that title is to be reserved for the Heavenly Father. It isn't for guys in funny hats and fancy robes.
Jehovah's Witnesses are nuts. Our Catholic friend decries private interpretation. JWs suffer from private revelation, much like Mormons and Adventists. Private revelation is the mark of a cult. Speaking of which, the very arguments Catholics make that only a collection of fancy hat wearing folk get to interpret the Bible and have their spiritual revelations turns Catholicism into a faith built on private revelation as well. They can go into their private room and have a "revelation" that something sinful suddenly isn't sinful when it's done according to whatever rules they proscribe. It's just bad. There's no mechanism for preventing the church from corrupting itself.
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