THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO (CHURCH OF CHRIST OF FYM) IN A NUTSHELL, PART 6

This is a continuation of the series.

Q: What is the average money that Manalo takes from each Iglesia ni Cristo member and what is the aggregate yearly takes from all Iglesia members?
A: The average yearly amount of monies that a member surrenders to Manalo is $3,681.00.

Breakdown:
---------
Worship service offerings ($5.00x52x2)....$ 520.00
Local offerings ($10.00x40)............... 400.00
District offerings ($10.00x12)............ 120.00
Thanksgiving deposits ($25.00x49)........ 1,225.00
Supplemental Thanksgivings............... 500.00
Anniversary offerings.................... 700.00
God's Message offerings ($2.50x2x12)..... 60.00
EGM offerings ($3.00x52)................. 156.00
------
TOTAL $3,681.00
=========
NOTES:
The supplemental thanksgivings is the amount necessary to cover up whatever deficits of the member's deposits to make the thanksgiving comply with the abounding doctrine (amounts given this year must have increase over the increase of last year). For example, if what was given last year was $1,500, this years thanksgiving of $1,995 has increase of $495.00. This $495.00 must be greater than the increase last year. If last year's increase was $600.00, the member has drawn back from his obligation. Manalo teaches that God will not have pleasure with those who draw back from their obligations. Each of the above offerings can be increased at will by Manalo by issuing worship lessons to whip members if he sees the offerings graphs are falling.
The money outlays that are not included are the personal expenses for gasolines and tolls in going back and forth to their chapels for the worships, meetings, nightly devotional prayers, and out of pocket expenses for the food and snacks for the weekly bible expositions.
If the local congregation's census is average of 300 members, Manalo has yearly income of $1,104,300.00 just for that one congregation or one chapel building. Since, the Iglesia ni Cristo has 134 congregations in the United States, the income of Manalo from the U.S. alone is a whooping $15,460,200.00. If we include the takes of Manalo from the rest of the world from Canada to Europe and Asia, an estimate of $50 million to $75 million is a low estimate.

Q: What is Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson No. 7 and what is its fallacy?
A: An excerpt of the Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson 7 follows:

"LESSON NO. 7 - The Origin of other Churches
Summary: We should not be surprised at the number of churches today that are not of Christ. It is not Christ who established them but the enemy or the devil (Mt.13:24-30,36-39 NKJV). These churches that do not belong to Christ are the Catholic Church and her offsprings, the various Protestant denominations and sects. We should not be deceived. Only one Church belongs to Christ, the Church of Christ." (Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), Erano G. Manalo,1989,p.28)

The Fallacy of this Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson 7:

We have already exposed the Manalo lie in Part 4 of the series that the name Church of Christ is not written in the Bible. What is written in Lamsa's Acts 20:28 is "church of Christ". What Manalo had been doing is taking away the written small letter "c" and adding big letter "C" in place of it to make it agree with its Church of Christ or Iglesia ni Cristo name. This taking away and adding to the words of God is strictly prohibited by Christ in Rev. 22:18-19 NKJV.

The first century Christians were actually members of the organization called "Way" (Acts 9:1-2).

The main technique of Manalo in order to lure Catholics and Protestants is to lie, which is also the Modus Operandi of the devil. Manalo lies to the indoctrinees that the present religions of the indoctrinees (Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches) were planted by the devil. Naturally, the indoctrinees are at the mercy of Manalo's minister who is an expert Bible manipulator.

Common Sense of Knowing the True Church

Who do you think comes first, the genuine or the fake? Common sense dictates that the genuine comes first before the fakes. The fakes come out later because the copycats, such as Copycat Felix, has to examine first the original so that he can produce a passable and salable copy. The evidence that the Caholic Church came out first is that Manalo was a Catholic first before he founded his Iglesia ni Cristo cult. The evidence that the Protestant Church came out first is that Manalo had been a Protestant pastor before he had invented his Iglesia ni Cristo cult.

The true church was planted by Christ in 1 A.D. while the Iglesia ni Cristo was planted by the devil through his side kick buddy bandit Felix Manalo in 1914 A.D. Therefore, the Catholic Church came out first and Manalo's Iglesia ni Cristo, is a fake.

How Many True Churches are there?

To answer this question, let us go to the Bible verses being used by Manalo.It is the explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares:

"He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels." (Mt.13:37-39 NKJV)

Take note that the good seed planted by Christ are seeds (plural) or sons (plural) of the kingdom. Therefore, what this means is that there is more than one true churches. Manalo, therefore, is a liar because he is saying only his cult is the true church. Anybody knows who is the father of Manalo, the liar? The devil (Jn.8:44). If Manalo's father is the devil, naturally, the Iglesia ni Cristo is the tare planted by the enemy or devil.

Why the true church is plural

The two main churches founded by Christ according to John 10:16 and Romans 9:24 are the following:

1) The Jewish churches (Sheep already in the fold), and
2) The Gentile churches (Other sheep called by Christ after His resurrection).

The Jewish churches and children

This is the first group of people of God that has the promise of salvation as mentioned in Acts 2:39 (To you) and Acts 1:8 (Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria). The Jews have an everlasting covenant with God through Abraham (Gen.17:7, and through Isaac (Gen. 17:19, and through Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15). Those Israelites who have transgressed the first covenant have been remedied by God through the new covenant by means of the death of Christ (Heb.9:15). The Israelites are the first group of people who have been sealed and will receive salvation (Rev. 7:4-9. The Israelites include the Judeans and Samaritans who recognize Moses as their father (Jn.4:20) and those converted by Philip (Acts 8:4-40).

The Gentile Christian churches

The second (last group) group of people that has the promise of salvation are the Gentiles as mentioned in Acts 2:39 (To all who are afar off) and Acts 1:8 (to the end of the earth). The context of the "end of the earth" is a place based on the mentioning of places preceding it. In King James, it is called the uttermost part of the earth. As explained in Mt.24:14, this place is described as a place where the gospel will reach, which is, all the world. Gentiles encompass all other races other than Jews. That is a lot of people. Therefore, Gentiles are universal. The Gentiles are what we call today as Christians who are the Catholics and the Protestants. Being a Christian means being a follower of Christ. Gentile Christians are found in every corner of the world. They are universal. During the Roman Empire, Christians were all over the Roman Empire territories. That's why they are called universal or Catholic. Gentiles are the other sheep mentioned in John 10:16 mainly from the evangelization of Apostle Paul who was appointed Apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 13:47). The Gentile Christians (Catholics and Protestants) are the second group that will received salvation (Rev. 7:9-10). There is no third group or Iglesia ni Cristo group that can be found in the Bible.

Members of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church are called Christians (Acts 11:26) because they are followers of Jesus Christ. They originally belong to the organization "Way" (Acts 9:2). Each member is a church, i.e., a body of Christ, and each member is member of one another. (1 Cor.12:27;Rom.12:4-5). Therefore, any member is a church. Two or more members (being plural) are called "churches". The places where they meet for fellowships are called by the names of the towns or cities they are located, i.e., church of Jerusalem, church of Antioch, church of Ephesus, church of Rome, etc. Overall, they are Christians or Catholics, or Protestants, or Chinges, or Gentiles. These are all terms denoting having universal status.

The Lies of Manalo about the Catholic Church

1) Manalo lies that the Catholic Church has two demon doctrines which are: forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, using i Tim.4:1,3)

Why is this a lie? It is a lie because the Catholic Church does not prohibit all Catholics to marry. It is the Iglesia ni Cristo that has this doctrine (Doctrine 21). The truth is, not marrying or being single is an option and a gift from God in the Catholic Church as well as in the Bible. Let us read this teaching:

"For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry than to burn with passion." (1 Cor. 7:7-8 NKJV)

Probably, Manalo will insist it is the priests who are forbidden to marry. Does Jesus Christ teach celibacy? Absolutely. Let's read this:

"But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it." (Mt.19:11-12 NKJV).

Therefore, it is not a demon's doctrine if you have voluntarily made yourself eunuch. The priests voluntered themselves to become priests, therefore, they voluntered to be eunuchs or the vow of celibacy.

b) How about the Catholic's abstaining from foods during Lent? Here again, Manalo is lying because the Catholic Church does not command abstaining from
foods as written in 1 Tim. 4:3. If the Catholic Church will do that, all Catholics will die of hunger. Actually, what the Catholic do on Lent is doing fasting. Fasting is not prohibited. In fact, Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights (Mt. 4:2).

2) Manalo lies that the Catholic Church is the woman harlot of Rev. 17:1,5,15.

Why is this a lie? It is a lie because there are two harlots mentioned in Chapter 17 of the Revelation:
a) Harlot sitting on many waters (Verse 1), and
b) Mother harlot sitting on a scarlet beast (Verse 3,5).

Who do you think are these mother-daughter harlots? The mother-daughter combination rings a bell. Ahah, the Iglesia ni Cristo is the daughter of the Seventh Day Adventists while the SDA is the mother of the Iglesia ni Cristo cult. They are perfect together as mother-daughter team in persecuting the Catholic Church.

The mother harlot sitting on the beast is the SDA that had been given ride by the beast or devil to go on an excursion to the bottom of the pit. What is going to happen to the daughter harlot Iglesia ni Cristo? According to Verse 16 (Rev.17:16) the daughter harlot Iglesia will become a chow, a food to be eaten by the ten horns or kings. Not only that. The Iglesia ni Cristo harlot will be burned with fire.. Goodness, what a horrific end for the Iglesia ni Cristo cult.

We have, therefore, discovered the lie of Manalo. The one eaten and destroyed with fire is the daughter harlot. The water in which the daughter harlot sits, or, shall we say, peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (Verse 15), or Gentiles, were victorious. They were relieved of the harlot that had sitted upon them. The end of the harlot is by fire which is no other than the lake of fire.

Who was this old harlot that had sitted upon the Gentile Christians?

During the reign of the Roman Empire, when the Christians were yet few, they were being tolerated by the Empire. Because of the Christians' rapid increase
in memberships, they soon spread in almost all parts of the Roman Empire, and were therefore attaining catholic (universal) status. Because of this, they were perceived as threats to the empire. Various reasons why the Roman Empire started to persecute the Christians.

1)They don't participate in the sacrifices for the pagan gods or in the worship of the emperor and were therefore branded atheists;
2) They don't patronize the idols sold by merchants, sales of which are necessary for tax revenues to support the defense of the Empire;
3) Aristocrats feared they will lose their status if the Christian teaching of equality between masters and their servants be allowed to be preached;

The persecution of the Christians by the Roman Empire started with the reign of Emperor Nero in AD 64 and ending with the reign of Emperor Diocletian in AD 313. Emperor Nero is reponsible for killing most of the Apostles. Apostles Paul and Peter were killed in Rome. It should be noted here that the persecutions and killings of the Apostles and Christians was purely done by the Roman Empire, a pagan regime. The Catholic Church has nothing to do with it whatsoever. There was no Catholic Church yet at the time. It is the Christians who were being persecuted and who will soon reach full catholic or universal status upon the advent of a Christian Emperor.

The Christian Roman Emperor

What do you think will happen when a Roman Emperor is a Christian? Naturally, the persecutions and killings of the Christians will come to a stop. This happened in AD 313 when Emperor Constantine through a vision credited his victory against his enemy to the god of the Christians. Henceforth, he signed the Edict of Milan,stopping all Christian persecutions. From henceforth, the Christians were allies of the empire. Christians were given back their freedoms and their confiscated properties were returned, and the Emperor helped them in what they need. Because of this unprecedented happening in history, Christian propagation went unhindered and the Christians reached catholic (universal) status. The Christian church quickly organized. Bishops were elected by the Christians based on merits according to their scholarly writings about the Scriptures and the Christian faith. These bishops became the apostolic fathers of the Christian church.

The Nicene Council of 325 AD

Each bishop has his own areas of leadership in the entire empire. Each bishop however is co-equal from one another. In such a case, if there is a question of disagreement on a certain Christian doctrine, how will it be resolved? They know how it was done by the Apostles -- through convening of a council just like what the Apostles had done at the Jerusalem Council in 50 AD when there arose a question whether the Gentiles will have to be circumcised or not. The procedure then was deliberations by all the apostles including the opinion of the leaders then who were Apostle Peter and James. The council voted. The majority side won and the decision is enforced by the leader.
When Arius had the opinion that Christ is not divine but just a mortal man, naturally, it caused a problem among the bishops. To resolve this issue, the Nicene Council was convened and approved by Emperor Constantine. As usual,there was deliberations by all the bishops including Arius. Arius contended that Christ is not divine because He is a created being. Other bishops contended that Christ is divine because Christ is begotten, therefore, not created. The bishops voted and the majority were against Arius. Emperor Constantine has to enforce the majority decision. Arius remained defiant. Arianism did not die and when Constantius, son of Constantine, became the emperor, the Arianists waste no time in influencing the new Emperor that the Constantinople Council was convened in AD 360. Against the majority vote, Constantius sided with the Arianists. Fortunately, in AD 381, Emperor Theodosius I reversed the Constantinople error and made Arianism a heresy. There were other questions of faith that the bishops councils had settled.

Split of the Roman Empire and consequent split of the Christian Church

The Roman Empire in AD 395 split into two: Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The Christian church also split into West and East. The Western Christian church had adopted the name Roman Catholic Church while the Easter Christian church had adopted the Greek Orthodox Church. The seat of the west is Rome while the seat of the east is Constantinople (Istanbul). The head of the Roman Catholic Church was henceforth called Pope while the head of the Greek Orthodox Church was henceforth called Patriach. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in AD 476 while the Eastern Roman Empire lived on till 1453 AD. The long lived Eastern Roman Empire was called the Byzantine Empire.

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Pope became the leader for the protection of the Catholic christians. He negotiated with the conquering Goths as much as possible for the preservation of the Catholic church. Unfortunately, the Catholics were persecuted because the Goths were Arianists. Luckily, the Goths were driven by the Lombards, and the Lombards were themselves defeated by the Franks. Clovis, the Franks Emperor, like Emperor Constatntine converted also to Christianity. Soon, Clovis will be replaced by Charlemagne who soon will revive the Western Roman Empire with the difference that the Pope will swear allegiance to the Emperor. The consequent revival of the supremacy of the Popes was due to exigencies of the times. There arose the Muslim threats of the Ottoman Empire and the Mongols and there is a need for a strong Christian leaderships.

Q: What further proofs that Manalo is a liar?
A: The following lies appear in the doctrinal lesson:

"Q. How did Christ sow the good seed?
A. Christ built His Church.........Mt.16:18
Q. How many churches did Christ built, according
to the Apostles?
A. There is one body or Church.....Eph.4:4
Q. What name did the Apostles call this church?
A. Church of Christ................Rom.16:16"
(Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), Erano G. Manalo, 1989, p. 29)

The Manalo lies:

1) What is written in Matthew 16:18 is "church" not "Church". Manalo had changed the letter from small "c" to big "C". The church that was built by Christ is a house. This house are the believers (Heb.3:6 NKJV);

2) What is written in Eph.4:4 is one body. This one body are no other than the members or believers (1 Cor.12:27). Let us read this:

"Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." (1 Cor.12:27 NKJV)

Therefore, the body is not the Church of Christ or Iglesia ni Cristo. The body are the members or believers of Christ.

3) What is written in Romans 16:16 is not "Church of Christ" but "churches of Christ". Manalo had snipped the letters "c" and "es" from the word "churches". After cutting out the three letters, Manalo had replaced the small letter "c" with capital letter "C". Therefore, Manalo is the three arm nocturnal bandit of the devil who while men slept came out snipping and cutting out and adding letters to the words of God.

The Iglesia ni Cristo had departed from the faith

What is the reason why the Iglesia ni Cristo (daughter of SDA), is the one who had departed from the faith? The reason is simple. The true faith is the faith in Christ (Gal.2:16). The faith that Manalo is preaching, however, is the faith in the Church of Christ or Iglesia ni Cristo. This is a clear departure from the true faith. The proof that Manalo had departed from the true faith is his doctrine that salvation is to be attained only in the name Church of Christ. This is gross violation to the teachings of the Apostles that the name in which we must be saved is Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 4:10-12).

The Iglesia ni Cristo's Doctrines of Demons

Manalo had heeded the Seventh Day Adventists' deceiving spirits and has been enforcing the four demon doctrines. Which are these? They are written in 1 Timothy 4:1-3:

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." (1 Tim.4:1-3 NKJV)

According to the verses, it is only in the latter times that some will depart from the faith. Which of the following foundings are considered latter times that happened in history?

1 AD - Founding of Christianity by Christ
1844 AD - Founding of Seventh Day Adventists by
William Miller
1914 AD - Founding of the Iglesia ni Cristo by
Felix Y. Manalo

We can see that the SDA and her daughter Iglesia ni Cristo are the ones that are founded in latter times.

The four demon doctrines of the I.N.C:

1) Speaking lies in hypocrisy;
2) Having own conscience seared with hot iron;
3) Forbidding to marry;
4) Commanding to abstain from foods.

The Iglesia ni Cristo teaches two demon doctrines (No. 3&4 only). Actually, there are four as can be seen above. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods, are two of the demon doctrines possessed by the Iglesia ni Cristo and incorporated in its Gospel of Manalo Doctrine No. 21. What about the demon doctrines 1 & 2? These additional demon doctrines are being practiced inside the Iglesia ni Cristo.

The Iglesia ni Cristo's lies of hypocrisy doctrine

Why does the Iglesia ni Cristo speak lies in hypocrisy? The Iglesia ni Cristo is a hypocrite. They teach the one God is composed only of the Father, but their Doxology hymn that they sing every worship service tells otherwise. Their Doxology hymn contains the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If the Father is the only composition of the one God, why do they sing also the Son and the Holy Spirit? This is speaking lies in hypocrisy, plain and simple. What else? They teach the Jesus Christ is not a spirit but a man who has flesh and bones, but, everytime they pray to God, watch out, they will also pray to Jesus Christ in the spirit as if Jesus Christ is a spirit. This is plain speaking lie in hypocrisy about the nature of Christ. What else? They claim they teach love of the brotherhood, but, when their brethren sleep, they are forgotten and unloved. They neither visit their dead brethren in the cemeteries or remember them, but, when it comes to their Felix Manalo, this man is being given a special Anniversary worship, and is being remembered twice a year. What else? They teach they are Christians, but, their actions prove otherwise. They follow and believe Felix Manalo as the messenger of God rather than Christ who is the true messenger of God.

Conscience seared by hot iron doctrine

When your conscience is seared with hot iron, that means the conscience has already evaporated or the conscience is no longer there. This conduct is being practiced by the Iglesia ni Cristo's so-called Church Administrator, which has no conscience at all in the treatment of all its members. Erano G. Manalo embodies the no conscience Church Administration treating his members like machines not humans. The members work long hours for the Iglesia ni Cristo, doing labor, clerical, and administrative works, but EGM being the employer, doesn't want to pay any compensation to the deacons, deaconesses, or other officials working like slaves.

Even EGM's ministers are not given wages but are only given meager sustenance allowances to live a life worh less than rats. Rats don't pay for their dwellings but ministers are required to pay for their dwellings. This is plain greediness and a conscience seared with hot iron. It is the command of the Apostles to owe no one anything (Rom.13:8). God also requires wages be not held back overnight (Lev.19:13). If it is ungodly to hold back wages overnight, how evil it will be not to pay wages?

What else is another conscience seared with hot iron? It is the Iglesia ni Cristo's practice of not giving to the poor which is an open defiance to the command of Christ to give to the poor (Mt.19:21). It is the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church that Manalo bedevils, that are the ones giving to the poor. This alone is evidence that these two original faiths are of God. Truly, a tree can be distinguished by its fruit (Mt.7:20).

The conscience seared with hot iron works on both ends to the Iglesia Administrator as well as to its members. How does it work among its members? Members' mouths are sealed shut from complaining from whatever Manalo desires to impose. Manalo says, "There will now be two weeks of devotional prayers!" The member's no conscience reply is "Amen!" Manalo says, "Don't deduct from your income tax returns your offerings to the Church of Christ!" Members' no conscience reply is "Amen!" Manalo's no conscience order is "To love the brotherhood, you must guard your brethren that they will not be absent from the worship services!" Members' no conscience reply is "Amen!"

The True Babylon

Manalo has been conspiring with the Seventh Day Adventists that the harlot woman in the Revelation book is the Catholic Church based on misconception about the word Babylon. Babylon symbolizes abominations, defiance of God, and practice of evil in this earth.

The word Babylon is Greek for Ba-bel. This Babel is the Tower that men try to build in Shinar (Souther Iraq). The word Ba-bel is associated with "confused", i.e., when God confused the people by giving them different languages to twart man's desire to magnify himself and unify against God. This is the first Babylon.
The second Babylon is the famed Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar, conqueror of the Jewish Southern Kingdom of Judah. This Babylon is located in Al-Hillah, south of Bagdad, Irag. King Nebuchanezzar is implicated by the Bible in the evil deed of building a gold status and enforcing a forced worship of this statue.
The third Babylon is the Roman Empire between AD 64 under Emperor Nero through AD 313 under Emperor Diocletian. The Apostles and the Christians were decimated and killed by this Babylon.
The fouth Babylon is Manalo's Iglesia ni Cristo that reintroduced forced worship of an idol, therefore, reviving the second Babylon. The idol used by Manalo is the Iglesia ni Cristo name that whenever Thursdays and Sundays come, every Iglesia ni Cristo members should bow and worship this idol. Manalo's teaching that this idol must not be exchanged with anything else in this world is an open defiance to God. This is abomination in the sight of God.

TO BE CONTINUED