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Summary
- Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God as “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9) and called them his brothers (John 20:17); the New Testament never calls him their Father.
- He distinguished his sonship from theirs, speaking of “my Father and your Father” (John 20:17; Catechism 443).
- Isaiah 9:6 calls the promised child “Everlasting Father”; the Septuagint has “Messenger of great counsel” and the Vulgate “Father of the world to come.”
- John Calvin read “Father” in Isaiah 9:6 as “Author,” describing what Christ is to believers rather than his essence.
- Oneness Pentecostals teach that Jesus is the Father; Latter-day Saints call him Father in specific senses while holding that the Father and the Son are separate beings.
- Jesus’ mother is Mary; Joseph raised him, and Christians confess God the Father as his Father.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Isaiah 8:18; 9:6; Matthew 1:18–25; 3:16–17; 6:9; 23:9; Mark 14:36; Luke 1:34–35; 2:48–49; 3:23; John 10:30; 13:33; 14:9–10; 16:23; 20:17; 21:5; Romans 8:15, 29; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:4–7; Hebrews 2:11, 13. https://www.biblegateway.com/
- Isaiah 9:6 in the Septuagint, translated by L. C. L. Brenton (numbered 9:5). https://ebible.org/eng-Brenton/ISA09.htm
- Isaiah 9:6 in the Latin Vulgate and the Douay-Rheims Bible. https://www.drbo.org/lvb/chapter/27009.htm and https://www.drbo.org/chapter/27009.htm
- Isaiah 9:5 in the Jewish Publication Society translations of 1917 and 1985, and Rashi on Isaiah 9:5, Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.9.5 and https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Isaiah.9.5
- Great Compline, “God is with us,” St. Jonah Orthodox Church. https://www.saintjonah.org/services/great_compline.htm
- John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, 9:6. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom13.xvi.i.html
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 443 and 2789. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1G.HTM
- Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John 121.3. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701121.htm
- John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, homily 4. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/240204.htm
- Council of Nicaea (325), the Nicene Creed. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3801.htm
- United Pentecostal Church International, “Our Beliefs,” and the position paper “The True Humanity of Jesus Christ” (2004). https://upci.org/our-beliefs/ and https://upci.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The_True_Humanity_of_Jesus_Christ.pdf
- First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “The Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition” (1916), reprinted in Ensign, April 2002. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/04/the-father-and-the-son?lang=eng
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