1978 04 Pasugo ''the World; What Lies Ahead

7/30/2019 1978 04 Pasugo ''the World; What Lies Ahead''

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GJ>ASUGOGOD'S MESSAGE

VoiCtl of the Ch'lrch of Christ

-EDITORS -

CIPRIANO P. SANDOVAL

BENJAMIN SANTIAGO, SR.

Editorial OffiCtl: Iglesia ni Cristo Central

Off ice, Corner Central and Don MarianoMarcos Aven ues, Quezon City, Philippines .

P rinte r: Asean Book m akers Corp . 48-50Lion ' s Road , Boni Avenue, Manda luyong ,Met ro Ma nil a, Philippines .

P llSUgo is published month ly in Englis han d Pilipino b y the Church o f C hrist.

- DO! i i i i j i , . i&. _

9' i . "

In This Issue ...

English

EDITORIAL

APRIL 197VOLUME xxx NUMBER

Th e World: What Lies Ahead ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ARTICLESCentral Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CIPRIANO P. SANDOVALWho Are Of God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . , .

CIPRIA N O P . SA N DO VA

What The Catholic Priests Sa y Abou tTh e Church of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BED A H . AB O l O

New Converts:'Through Searching I Found The Real Church' . . . .

WILFREDO GUEVARRA

How I Foun d The Tru e God And The True Church. .PAUL WAGNER

Th e Only Way Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MANUEL RODRIGUE

A Searching Analysis of Catholic Apologetics :Whence Came The Teaching That Christ

Is True God? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TO M A S C. CA TAN GA

POETRYTime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

EVANG E LINE CRUZ

Neglect Not The Gift You Ha ve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .VENROS M . SANTIAGO

Pilip ino

PANGULONG TUDLINGAng Sanlibut a n: Sa a n Ito Haha nt ong ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MGA NILALAMANNalalam a n Ba Nin yo? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BENJAMI N SA N TIAGO , SRDaan Ng Buhay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TEOFIlO C. RAMOS, SRAng Maling Pagkakalagay Ng Kuwit (Koma)

Na Nagbunga Ng Maling Pananampalataya . . . . . . .DANIEL J. LAPID , SR

Ang Pangingilin Ng Sabbath Ay Utos NaUkol Lamang Sa Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

l UC AS M . BULANTE , SRPanawagan Ng Isang Dating Espiritista . . . . . . . . . . . .

MOISES CAPINAAng Ikinatatangi Ng Bahay-Sambahan Na Ang Diyos

Ang Nag-utos Ng Pagtata yo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SATURNINO A. FRANCISCO

TULAWalang Pag -as a Ang Taong Hindi Kaani b Sa

Igle s ia ni Cristo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .J OSE ESPE RANZA CRU

Ako ' y M a ng -aawitE LEON OR SAMS O



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EDITORIAL

THE WORLD: WHAT LIES AHEAD?

P EOPLE nowadays liketo talk about happen-

ings in this beautiful world created by th eLord God for us to live in. Sometimes we hear

th e news about strong earthquakes an d tidal waves,floods. droughts, typhoons, and the like. Th e specterof hunger and disease ha s found victims in many ,parts of th e world. Here and there we hear humangroans under tp e weight of economic and moral ;.crises. Th e prices of commodities go high, as moneybecomes scarce and unemployment becomes widespread. Greed reigns in the hearts of some people,while poverty makes other people sigh for relief.Moral deterioration has been the object of civic aswell as religious endeavors tQward th e upliftment ofmankind. There has been no en d to wars, peace talksand conferences among nations. What do _all th .es ethings mean for this world of ours? Do these happen-ings presage h a tlies ahead?

. For elucidation, let us have recour se to th e words_of Almighty God written in the 'Bible "And as he saupon the mo 'un t o f Olives, th e disciples came untohim privately, saying, Tell us, wlfen shal l t h e s ~tl;zings be ? an d what shall be th e sign o f hy coming,an d o f he en d o f he world?' (Mt. 24:3, KJV) Thesehappenings serve as the sign of th e coming of ourLord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day, an d of th e en dof the world. In reply to th e question of His disciples,Christ said: "And yo u will hear o f wars an d rumorso f wars; see that yo u are no t alarmed; fo r this musttake place, ' but the end is no t yet . For nation willrise against nation, an d kzngdom against kingdom,an d there will be famines and earthquakes in variousplaces: all this is bu t th e beginning o f the suffer-ings .. (Mt. 24:6-8, RSV) ~

Th e Apostles also foretold th e moral and religious decadence in th e last days. "But understandthis. that in the last days there will come times o f

stress. For me n will be lovers o f self, lovers o fmoney, proud. arrogant, abusive, disobedient totheir parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce. haters o fgood. treacherous. reckless. swollen with . conceit.

- lovers o f pleasure rather than lovers o f God, holdin g th e form o f religion bu t denying the power o f it.Avoid such people. "(II Tim. 3:1-5, RSV) People willseek peace, but th e Bible says there shall be none.

(

, When anguish comes, they will seek peace, bu tthere shall be none .. (Ezek. 7:25, R"SV) When people say there is peace, then sudden destruction willcome upon them. "When people say, 'There ispeace an d security, ' then sudden destruction w ~ l l':ome upon them . . . " ( I Th.ess.5:3,RSV) The suddendestruction is th e SUdden en d of th e world by tire ,an d people cannot be saved by their silver or gold."Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able todeliver them on th e day o f th e wrath o f th e Lord. Inth e fire o f his jealous wrath, all the earth shall beconsumed; fo r a full, yea. sudden end he will makeo f all the inhabitants o f th e earth." (Zeph. 1:18,RSV) The day of th e wrath of th e Lord is calledJudgment Day . "But by th e same word the heavensan d earth that now exist have been stored up forfire, being kept until th e day o f udgment an d destruction o f ungodly me n .. (I I Pet. 3:7, RSV) (

The end of th e world is fast approaching, for allth e signs h ~ v ealready been fulfilled. But th e Bibletells us that scoffers will come in th e last days (II Pet.3:3), just as there were scoffers during the time ofNoah, before th e world was deluged with water. Theonly refuge during that deluge was th e ark, whereinonly Noah an d seven other persons were saved (IIPet. 2:5).

Is there no refuge 'froin th e impending destruction ofthe world by fire on Judgment Day? There is,an d that is th e Church of Christ Iglesia IIi Cnsto . Itis this Church that Christ will save, for this is theChurch which is Christ's body, and th e head ofwhich is Christ ' Himself (Eph. 5:23; Col 1:18).Hence,let us join this Church as members, in orderto be saved.

We cannot circumvent th e words of God written. in th e Bible. We cannot refute, much less, impugn,

the truth, that the world is coming to an end. Do we

now cower in fear before these facts? Or do we numbe r ourselves among th e scoffers? "The Lord. theGod o f heir fathers, sent persistently' to them by his 'messengers. because he ha d compassion on hispeople an d on his dwelling place; but they keptmocking the messengers o f God. despising his 'words. an d scoffing at his prophets. till th e wrath o f .th e Lord rose against his peop.le. till there was noremedy .. (II Chron. 36:15-16. RSV) - 0



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C E N T R A L i p r i a n oP Sandoval

W H A T I T M E A N S T O B-=: I N C H R I S T

PEOPLE WHO ARE acquainted with th e followers of ou rLord Jesus Christ, namely,

th e Christians, also want to be inChrist. Sucn people think that to bein Christ, one must join th e followers of Christ, just for th e sake ofcompanionship here on earth. Inother words, they want to be inChrist just for earthly motives.Little do they know that to be . inChrist entails a great spiritualfortune.

What is .the great spiritual fortune of a ma n who is in ChristJesus? In Romans 8:1, this isstated: "There is therefore now nocondemnation fo r those who are inChrist Jesus. (RSV) Th e greatspiritual fortune of a ma n who is inChrist Jesus is that there is no morecondemnation for him . .Which condemnation is that which is takenaway from those who ar e in ChristJesus? In Romans 3:19, this iswritten: "Now we know that what-ever the law says it speaks to thosewho are under the law, so that everymouth may be stopped, an d ' th ewhole world ma y be held 'account-able to God .. (Ibid.) Th e condemnation of th e whole world which istaken away from those who are inChrist Jesus, is th e condemnation ofth e whole world which is held ac-

countable to God.Why is th e whole world con-

demned and ' held accountabie toGod? In Romans 3:23, this is writt ~ n :" Since all have sinned and fallshort o f th e glory o f God .. (Ibid.)Th e whole world is condemned an dheld accountable to God because allme n have sinned, and fall short ofth e glory of God. Since when didman learn to commit sin? Whatdanger crept in man's life becauseof sin? In Romans 5:12, this isstated: "Therefore as sin oame Intoth e world through one man ariddeath through sin, an d so deathspread to all me n because all me nsinned." (Ibid.) Man learned tocommit sin since th e first man,Adam, in the garden of Eden. Because of sin, death crept into man'slife.

Therefore, all men are held accountable before God, an d th e firstimpact of sin is death, which cutshort man's life, depriving him ofth e right of enjoying it perpetually,which wa s God's purpose in creating man, as evidenced by th e factthat He placed th e first couple inth e garden of Eden wherein Godgave them that prohibitive command, the observance of whichmeant the perpetuity of their life,and its violation or transgressionmeant death, as pronounced by

God (Gen. 2:17).What'is God's pronouncement

garding sin? In Romans 6:23, tstated: . ' F o r th e 'wages o f sdeath . . . . . (Ibid.) God says thawages or penalty for sin is dWhich is th e full payment 'of si

Rev. 20:14, we find th e bibJicacidation, thus: "Then DeathHades were thrown into th e . lafirt:. This is. th e second death,Jake o f fire .. (Ibid.) Th e full ment for sin is th e second death e lake of fire. Sinners, therefmust pa y for their sins in th e la

fire. As a realization of this dverdict, what a ~ been appointeGod for all men? In Heb.9:27,is written: ' 'And just as it ipointed fo r me n to die .once,after that comes judgment. ..appointed death or th e terminaof man's breath, then comes jment. When will the judgment ban d who will judge the worldAc.ts 17:31, this is recorded:" .cause he has fixed a day on whe willjudge the world in righteoness by a ma n whom he haspointed. 'an d o f this he has gassurance to all me n by raisingfrom the dead .. Th e judgmentbe on a day fixed by ' God, an djudge appointed by Him is ou rJesus Christ.

o (Contznued on page 7)

PA



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WHO ARE OF -GOD?

I T IS EASY to make people be -lieve that all me n ar e of Godan d have th e right to deify

God because all ar e created by God.It would re ,ally be unpopular to goagainst this widespread line ' ofthinking because it would be virtually waging war against th e wholemankind. People could tell us: ,"Would a small portion of theworld's population, like th e Church

of Christ Iglesia ni Cris t o, dare,oppose a concept whicl1 . is subscribed to by uncountable numberofpeople?

We are aware of th e enormity ofth e opposition against th e principlewe ar e now articulating, bu t wewant th e whole world to know that itis only ou r Lord Jesus Christ whoca n shed light on this timeless controversy.

According to th e Bible , is God th eGod of all men? In Mt. 22:31-32, ourLord Jesus Christ told th e Sadducees , thus: " A nd as fo r th e resur-'rection o f th e dead , have you notread what was said to you by God ,'/ am th e God o f Abraham, and theGod o f Isaac, and the ,God o fJacob ' ? He is no t God o f the dead ,bu t o f th e living. " (RSV) Our Lo rdJesus Christ said that God is notGod of the dead but of the living.People ar e therefore classified intotwo categories, according ,to ourLord Jesus , namely , those who ar e

considered dead, and those who ar eliving, or prepared for eternal ,life .

Who ar e counted as dead in th esight of God? In Eph. 2:1, this isstated: "And yo u he made alive,when you were dead through th e ,trespasses an d sins . . ,. " (RSV)They who ar e counted as dead in th e

APRIL 1978

CIPRIANO P. SANDOVAL

sight of God , ar e those who ar edead by reason of sin. How manyhave sinned? The Bible says that allme n have sinned (Rom . 5:12) " except ou r Lord Jesus Christ (I Pet.2:21-22). Because of sin, ma n wasseparated from God (Is. 59:2), an dhe became God's enemy (Col. 1:21).Such was th e damage done by sin toth e relationship of God an d man.Moreover , th e sinner ha s to pa y th e

wage ,s of sin which is 'death (Rom.6:23), an d this death , as full payment, is th e second death in th elake of fire (Rev. 20:14) .

Hence, because of this sad andpitiful state of man, th e all-mercifulGod ha d to come to his rescue. Godis not 'God of th e dead, bu t of th eliving or those who ar e holy . Whatthen does God do to those who ar eholy or godly? God sets apart thegodly for Himself, as testified to inPs 'alms 4:,3, thus : "But know that

th e Lord ha s se t apart th e godly fo rhimself; the Lord hears when /call to him. " (RSV) This is a biblicaltruth that all me n should know ,namely, th e people who ar e of Godar e ,set apart by God for Himself.

Does th e Bible prove to us thatthere were people in th e 'early dayswho were se t apart by God for Himself? Yes, because as ' we havelearned above, God is th e God ofAbraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.Isaac wa s th e son of Abraham, andJacob was th e so n of Isaac. FromJ acob or Israel , came th e Israeliteswho werc;; God's people of old, th edescendants of Abraham.

Bu t why were th e Israelites th eonly chosen people of God then? Because God loved them , and becauseGod kept th e oa t h which He sw ore

to their fathers (Deut. 1.:7-8). Wwas this oath? This was God's elasting covenant with Abraham ahis descendants or offspring (G17:7).

Does God ' s purpose of electiosetting apart of people for Himscontinued even in th e ChristianYes, th e setting apart of people ware of God , transcends even inChristian er a (Rom. 9:11). Whath e proof? God's everlasting conant with Abraham was not onlyAbraham and his descendantsth e flesh , bu t also for Christ, Whoreferred to as Abraham's offsprr: No w th e promises were made

Abraham (lnd to his offspring.does no t say, :And to offspringreferring to many; but, referringone, 'And to your offspring, ' wis Christ. ' (Gal. 3:16, RSV)

In th e Christian era, how thcould we be linked to Abraham?be linked to Abraham , 'we havebe of Christ . " And i f yo uChrist 's, then yo u are Abrahamoffspring, heirs according to pro-mise. " (Gal. 3:29, RSV) InChristian era, those who ar eChrist, are the people w h o~Abraham's offspring an d haccording to promise.

Who are the people . who beloto Christ? They are the people ware members of Christ's bodyCor. 12:27); that body is th e Chuth e head of which is Christ Himse(Col. 1:18). Christ calls this Chur" My Church" (Mt. 16:18), and tApostles call it, th e Church of Ch(Acts 20:28, LAMSA). ' Therefore,th e Christian era, the people Wate of God ar e th e members of Church of Christ - 0



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T HERE ARE PEOPLE whO saythat they were born Catholics , so they will also die as

Catholics. To them, th e only Churchthat matters , as far as worship an d 'service to God, salvation and eternallife ar e concerned, is th e RomanCatholic .Church. - Hence, they arenot interested in all th e otherChurches , especially th e Church ofChrist - Iglesia ni Cristo.

The Catholics believe an d dowhat .their mentors, th e Catholicpriests , teach theIl\ . So , le t us quotewhat th e Catholic priests say aboutth e Church of Christ, which to man ypeople is of little religious value. so

, that ou r fellowmen , especially .th eCatholics , may know or know moreabout this Church, the Church ofChrist .

4

l.Q. What do th e Catholic . priestssay about th e Church ofChrist?

A.-This Chur ch was founded andorganized by Christ andpreached by the Apostles. It isthe onl y. true Church, and the (one which God order s all mento join . . . RELIGION: DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE, byRev. Francis B. CassiIIy , S.J.,

. p.444.

' This Church . founded and

organi ze d by Christ an dpr each ed by th e Apostles . isth e Church o f Christ . . . It i sth e O1i ly tru e Church. an d

, th e on e which God orders allme n tojoin. , .

2.Q. Why do we , Church of Christmembers , believe this testimon y of th e Catholic priestson th e value an d importance ofth e Church of Christ? Is it because it is the testimony ofthe Catholic priest s?

A. No . It is because this testimon y of th e Catholic priests is . ,supported by all history, bothsecular and profane, an d because th e Catholic priestslea .rned all these from th eBible considered as a humandocument . . . Ibid. pp.442-443"'5 . Di d J e su s Christ es.tablisha Ch urch?

BEDA H. ABOLOC

.Ye s . from all history . bothse cular an d profan e . as well asfrom the Bibl e considered as ahuman d oc ument . we learnthat Jesus Christ established aChurch . which from the ear-li e st t imes has been calledaf t e r Him the ChristianChurcf/. or th e Church o fChrist . ,

3.Q. Does th e Bible pr o ve, indeed,that Christ established aChurch?

A. Yes, Christ said, " Ana I tellyo u , yo u ar e Peter . an d on thisrock I will build my church . . . ". . . ' . . ; . . . Mt. 16:}8 (RSV)

4.Q. How d id th e Apostles call th e

Church which Christ calle" My Church?"

A. The Apostles called"Church of' Christ" . , . A20:28 .

, Take heed thereforeyourselves an d to all th e ' flover which th e Holy Sphas . appointed yo u ov

se ers . to feed th e churchChrist whic'h,lJ,e has purchasewith his blood." (LAMS

Therefore, the Cathopriests ar e telling th e trwhen they say that Chrisestab l ished a Church, tha tonly ' one Church, and tChurch is called Church oChrist.

PAS'11. . " ' ..



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S.Q. Does God, t h r ~ u g hChrist,really order all men to join th eChurch of Christ in order to be~ a v e d ?

A. Yes, inoeed. Christ commandseveryone to enter by Him inorder to be saved . . . In . 10:9~ '/ am the door, i f a n y o n eenters by me , he will besaved . . . .. (RSV)

6.Q. Is th e commandment ofChrist, th e commandment ofGod?

A. Yes, it is. Not because Christis t h e t ru e G o d , b u t b e c a u s e

th e commandment of Christcomes from God ... In . 12:49

"For / have no t spoken onmy own authority; the Father

APRILi978

who sent me has ' himselfgiv enme commandment what to sayan d what to speak." (RSV)

7.Q. How should we enter byChrist in order to be saved?

A. We should enter as membersof Christ's body . . .I Cor.12:27

"N o 'w yo u are th e body o f, Christ an d individually mem-

bers o f t. " (RSV)8.Q. Which body of Christ is te - ,

ferred to, wherein we shouldenter as members?

A. The Church, th e head of whichis Christ . . . Col. 1: 18

"H e is the head o f he body,th e church: . . . . (RSV) ,

9.Q What is th e name of thisChurch?

A.Church of Christ . . Acts 20. Take heed therefore

yourselves an d to all' th e fOl ' er. which th e Holy Spirit

\ . appointed you overseersfeed th e church o f Chwhich he has purchased whis blood .. (LAMSA)

Thus . . th e .Catholic priear e not hiding the truth wthey say that the ChurchChrist is th e only trueChurcan d th e one which Gorders all men to join.

lO.Q .According to t ~ e testimonyth e Popes . of th e RomCatholic Church, why wasChurch of Christ institutedestablished?

A. It was ins tituted for the sake osouls an d of eternal salvtion . . . TH E PAPAL ECYCLICALS - by Anne Fremantle, p: 153 .

" ... th e Church o f Chrwhich has been divinely it/tutcd/or th e sake o.f'soulso.f' cternal salvation . . . . . Tis written in one of th e encycals of the Popes. An encycal is a letter addressedth e Pope to all th e Cathobishops of th e world whounder his jurisdiction (Amecan Dictionary).

11.Q .Are all me {l responsible aobliged to join th e Church Christ in order to be saved

A. Yes, they ar e . . . FATHESMITH INSTRUCTS JACKSON - by Most Rev. JoFrancis Noll, D .O., LL.D., p35-36 : -

". . . th e Church o f Chrtoday must be in nature, ipower , in teaching, whatwas when it served methrough th e twelve Apostles.

It is to this Church that all areobliged to belong in orderbe saved. Those people whothrough th .eir own grave faudo not know the true Churchor, kn o ,wing'it, refuse to joit , cannot be saved . '.

12.Q. Are th e Catholic priests tellingth e truth when they say ththose who know th e Church o



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6

Christ bu t refuse to join it,cannot be saved?

A. Yes, they are. Why? Becauseit is Christ's body, whichChrist will save ... Eph. 5:23

"For t h ~ h1Jsband is th ehead o f th e wife as Christ isth e head o f th e church, hisbody, an d is himself , itsSavior . , (RSV)

13.Q. Which is that body thatChrist will save?

A. , t is th e Church, the head ofwhich is Christ, namely, th eChurch of Christ . ' : . 'Col. 1:18

"H e is th e head o f th ebody, the church; . , . " (RSV)

Hence, those who refuse tojoin th e Church of Christ, canno t be saved :

14.Q. Where does God bring or ad dthose people who ar e to be

saved?A. The Lord God adds them to

th e Church, th e Church ofChrist . . . . . . . . . . Acts 2:47

. Praising God, and havingfavor with all th e \ people.And the Lord added to th echurch daily such as should besaved, ., (KJV)

15.Q.According to another teachingof. th e Popes, is it good foranybody not to be in th eChurch of Christ?

A. No, it is not good. Why? Because he who is not ' in th eChurch of Christ, is not aChristian , . . TH E PAPALENCYCLICALS - by AnneFremantle, p. 39

"Whoever he is an d ' whatever ,he is , he who is no t in th eChurch o f Christ is not aChristian ..

:16.Q. Why is it that he who is not inth e Church of Christ is not aChristian?

' A. Because a Christian is either afollower or disciple of Christ.Christ's followers or disciples ar e certainly in th eChurch of Christ . . . TH EFAITH OF'OUR FAT H E R S -b y James Cardinal Gibbons,p.14

. . , fo r a Christian , as th e"elY name implies, is a foliow-

er or disciple o f Christ .Hence, if one is no t a mem-

be r of the Church of Christ, heis not a follower of Christ,h ~ n c e" he . is not a Christian.

i7.Q.According to Catholic doctrine, whom do Catholics follow?

A. The Catholics follow th e Pope

and th e bishops . , . MAIK- 'LING KATESISMO NG ARAL

, KRISTlY ANO (A SH9RTCATECHISM O F CHRISTIANDOCTRIN 'E). p. SO."178. HoII' (/1 '( .' theJi)llolI'C!Ys o fthe Pope alld the bishopscalled?

, "Th.e followers o f th e Popeal/d tlie bIshops as their headlJ,l/d Jiltll'er o f th e soul arecalled Catholics al/d they

, are th e members who compose th e Holy CatholicChurch." (Translated fromPilipino)

Hence, th e Catholics are th efollowers of th e Pope and ofth e bishops, and they are themembers of th e CatholicChurch. Whereas, the Christians ar e , th e followers ofChrist, . and they ar e th e members of th e Church of Christ.

18.Q. What is one proof that the 'Catholics ar e not th e follower s of Christ?

A.The Catholics do not followChrist Who said , "And callno man your father onearth . . . ,' . . . Mt. 23:9

' 'And call no ma n yourfather on earth, fo r you haveone Father, wh o is iit hea-ven. "(RSV)

19.Q.Does Christ forbid us to callou r male parent "father?"

A. No, because God commandsus to 1J0nor our father andou r mother ... . . . . Mt. 15:4

. For God - commanded,'Honor your father and yuurmother, ' '!,nd 'He who speakse vil o f father or mother, lethim surely die. ' " (RSV)

Our male parent is, there-fore, called "father" according to God's commandment.Christ wouIO never , transgress

God's commandments.Hencto call ou r male parentther" is not against Chriprohibi,tion to call any on earth our father. Th eson for Christ's prohibitithat we have only One FWho is in heaven, th eGod Almighty.

20.Q. What kind of Father isWho is in heaven?

A. God is the Father of th e. , : . . . . . . . Ezek.

"Behold, all s ,ouls are mth e soul oftllefather as w

' th e so1l1 o f he SOli is mineso1l1 ,that sillS shall(RSV)

Ou r Lord Jesus - Ctherefore, - forbids us toany man on earth our fathth e soul.

21.Q. What is th e proof thatCatholics ' do not foChrist Who said. "Andno man your father on earmeaning to say, "Call noon e a ~ t hth e father ofsoul?"

A: The Catholics call eachtheir priests "Father 'ofsoul," and to them, theis th e "highest Father

, the soul." , . . IGLESIA

KRlSTO (CHURCHCHRIST) - by Rev.Trinidad, S,J., p, 12

' 'And hecause the priMille us th e l ~ / , eo f our sthrouMh th e administrationth e sacraments. they. too. acalIed, 'Father o f our sou. , . ' 'And th e Pope (Fatherthe highest Father o f our s

-here on earth, because hth e v i c a / ' { ~ / ,ih e Lord ..

It is clear tnat Catholicnot follow Christ. Socould not be called Christibec'ause a Chris 'tian isfollower of Christ. We hlearned, therefore, whatCatholic priests say aboutChurch of Christ. All ar eliged to belong to this Churin order to be savea. - 0

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What it means . . . .(Continuedfrom page 2)

We learned above. that the people who ar e already freed fromGod's condemnation ar e those whoar e in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1) . But

\ who are those who ar e in ChristJesus? In Romans 12 :4-5, this isrevealed : "For as in one body wehave many members . and all themembers do !'lot have the samefunction. so we, though many, areone body in Christ , and individuallymembers one of another . , (Ibid .)Th e Bible tells us that the peoplewho ar e ' in Christ Jesus, ar e th epeople who are members of tHebody . of Christ. There are . manymembers, but there is only onebody or one organization; notmany 'organizations. Which is thison e body of Christ? This is th eChurch, the head of which is Christ,as th e Bible tells us in Col. 1: 18 :thus: "H e is the head of the body,the church . . . "

How does ou r Lord Jesus Christ call this Church which is His body?Christ calls it M y Church. "Now!tell you, Peter is your name and onthis rock I will build my church; thepowers o f Hades shall no t succeedagainst it." (Mt. 16:18, Moffatt)The Apostles called this Church,Church of Christ. "Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all. theflock over which the Holy Spirit hasappointed you overseers, to feed thechurch of Christ which he has purchased with his blood. " (Acts 20:28,LAMSA)

Th e members of th e Church ofChrist, Iglesia 1Ii C r i , ~ I O .ar e thepeople who ' are in Christ. Hence.they al -e t h e p e o p l e fo r w h o m thereis no condemnation - 0

APRIL 1978'.

. Child hush the voice in your brainseeking the torrents .rending your soul - '-t ime is pastfor wilful sinningand Go d is angered

He shall leave yo u alonewhen most yo u need His helpan d hear not your voice e 'en yo u plead;He'll shun your supplicationsarzd mark your evil deeds :

Child wash th e blood in your handsscreaming an d scarletreeking with venom -t ime ha s comefoT returning to Go dthrough Christ an d be reborli.

I t is t ime for faith to seek its rootin th e heart, so th e spirzt be cleansed .

EVANGELINE CRUZ



10/44

~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - r -

8

I LADLY embraced the trueChurch of Christ Iglesia ,ni Cristowhich did th e changes in my life,

th e Church that appeared in th e Philippines-un July 27, 1914 by th e will ofGod through His last appointed Messenger , Brother Felix Y. Manalo . As tohow this h appened to me, le t me disdose in th e following account , bu t le t

me first introduce myself I am W ~ -_fredo M. Guevarra ,a college student atM a ~ l l e 1L. Quezon University takingup Civil Engineering. I was born . nSan Luis, Sto. Tomas , Batangas. Myfather is Pedro Guevarra, a registeredEngineer now li ving with my mother "brothers ' an d sisters in Vancouver ,Canada . We ar e all devout Catholics.

While ye t in th e Roman CatholicChurch an d since th e ear1 y days ofmanhood, I had always thought about

life. I often asked myself what lifewas and why I live . Is it true that thereis , or shall there be , life eternal for th efaithful , after death? I f so, what must ama n do to attain for himself sucheternal life? With this questions inmind , I kept searching for th e truththat may lead me to eternal life.

In several years, I came acrossmany religions. I admit that I was anactive member of the Roman CatholicChurch, yet being a member of thisChurch , I was not satisfied with th edoctrines an d with their teachings,especially on Purgatory and Mass.Since . I began attending a ss , I ha dalways asked what Mass was an dwhat P u r ~ a t o ry was an d from whereth e se t eac hin gs came . But m y questions never found the right answers.

I came to hear the Jehovah's Witnesses , th e Seventh Day' Adventists,

, Protestants , . th e United Church ofChrist in th e Philippines , an d th e Mormons; there were times that I attendedth e services of th e Aglipayans bu t myquest for th e real answers to my questions aforement ioned, have failed. rfound these religions really ungodly.The Jehovah ' s Witnesses, much to mydisappointment had an unfavorableclimate moving. inside th e Organization. There was hypocrisy , favoritismand abuse specially in th e exercise ofauthority.

In th e Protestant sects , I could n ~ tstand their unreasonable thirst andcraving Jo r p e r s o ~ a lpride , pleasuresan d glory. Scriptural principles wereintentionally ignored and set aside, infavor of their own opinions. Due to

this , I thought that religion was just away of good business but the rOot of allevils. So I decided to remain neutral. Idecided that I didn't need any organized religion , for . I thought I couldbetter love an d serve .God in my own.way: do good to others, share thingsthat could make people happy an dfollow all th e commandments ' of God.For me, this was enough ground tolead me to salvation if really there is aday of Judgment.

But at times , I felt uncomfortablewith my ways of serving God . Itseemed there was 'something more I ,mll'st do in the sight of God . But whatit was , I didn 't know.

As days passed, I had more questions to ask, for as I observe thingshappen in this wotld, I often ask ed my-

N EW CONVERT:

'Throughsearc ingI found .the real

CHURCH'

WILFREDO GUEVARR



11/44

elf, "I s there God who really cares? I fod exists why does He permit theserrible things that happen? I f Heally cares about us, why does Helow wickedness and sufferings to

ontinue? "

These haunted me. So one night, Jecided to attend the Open Forum of

e Iglesia ni Cristo in Quiapo. I had notention ,6 attending their Assembly,

u t due to the decency an d beneolence of the members who came tour dorm to invite me, I decided to acept their invitation.

Upon entering the chapel, I sa t ate back, to observe what they ' were

oing to do bu t one of th e officersuided and asked me to come nearer; Ias abashed at the moment and Ianted to go out bu t good mannersrevented me so I stayed till th e s e r ~on was over. I still remember th ext taught. I t was about "THE CA-HoLIc CHURCH TURNED AWAY

ROM ' THE WORSHIP SERVICEAUGHT BY CHRIST. " In the course '

the sermon. I was amazed. I tas undeniably true. One thing thataptivated me S0 much was the waye preacher spoke about God'sords; in contrast to the Protestantreachers, Jehovah's Witnesses andreachers of other sects. I noticed ag i f f ~ r e n c ein the manner of preach

g between the Church of Christreachers and the preachers of otherligions. The Church of ' Christ

reacher just asked questions and thtmad the answers directly from theible. I admired this way, because thehurch of Christ minister preaches nots own words bu t the words of Godritten in th e Bible. I t was very itlte-

IL1978

resting. So from then on, I attendedtheir Biblical exposition or PAMAMAHAY AG . I concentrated an dstudied the biblical teachings. Therewere also times that I attended theSunday Worship Services.

One thing more I admired was th esolemnity of their Worship Service. It

' was very harmonious, and I felt coolal!d peaceful, inside th e chapel. Ididn't understand what I felt.

Finally, I submitted myself to Biblestudy, bu t my ' Auntie discouraged mewhen she heard that I was attendingWorship Services of the Iglesia niCristo and was planning to join the re- .Iigion. Hence, my Bible study waspostponed. A year passed, and Istopped my Studies due to familyproblems and I went back to th e province. On January 10, 1977 i met a

Church worker of the Iglesia ni Cristo.Brother Eddie L. Suguitan, who wassetting a missionary ca!Dpaign inBarrio Sta. Oara, Sto. Tomas, Batangas, a one-and-a-half kilometer distance from our barrio.

We discussed things till I came toexplain my problem. I told him that Ireally wanted to join th e Iglesia niCristo for I had realized that this is t h ~true Church founded by our Lord, bu t .my Auntie and my family objected andI was afraid they would cast me out if I

jointhe Iglesia ni Cristo.

, Brother Eddie without hesitation,extended me his help for the sake ofmy soul, come Judgment Day. He rea dme some verses from the Bible, whichgave me new hope and a strong faith inG ~ d .Brother Eddie said it is notshameful to encounter sufferings, persecutions and revilement, for our Lord

r

Jesus Christ suffered Himself, anwas persecuted. He said that J mendure arid stand to the end in ordebe saved. So finally, I studied biblicadoctrines with Brother Eddie inChurch of Christ ministerial house iour place.

Upon completion 'of tpe doctri

lessons, I received the holy Baptismth e locale of San Pablo Cit)t on March26, 1977 officiated by Brother PaulinoParungao and Brother Gavino Estrella.During the baptism, I felt God's powewithin me which I never ex{'eriencedbefore.

I received for th e first time,Holy Supper "Sta. Cena" on April1977. I was greatly moved and I realized how ungodly I had been ' befobecame a member of this ChurchThen I found myself crying in repen

tance, for I felt I had met a lovFather whom I ha d lost and missed fa long time. '

Now that I am back with ,my famI know there will be more persections. But I promised ,God that hever happens, I will embrace mfaith even if it means more hardshipsor even death. I stilI continue to askGod that may He enlighten my parehrothers and ~ i s t e r sthrough Hministers in Canada and also myre

. tives here in Batangas.

Lastly, I extend my g r a t ~ t u dto,"Kadiwa " members and deacons whwere instrumental in my reconcition with God. May we brethren remain steadfast in ' the faith and scere to God' s will. Someday if God permits, after my graduation, I want to'in th e Church of Christ Ministry. -



12/44

N EW CO N .VERT:

H O \ NI F O U N D

T H E T R U E

,G O D A N D T H E T R U EC H U R C H

M y NAME is Paul Wagner, 46y ~ a r sold, married and atpresent a devout member ofth e Church of Christ - Iglesia ni

10

Cristo in th e locale congregation ofRedwood ,City, California. I wasborn in Poland but gr 'ew up in Germany where J have seen th e horrorsan d miseries brought about byWorld Wa r II. At an early age, Ihave experienced th e deprivationsof life, suffered hunger an d cold inth e early post war years in Germany, worked for a few years inCanadCi and migrated to th eUnited States with my family somete n y-ears ago.

I am now an American citizen andhappy to say that I an d my familyar e indeed fortunate to be h ~ r einthis wonderful country. Weare verygrateful to 90 d for all His blessingsupon us, bu t above all we ar e profoundly thankful for having beencalled "into th e Church of Christ -Iglesia ni Cristo.

My religion -before was Lutheran.bu t I drifted away from this Churchas I grew older, to seek th e fortunesof life. H o ~ e v e r ,my wife an d I weremarried in th e Lutheran Church, ofwhich we ~ e r emembers, thoughnot actively, before joining th e

Church of Christ. My wife's name isMargot with whom I have a sonnamed Michael an d a daughternamed Ella.

I must admit that we were notmuch of a church-goer before wejoined th e Iglesia ni Cristo. It wasonly th -rough Brother Robert Wat-

PAUL WAGNER

son, who was instrumental in converting me and my family to th eOureh ~ O r i ~ ,~ ~ ~ ooreagain became actively religious. I twas at the . time when I was on th ebrink of becoming an atheist thatBrother Watson introduced th eChurch of Christ to me by bringinga minister, Brother Joe ,Salazar inou r house. What deeply impressedme and which finally persuaded myentire family in joining th e Churchof Christ was th e way Broiher JoeSalazar answered all th e questio 'nswe asked him. He never answeredanything from his own concept. hesimply opened th e -pages ' of theHoly Bible. reading th e passages

therefrom in answer to our tions. without interpretation noplanation. And his favoritepression was Apostle Paul'sment, "never go beyondwritten .. (I Cor. 4 ~ 6 ),

Before I met B ~ o t h eSathought that he would justthose many Church preachersheard - over ' th e radio andtelevision who explain aboubible to suit their purpose. times they do not even reath e Scriptures bu t simply whatever enters their mindmy amazement, it was th eto what I expected. Brother answered all my questions dreading from the Holy Bomore no less.

Never before have I seen tBible so profoundly e ~even Brother Salazar admits this of no consequence, he is man instrument, who simplyGod's words as they are writtfurther told us that what iimportant is th e teachings .which must be given th ehonor an d respect. It wauniquely Biblical way of conveGod's teachings by t h ~ ChuChrist that persuaded me -afamily to undergo th e 35

lessons and which finally ushus to join this Church.

It is noteworthy to mentionvery serious crises that I hacountered which almost prevme an d my family from jOininChurch, had it not been for thetimely help of God Him.self



13/44

have now come to realize. The fir stcri!iis had somet hin g to do withm y w ife, wit hout h er ev e n realizingit. During th e middl e part of our~ i b l esessions, which too k pla ce foralr:1ost two months, my w ife 's attitude was of hostility a nd repugnance to th e who le idea of chang ingou r chu rch or re ligion. Not only hadou r childr en suffe red , bu t the bruntof anxiety an d appre he nsion wasupon m e, What mu st I do, I askedmyself. Her e is t he truth and that Icannot deny, yet in embracing it, Imust sacrifice alienating my wife.

This cri sis came to pass as quicklyand abruptly as it came. to mybewilderment. and everyth ing inth e house ret u rn ed to normal. Butno sooner th a n expec ted . alm oston e week before o ur bapt ism. Imyself beca nle the sub ject of Satan's temptation, I felt that I wasbeing torn by two conflicting forcesea c h striving to overcome th e ot he rto take th e bette r hold of me , As ares ult , I cou ld not find peace ofmind and I be 'ca me confuscd. Oneforce told me, . YO/l huve found th etruth. stick by it und you will besewed. yo u an d your family .. Butthe othe r contending force wo uldinject doubts and questions thatthe re came a point when I could nolonger th ink stra ig ht. Hence, Iwould ta lk to Brother Sa laza r co n

fiding my problem to him and o nlywhen he opened th e pages of th eHoly Bible to give me counsel.wo uld I feel comforted and be atpeace.

Bu t one nigh t when Brother Salaza r left just after one of his Bibli ca lexpos it ions, I decided once and fora ll to give up th e idea of joiningth e Church. It was in that even in gth at I went through an out-of-thisworld exper ience that I shall neverforgel a s long as I live. It is needless

for me to pu t in words what tookplace. lest others mis u nderstandand laugh. bu t for me I am certainthat what happened thaI eveningwas one of God' s undeniab le testimonies that sea led my conversion toth e Church of Christ. All I can sayis. I thank Hi m for His compassion

a nd und e rstandin g and for extending Hi s direct he lp at a time when 1needed it most.

My family and I wl::re baptizedin to th e Chu rch of Christ las t Jun e25. 1977 by Brothe r J oe Salazar. Iam not as hamed to admit that I wasin tears even whe n Brother PaulinoMembr e re was teaching me and th erest of th e converts that da y before we received baptism. Th oug h Jca nn ot deny that often tim es doubt swou ld creep into m y mind. stillwhenever I refer them to Broth erSalazar, they would easily be dispelled.

B r o t~h e r Salazar nev e r fails to remind me not to take upon myse lf thesolutio n of any probl em that I e ncounte r or may -e nco unt e r in th efuture. bu t s imp ly to entr ust themto God, Who is ou r Father and Whokeeps and watches ove r Hi s chi ldren. Equipped with this und e rst a ndin g a nd in sight. I de cid ed w ithBrother Bob Watson and Brot he rBob Jones to atte nd the MinisterialClasses to be co ndu cted by Broth e rS"llaza r in Redwood City.

My purpose in th e beginning (orattend ing th e Bibl e st ud ies withBrothers Bob J ones and Bob Wat son. was to seek for m ore enlightenment and to have a deeper understandi ng of God's will for my ownsake and benefit, to be firm and

well-grounded in th e faith. But aswe we nt deeper in o ur studies , Ibegan to realiz e tn e Importan ce ofbeing privileged to be one of th eMinist e rial students. I believe thateveryth in g comes to being for adefinite purpose.

Perhaps in th e beginning, wemay not full y under stand God's pu r pose for us, bu t in th e s hort timethaI I have been a Chu r ch of Chr is tmember, the Lord ha s e nlig ht e nedme . and I a m thankful to Him , th at

He made me understand that themeaning o f life lies in serving Himaccording to Hi s way an d to th e ut most o f ou r ubilit y. I know that if Itake the world or man 's point ofviews, I am now in the late years ofmy life and th e re is not much tim eleft for me to serve God in the Mi-

nistry.

Howeve r , I also know that th eGod I found in this Church i s th etrue God Almighty and nothin g isimpo ss ibl e for Him to do. and th eChurch of Christ to which I n ow belong is th e true Church and th e lastmis sion of His salvation beforeJudgm e nt Da y; so in whatever

capacity He deems wise for me toserve Him , I must obey withoutasking. I therefore. e ntrust m yse lfand my fa mil y unt o His DivineHands .

In the ligh t of th e teaching s Ihav e re ce ived , I only know o nething_ I must do what He-tell s me todo and I mu st never waver norfalter. I nlUst serve Him with all myheart and with all my might , for thisis my whole duty toward s Him .H aving lived m y life for almost half

a ce ntur y in my own wa y , I am profoundly 'gratdul for this di vinee nlight e nm e nt and for becomingo ne o f God's childr e n in thes e las tdays.,

In reciprocation, I ha ve co mmitted m ysel f and m y famil y to faithfu lly serve Him until th e e nd . Whateve r th e o utco me be of my altel)din g th e Mini s teria l Classes, l entrUSIunto Gud's hand s. For I know thateve r s ince I r ece ived baptism intoth e Ch urch of Chri s t , J no long e r be

long to myself. but to Him who ha l';chosen me for this ho ly endeavor. Ianl th erefore, duty bound to live th erest of my lifc in ac


14/44

,

12

NEW CONVERT:

M NAME is Manuel Rodri

guez, a Spanish-American,

born 'in , San Francisco, Cali-fornia, U.S.A., on 'January 9, 1949an d was raised a Catholic in amiddle-class family. I attended aCatholic Grammar School where Iha d . learned th e doctrine of th eCatholic Church taught by th e Dominican nuns. In those years , Iwent to church three times a weekan d did religious routines: sprinklemyself with holy water , go to th epew, ' genuflect , kneel down an dpray in front of the statues, and

then Whisper to my friends.

When I finished my GrammarSchool , I went to a public JuniorHigh SchooL I continued to go to

.Sunday masses only becausemy mother ' insisted : but I hadstopped going to confessions as Iwas too oc 'cupied with making , itthrough High School. While in HighSchool , I got a job in a Plastic Injection ' .Molding Pl ilOt, where I'mstill presently employed. So , besides school an d everything thatwent with it, I was caught up in th era t race of trying to make a living.

(

While attending mass one Sunday evening, the priest announcedthat th e succeeding Friday would beWashington's Birthday , so we couldall ea t meat. I remembered jerkingback ' in my seat and thinking ," What in the world does Washing -ton have to do with a church doc -trine? "

Since then , I knew there wassomething wrong , but I could notpu t my finger on it : From then on,I stopped going to th e CatholicChurch . The only time I would att e n d ' chu rc h affaitcs w as fo r a baptism ; a wedding ,' or a funeral ; Idid not want any part of it.

THEONLYWAY

OUT MANUEL RODRIGUEZ

Gilbert Cedeno, now also abrother in faith , has been my 'closest

,friend for ten years : We went tohigh schoo 'l and to social affairstogether. Throughout th e yean:, wet r ~ d numerous speculations ofwhere this planet came from, an d

how th e inhabitants came intoexistence. We even tried readingth e Bible but could not understand it. This was as close to religion as I had come, since I left th eCatholic Church. Hence , I shunnedreligion and thought that it was ' th elast resort - a crutch for little oldladies who kneel down to thosestatues inside th e church .

Since March 1975, I have beensharing house with Brother GilbertCedeno and his family. Having

been ' laid-off from work , I spentmany hQurs at home. Everytime Iwatched th e news on television , Ifelt d i s t u r b e d~ All th e g(eed an doppression I witnessed on th es c r e e n , ove rwhe lmed m e . I " , a n t e dto know th e truth behind these 'matters . At the same time , Gilbert 'an d

his wife Cathy, were attendindoctrinal exposition ofIglesia It i Cristo (Church of ChGil ha d been telling me abouLast Messenger of God, anprophecies concerning thesedays. I attended one Bible

, an d was amazed that every quasked was answered direct froBible - clear and con 'cise. Thnever be witnessed in th e Cr e l i g i o n~ Thus I was shockeknow that th e Catholic Churehth e apostate Church, responfor th e decline of th e true faith

One thing which bothered mGil's warning that if I don't cmy ways - beliefs, I would b'demned and thrown into th e lfire . So I started thinking of joth e faith. Gil then ' invited mewe e k-long Bible exposition, hat the Iglesia n i Cr isto Chapel ilocality of San Francisco, CalifornI listened attentively, thoughskeptical as I was, after the thday , I felt a ew inner peace wI never felt before. Then I kne

was enlightened . Everything made clear to me through thstrumentality of God's ministecommissioned in these last day

May 30, 1975 was a great dme. I was baptized in th e . locSan Francisco , California by ther Julio Florc;s. who had conducted the Bible exposI had attended . I thank Gogiving me the gift of salvthrough His Son Jesus Chrhope that I may in turn be an i

me'nt of Godin

bringing my tives, friends and others, to knthat th e body .of Chri st , th e Ini Cristo , is th e only way outh e holocaust that awaits this net. T pray th a t we, hrotherssisters, be strengthened in ouran d may we endure till th e e n d



15/44

WHENCE

CAME

THE TEACHING

THATCHRISTIS

,TAUEGOD Tomas C. Cataiigay

T HE HOLY SCRIPTURES isvery clear in its teachings thatou r Lord Jesus Christ is a manin His state of being. Yet, in spite 9fthese explicit teachings of th e HolyBible, th e Catholic Church believes,' teaches and argues that Heis the true God. I t is easy to dismisssuch teaching as contrary to th e

, doctrines taught by ou r Lord JesusHimself an d His Apostles. However, we will not instantly dismissth e "Jesus is true , God" doctrine 'as man-made, bu t we will, for th esake ' of truth, prove that the said

... , doctrine is , nOjhing more than ahuman precept by tracing th egenesis and history of it s development.

What is th.e proof that th e teachin g "Christ is true God" is merelyth e result of a gradual development? Did those who follow ' immediately after the time of the Apostles believe that the Christ istrue God from th e very beginning?"Common Christianity . Profoundly loyal to Christ. it conceivedo f Hi m primarily as th e divine revealer o f th e knowledge o f the trueGod. and the proclaimer 6f a : 'newlaw' o f simple. lofty. an d strenuousmorality. This is th e attitude o f th eso-called 'Apostolic Fathers, withth e exception o f -Ignatius. "(Williston Walker, A History of theChristian Church. Ne w York:Charks Scribner's Sons, 1970.Third Edition, p. 37)

;

~ o m m o nChristianity and the socalled Apostolic Fathers, with th eexception of IgnatiUS, believed ouLord Jesus Christ as th e divine revealer of th e knowledge of the trueGod. He is not, therefore. th e trueGod. They also believed Christ ath e proclaimer of a ne w law of morality. How could anyone, therefore.make th e mistake of believing thaChrist is the true God when eventh e " Apostolic Fathe rs," with th eexception of ignatius, did not bel i e ~ ethat Christ is God?

Who are the so-called Apostolic, Fathers? " these Christian writerswere thus named bpcause it walong. though erroneously. believedthat they were pers .onal disciples othe Apostles. They include Clemento f Rome (c. ' 93-97)..' Ignatius o f Antioch (c. I l 0- Il7) .: Polycarp oSmyrna (c. IlO-Il7); . H e m ~ aoRome (c . 100-140); . . . " (Ibid.) Th

-so-called Apostolic Fathers who followed immediately after th e time oth e Apostles did nqt believe thaChrist is true .God bu t th e revealerof th e knowledge of the true God -

with th e exceptiQn of Ignatius.What ancient confession of fait

written by those who followed immediately after th e time of theApostles. can we cite to prove further that in the beginning they dinot believe C h r i s t is (rile G o d" ... there is th e Old RO/llan or thso-called Apostles ' Creed (ca. 100

-

~ D I 1 0 ~ R_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _



16/44

which follows th e language o f. M a t t h e ~ 'Ulld Luke and ~ a k e s'no' mellfioll o f the preexistent Christ.This creed reads: '/ believe in God. .. ulld ill Christ Jes'us. His 'onlySOli . . . who was born of the HolySpirit alld the Virgin Mary. 'Accordillg to this creed , then, before thebirth o(Jesus there were only Godand t h ~H ~ l ySpirit, .and 'Jesus. ' asit says, 'was born of he Holy Spiritalld the 'Virgin Mary. ' No mention ismade o f a preexistent Christ, . .

"And so by the en d oj the periodo j the Apostolic Fathers there wa s110 belief in a preexistent Trinity ..(Harry Austryn Wolfson, The Philosophy o f the Church Fathers . Massachusetts: Harvard UniversityPress. 1964. Vol. 1. Second Edition ,pp, 190-191) The "Apostles 'Creed" makes no mention of a preexistent Christ and up to th e end of.th e period of th e Apostolic Fathers,there was ~ I s ono belief in a pre- 'existent Trinity disproving the"Christ is God" doctrine.

What other writings outside theNew Testament prov e that in thebeginning there was no belief inth e divinity of Cbrist? ' .'. . . even theDidache, or 'Teaching o f he TwelveApostles . 'the oldest literary monument o j Christian antiquity outsideo f the New Testament canon . . .

' cont .ains no formal profession o ffaith in the divinity o f Jesus Christ. '(Joseph Pohle, The Divine Trinity,A' Dogmatic Tr(;atise, U.S.A.: B.Herder Book Co., 1950, Nihil Obstat : F . ' J. Holweck; Imprimatur,'Joannes J. Glennon; p . 150) Herewe have established the fact thatthose who followed immediatelyafter h ~ time of the Apostles - theso-called ' Apostolic Fathers, withthe exception of Ignatius - 'did notbelieve that Christ is.God. Why withexc e ption o f Ignatius?

14

Who fil'st taught that Christ is 'God? . The earliest time known atwhich Jesus was de({ied w(.(s. after

th e New Testament writers, in theletters o f gnatius , at the beginningo f the ,second century . , (AugustusHopkins Strong , Systematic Theology. Philadelphia: The Judson 'Press, 1951, p. 305) 'Ignatius, believed to be - a disciple of ApostlePaul, was the first to teach thatJesus Christ is God. Is it any)\'onder that from among the disciples of

, th e , Apostles emerged men whopreached that Christ is God? "Takeheed to yourselves and to all theflock, in which the Holy Spirit hasmade you guardians, to feed theChurch of the Lord which he obtained with his own blood . . . an dfrom your own selves will arise ,me n

speaking perverse things, to drawaway the disciplf!s after them. "(Acts 20:28,30, R.S.V., The OxfordAnnotated Bible) The Apostles prophesied about men who will speakperverse things to draw away thedisciples among them. These menwill come from among the elders ,orbishops ofthe Church.

What 'is one of the perversethings they would speak and who ,were these men whom the Apostles

ha d forwamed about? "ButI

amafraid that as the serpent ' deceiveEv e by his cunning. your thoughtswill be led astray from a sincere andpure devotion to Christ . For i f someone comes and preaches anotherJesus than the one we preached . ori f you received a different spiritfrom the one you received, or i f yo uaccept a different gospei from theone yo u accepted, you submitto it readily enough." (II Cor.11 :3-4, Ibid.) The - deceivers willpreach another Jesus, differentfrom that which ' the Apostlestaught. Therefore. if it were truethat Ignatius, w 'ho first taught thatChrist is God. ,was really a discipleof Apostle Paul , we nave hereanother fulfillment of the prophecyof the Apostles. However, there ' areCatholic books which state that be-

fore Ignatius, Clement of taught that Christ is God. ,

What led them to believClement taught that Christ

. St. Clement of Rome. whodisciple and fellow-laborerPaul , and the third succesSt. Peter in the See o f Rovariably refers to Christ asLord ' - a title proper toalone. He furthermore 'ty teaches that 'the sceptthe majesty o f God. thJesus Christ, did no t ' comarrogance o f p r i d ~and oving, which He might havb ~ tw,ith humility. . While '

does no t embody any explicfession o f faith in the DiviChrist , it involves such a profeinasmuch as no mere creawhether ma n or angel, couldout blasphemy be called 'theter o f God . . . (Joseph Pohletology, A Dogmatic Treatise oI n c a m a t i ~ n ,U.S.A . B.HerdCo . 1952, Nihil Obstat: F .week; Imprimatur: Joannesnon.pp . 20.-21) Cl em ent 's reto Christ as "the Lord" led Cauthorities to assert that Ctaught that Christ is true Gtext , as Catholic authorities selves admit', does no t embexplicit profession o f aith -invinity o f Christ. Nowhere writings of Clement can ,we fihe called or referred to Chritrue God. He undoubtedly ref

, to Christ as "the Lord " , trudoes the Lordship of Christ that He is true God? His Lowas not inherent in Him bmade by God. (Acts 2 :36)

Why are we absol,lltely cethat Catholic mentors erredunderstanding of Clement'sings? Because according to Clemhimself. Christ is a maN eXDsttripes: . He (Christ) is a mapos ed to stripes and suffe 'rinacquainted with the endurance



17/44

grief .. " ("The First Epistle ofClement to the Corinthians" - TheAnte-Nicelle Fathers. ed. byAlexander Roberts and JamesDonaldson, Michigan: Wm. B.

. Eerdmans Publishing Company,

1969. Vol. 1. p. 9) It is not true,therefore. that before Ignatius, Cle-o ment of Rome taught that Christ}s true God. It was Ignatius Who firsttaught 'that our Lord Jesus is trueGod.

What is one of the reasons whyth e Catholic Church teaches thatChrist is true God? .". . . Celsus. as c o f f i l l ~pagan philosopher o f th ethird century. contended that theChristians ha d no right to criticizeth e polytheism o f the, pagan worldsince their own worship o f Christwas essentially polytheistic. 'TheChr.istians.-' he declared. 'worshiped no God; no. not even a de-

" mon, bu t only ' a dead man . . '. I fthey do no t wish to worship th epagan gods. he said. 'why shouldthey ?no t rather pa y . their devotionsto some o f their own prophets thanto a ma n who had been crucified byth e Jews?' . . . . . (John A. O'Brien,The , Faith of . Millions. The Credentials ,o f the Catholic Religion.Ind.: Our Sunday V i ~ i t o r ,Inc., 17thprinting, Nihil Obstaf: Lawrence A.Gollner; Imprimatur: Leo A. Purs- ,ley, p. 99 ) The pagans criticized "heCatholics beeause they worshipChrist, a dead man.

How did the so-called earlyfathers of the Catholic Church answer th e pagan criticism? "Origen.th e greatest o f th e early Christianwriters. defended the Christiansfrom the attacks o f Celsus. This hedi d . not by denying ,th e charge that .they worshiped Christ buJ byshowing that the Savior was worthyo j such adoration because He wasGod .. (Ibid.) The Catholic Church,,in the person o f Origen. answeredth e criticism of CeIsus, a pagan, byteaching that Christ is God. Origen

APRIL 1978

did not deny that Cnrist is worshipped bu t justified th e actuationby asser1ing that Christ is G.;>d.

Was Origen right in giving suchjustificattion of worshipping Christ?Should Christ be worshipped because He is God? "Therefore Godhas higbly exalted him and 'bestowed on! him the name which isabQve every name, that at the nameo f Jesus every knee shou ld bow, inheaven ar.ld on an earth, an d underth e earth, an d every tongue confessthat Jesus: Christ is Lord, to th eGlory o f Go d th e Father." (Phil.2:9-11, R.S.V.) The Oxford Anno- .ta,ted Bible)It is th e will of God thatat , th e nalIlle of Jesus, every kneeshould bow ,.

Christ m iust be worshipped, notbecause He is God, bu t for the gloryof God. OlJigen's rejoinder to the

, pagans, therefore was erroneous.Hence,even th e so-caIled Christiansas late as th e fourth ~ e n t u r ydid notagree with Origen: "The very factthat as late as the fourth centurythere were those within Christianitywho, despite their acceptance of heEpistles o f P,aul and the Gospel o fJohn, still arjgued against the divi- 'nity o f he pre-existent Christ showsthat there wa s nothing in thesewritings which could be taken asconclusive evidence o f a belief onthe part o f Paul and John that th epreexistent Ch.rist was God in th eliteral sense o f th e t e r m . ~ (Wolfson: The Philosophy of th e ChurchFathers. pp. 306-307) As late as thefourth century" there were thosewho argued against the alleged divinity of Christ.

Who was on !e of th e most out-

example, insisted upon th e unityessence in three personalities asth e co"ect interpretation qf thTrinity. Hence th e d i ~ p u t ecenterein ,th e Eastern section o f the Empire. It must be remembered thth e Church has always ha d to fighUnitarian conceptions o f Christ . .

"In 318 or 319. Alexander. thbishop o f Alexandria. discussedwith his presbyters 'The Unityth e TrinitY.' One o f th e p r e sters, AriUs . an ascetic , scholar anpopular preacher. attacked th e ;ermon because he believed thatfailed to uphold ' a ' distinctionamong th e persons in th e ' Godhead . . ',

''Three views were pu t forth ath e council. Arius. who was backedby Eusebius of Nicomedia (to bdistinguished ' from EusebiusCaesarea) an d a minority of thospresent. insisted that Christ had not

, existed from ali eternity bu t ha dbeginning by the creative actGod prior to time. He believed thaChrist was o f a different (heteros)

essence or. substance than thFather. Because o f he virtue o f Hilife an d His obedience to God's will.Christ was to be considered divine.Bu t Arius believe that Christ was abeing, created ou t ofnothing.subordinate to th e Father an d of a different essence from the Father. Hwas no t coequal. coeternal or consubstantial with ' the Father. ToArius He was divine bu t not deity(Earle ' E, Cairns, ChristianityThrough th e Centuries ; A History ,th e Christian Church. MichiganZondervan Publishiojit House, 1954pp. 142, 143)

standing oppoment of the teaching Arius, a popular preacher did 'nthat Christ is fGod in those days? believe that Christ is God; He was a"The problem o f th e relationship , created being, subordinate to thbetween God th e Father and " Father and of a different essenceHis Son Jesus Christ became an from God. To Arius, Christ is not co-acute problem in the Church soon equal or ,consubstantial with thafter Ehe ces sa t ion o f persecution. , Father. , The controversy regardingIn Western l ~ u r o p e .Tertullian. fo r th e alleged divinity or deity

I J



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Christ arose when Arius heard thesermon of Alexander, bishop of

AJexandria . Arius attacked th e sermon decladng that 'it failed to uphold a distinction among th e "per-sons" in t h e" Godhead. "

How did they settle th e dispute orcontroversy? . Th e controversy b e ~came so bitter that Alexander ha dArius condemned by a synod. Ariusthen fled to th e friendly palace ofEusebius . . . Since th e dispute c e n ~tered in Asia Minor, it threatenedth e unity o f th e Empire as well as

that o f th e Church. Constantinetried to settle th e dispute by lettersto th e bishop o f Alexandria ' an dArius, bu t th e dispute had gone be-yond th e power even of a letter from ,th e Emperor. Constantine thencalled a .counczl o f he bishops o f he

Church to work ou t a solution toth e dispute. This council met atNicaea in the early summer of 325.Tree hundred bishops of th echurch. were present, bu t less than

te n were from th e W ~ s t e r nsectionof ' the Empire. The E ~ p e r o rpresided over th e council and paid itsexpenses. For th e first time theChurch found itself dominated byth e political leadership o f the head

{ o f th e state." (Ibid. p. 143) Theletter of-Emperor Constantine to theprotagonist in th e controversy,failed miserably to solve th e dilemma . He, therefore, convened th ecouncil of Nicea, attended by three

Hundred bishops presided and allexpenses paid by him. /

, What was decided upon by th ecouncil of Nicea? "Thus, fo r example, it was no t until 325 A.D., at th eCounci la o f N i c a ~ a "tha t th e Churchdefined fo r us that it was an articleo f faith that Jesus is truly God."

16

{Clement H. Crock, Discol;I7ses onth e Apostles' Greed, New York:

Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., 1938,Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan;Imprimatur: Patrick CardinalHayes, p. 206) The council of Niceadecided that Christ is trUly God,such is th e aiticle of faith that nowserves as th e basis ' of th e belief ofth e Roman Catholic Church.

What else does _ th e CatholicChurch presently teach aboutChrist, which was not their belief inth e past? ' 'The Catholic Churchteaches that there is bu t one God . ."I n this one God there are threedistinct Persons, - th e Father, theSon, and the Holy Ghost, who areperfectly equal to each other.' ,(James Cardinal Gibbons, Th e Faitho f our Fathers, new York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons, 1950, p. 1). The

.Roman Catholic Church now be-lieves that God has three distinctPersons all of whom are perfectfyequal to each othet.

Wa s this their belief in th e past?I 'Now, observe, my assertion is thatth e Father is one, an d th e Son one,an d th e Spirit one. an d that they aredistinct from Each Other. . . because th e Father is not the same asth e Son, since they differ one fromth e ' other in the mode o f heir being.Fo r th e Father is th e entire substance, bu t th e Son is a derivationan d portion o f th e whole, as HeHimself acknowledges: 'M y Fatheris Greater than I. ' Iii th e Psalm Hisinferiority is described as being 'alittle lower than th e angels. ' Thusth e Father is distinct from the Son,being greater than th e Son. . . ."( . g a i n ~ tPraxeas" , Th e AnteNicene Fathers. Michigan: Wm ; B;Eerdmans Publishing Company,1.968, ed . by Alexander Roberts an dJames D o ~ a l d s o n ,Vol. III, pp . 603-604) In {he past, th e Catholic

Church did not believe thais coequal with th e Father

th e Son was created "a litthan the angels." The Fathth e same as th e Son; _Th

y from each other in th e modbeing. This belief was voiTertullian using th e Biblbasis. Ironically, this samtullian invented the term Th e term 'Trinity' is not fScripture. . . The inventioterm is ascribed to Tert(Strong, Systematic Thp.304)

Why can't we accept th ethat Christ is God? Becauseasily discernable that thedoctrine regarding Christ gradual deviati .on from thBesides, the belief thatis only one "God - the Faleads to salvation an d eter"Tum to me an d ,and be sath e ends o f he earth/ .For I aan d there is no other .. (Isa"When Jesus hac! spokenwords. he lifted. up hisheaven an d said, 'Father, thas come; Rlorify th y Son 'Son may glorify thee , . . . -Ais eternal life, that they knth e only true God. ana Jesuswhom thou has sent. " (Joh3; R.S.V. , The Oxford AnnBible)

The Holy Scriptures never tes that Christ is God. The"God" doctr ine was th e regradual development anddeviation from true Cprecepts. Therefore it is made ooctrine. We th e ChChrist can never accept suchtrines for we do not want to four right to salvation aeternal which can only be aby believing that the FathChrist, is the only true God.

P



19/44

SOCIAL WELFARE UNITORGANIZED

Part o f an IN C Social Welfare Unit 's activity uplifting lifestyle an d l i ~ i n gconditions o f ess fortunate brethren , among them are ou t o f school chzld-reno

A Social Welfare Unit was organized b y th e Church of Christadministration in its ardent desirefor th e welfare of our brethren whoar e in need.

Thus , in th e early part of October1977, th e Ch urch of Christ SocialWelfare Unit administrativelysuper vised by a volunteer SocialWorker, Sister Evelyn E. Asinas,staffed by Johnny Ravlno, a welfar e a id e . F e rdie Alcid. outtit clerk .Cora Villanueva and Alice Bairan,professional nursery teachers, isunder operations, at th e Iglesia ni

. Cristo Central Offic e in Diliman,Quezon City , Philippines.

Th e Social Welfare Unit ' s mainobjective is to standardize the lifestyle an d living conditions of our

less fortunate brethre 'n . by renderin g assistance and social services ,and likewise by extending material,financial an d medical aid tobrethren found to be in need ofpriority assistance. Henc e, th e pilotproject of this office was designedfor our brothers in Barrio Culiat,~ h e r emost of ou r constructionworkers reside.

Prior to the establishment of theSWU, it is a fact t h a t t h ~brethren's~ a j o rproblem in this area is medical assistance. Hence with th e consent of ou r Brother Erdy, a HealthCenter ad jacen t to the place. wasestablished to meet the medicalneeds of ou r brethren.

(Continued on page B)

TH E PASUGO SUPPLEMENT APRIL 1978

APRIL 197

RELIGIOUS PUBLIC' DEBATE HELD IN

CAGA Y AN DE ORO CITY

A big religious public debateheld between th e Iglesia ni Cran d th e Christian and MissionaAlliance Churches of the Phpines, Inc. (CAMACOP) in Cagaya

de Oro City. Brother Mateo Liwana g , ' Misamis Oriental DivisiMinister encountered a ProtestPastor, Rev. Conrado Dadivas ofCAMACOP in a two-day religioupublic debate, rec5!ntly held inCommunity AmpHltheater.

The three topics taken were :1. Resolved: That Christ is

True God according to th e BRev. Dadivas stood on th e affitive side while Brother Mateo Liwna g on th e negative side .

2. Resolved:That the ChurchChrist in the Philippines is th e

(Continued on page F )

COMMITTEE PRAYER:NO W IN STEADY GOIN

ON IN JU'AY MAH CAMSAUDI ARABIA

I t was sometime in Aprilwhen th e Committee Prayer s tin JU ' AY MAH CAMP . 'Arabi a led by some energ

brethren from th e PhilippBrothers Cornelio Vicera , BLangit . Arthur Langit . Maurongit and Teddy Gabarda . Ddifficulties in gathering th e bren in th e said olace. th e yplans on how their CommiPrayers will materialize . The i rlime purpose found a way in

tContinued on page B)



20/44

JUAY MAR SAUDI ARABIA

The key officers o f the committee prayer meeting in Ju 'ay ma h Camp.Sa ud i Arabia who served as instrument in gathering brethren in thispa rt icular part o f .:t h e world .

I LA UNION LAUNCHES'UNENDING FRUIT

BEARING'

" Opera t ion Unending Fruit Bearing .. . waslaunched in this provinceby t he Ministers and church worke rs th ru the initiative of Brother Do-nat o Dagdag , La Union Div isionMin ister, supported by the Churchofficers and Church organizations- Buklod ,.Kadiwa and Binhi.

. As an initial step, Brother Dagda g ca lled a meeting of the Buklod ,K ad iwa . and Binhi officers and exhorted them on their duty to bear

'fruits fo r th e glorification of th eH ea ven l y F a th e r.

Meanw hile, locale c hu rch offic erswere conve ned in a con fe ren ce int he c hapels of San 'Fernando an dAringay, a ll a imed to s upp ort

B

SOCIAL WELFARE _ .(From page A)

On the other hand, an " InterArea Oeanliness , Beautificationand Gree n Revolution Con tes t . waslaunched by the SWU to encouragebrethren to make their environment a healthful place to live in.And as educat ion among preschoplers is anothe r major problemof . the brethren ,. a t wo Day-CareNurseries were se t -up in BarrioCul ia t a n d in th e ' C en t ra l Com-pound. - 0 Ferdie AIcid

Fruitf u1 Ye ar '78 Op era t ion in thi sprovince . - 0

COMMITTEE PRAYER . .

(From page A)

Mess Hall of Saudi Catering whenthey posted a bill in its door indicating the following : ' 'INC COMITTEE PRAYER , TIME7:00 P . M. - DORM. #431, ROO#8 " . From tha t time on, CommitteePrayers are being held in th e roOf Brother Teddy Gabarda. Sincth e poster served as an attraction tpeople frequenting the Mess Hth e non-members of the ChurchChrist removed and trampled it. Inth e face of the persecution ,brethren did not lose hop e bu tcame more insistent as to how theycan come in contact with othebrethren in the vicinity. They madanother poster of which a little rvision was done, and was posted onthe sam e site where the first peswas ' posted. This time, trey supca ted to God that may the p.osterpro tected and not to be d e ~ tanymore . As an answer to theprayers, the supervisor of the SaCatering gave them permission aat the same time protection fotposter.

For the fact that brethren hereJU'AY MAH CAMP, are not permanent, some left. others arrivedyet th e Committee Prayer rmained , going on every Thurday and Sunday. Brothers who registered and joined the CommitPrayer upon reading the postewere: Jaspe Daganan, Eduardo Glang, Rogelio Binungcal, ReynaldoVicente , Wilfredo Novilunio, Ricardo Salvador , Danilo Eje, Narciso Estrella and Florencio Jimenez. Thegroup , now led by Brother AvelinManalo holds committee prayersand hears tape-recorded sermons in

the room of Brothers Ricardo Salvador and Danilo Eje, first andsecond treasurers respectively. Theco-leader of th e group is BrothJaspe Daganan, while Brother Teddy Gabarda serves as the secretaWith the he lp of God, the HoSpirit is profusely felt by all atten dees o f the Committ ee ' Pr ay- 0

THE PASUGO SUPPLEMENT



21/44

E G M ' sV I S I TAT I O N

CHAPEL IN PATEROS, RIZAL,

A throng o f brethren eager to greetBrot her Erafzo G. Manalo after thededication o f he House of Worshipin Pateros, Rizal, Philippines isshown at right. Down under is th ededication in process officiated byth e Executive Minister - at right inth e same level is the newly erectedHouse o f Worship at Pateros .



22/44

PICTORIALS:

D

FROM SAUDI ARABIA . . .Brethren workers took time out for the photo aftertheir Committee prayer. ABQAlQ,SAUDL ARA-BIA.

BRETHREN FROMBONN, WESTGERMANY

A. Members attendingworship service.

B. Locale officials with bro-ther Mariano M. Gorgonia(Resident Minister in Lon-don (seated 3rdfrom left.)C. Members of the choiwith Brother Mariano M.Gorgonio.



23/44

A Canadian style of fanfare and themerry makers are shown at right intheir busiest moment.

Brethren at .right photo are showntypically holding their Thanks-giving service in Hongkong.

APRil. 1978

Left photo shows brethhrenth e dedication ceremony of thnas Chapel in California,



24/44

IChurch which Christ will save atHis secolld comillg. Brother MateoLiwanag defended th e affirmativeside while Rev. Dadivas took th enegative side.

3. Resolved: That ma n is savedby faith alolle regardless o f his reli-gious ajfiliatioll accoriling to th eBible. Brother Liwanag on th e negative and Rev. Dadivas on th e

' affirmative.

Atty. Guerrero Adgza - Chairman of th e Mass Media - Cagayande Oro Chapter and President ofth e Practicing Attorneys and Atty.Samson Cayton a stood as moderators.

I Th e first affirmati ve stand wasgiven by Rev. Conrado Dadivas . Hetried to lead the audience to his belief regarding Christ's state ofbeing as stated in John 1:1, Col.1:16 which were expounded in hisown interpretation .

When Brother Mateo Liwanagbegan to cross-examine Rev. , Dadivas, th e crowd roared as th e firstquestion was pounded by BrotherLiwanag on Rev. Conrado Dadivaswho was not able to confirm and defend his testimony. Thus, th e attention of Rev. Dadivas was calledseveral times by th e moderator whorequested him to answer th eqU,estion of Brother Liwanag.

Brother Mateo LiwanaB 'expounded that since Rev. Dadivas believesth a t Chris t is the true God, whenChrist was nailed on th e cross anddied, it would follow that God died.Rev. Dadivas 'stood soundless andtongue-tied. He seemed lost. Themoderator urged him to answer.Confused , he said he did not know

since he was not yet existing at thattime.

Brother Mateo Liwanag then ,took his turn and gave an impressive exposition , direct from th e HolyScr ip tu re . H e effect ively e x p o s e dth e wrong Biblical concept of theopponent. All his answers werevital an d satisfactory to th e multi-

F

RELIGIOUS PUBLIC DEBATE . . .(From page A)

tude of observers:

The next day, at th e same place ,th e second topic was debated . upon .Brother Liwanag took th e first standand proved to th e public th e importance of th e Iglesia ni Cristo whichwas established by Christ in Jerusalem. The Church , as prophesied,would not be confined to th e Gentiles an d th e Jewish 'nation alone for

, according to th e Bible as bur ~ r dha d ' spoken, He has other ~ h e e pwhich were not yet in His flock ,during His sojourn with His Church.This was confirmed by ApostlePeter as he mentioned the three different groups of people which wouldbe called by ,God as members of the

Church of Christ: th e Jews, th eGentiles and those that are fromafar, (Acts 2:39). Those mentionedfrom afar are th e sons and daughters of God from the Far East (Is.43:5-6). The Far East mentioned isth e Philippines (World History byBoak, Slosson and Anderson,p.445).

Rev. Dadivas refuted that th eEast mentioned are Egypt, Palestine and Israel. Whereby BrotherLiwanag lucidly explained th e geographical location of the globe. Theglobe is divided ihto two Hemispheres ', th e Eastern and Western.The Eastern Hemisphere is subdivided into three, th e Near East,Middle East and the Far East. Hefurther explained that Egypt , Palestine and Israel ar e in th e Near East;thus, they are not th e countries referred to in th e prophecy.

In th e succeeding cross-examinations by Brother Liwanag , th e Protestant Pastor finally admitted thatth e Church established by Christ isth e Church of Christ - th e trQe ,Church which will be saved comejudgment day.

After the second topic-, th e Protestant Pastor was hesitant to continue with th e debate du e to his embarrassment before th e public forhis inability to defend his side . But

his followers forced him to continuethus th e third topic was finally debated on.

The Protestant Pastor encoun

tered more difficulties in trying taffirm his stand that man cansaved through faith alone, irrespective of his Church affiliationUnfortunately, he was not able prove th e authenticity of his staIn th e cross-examinations bBrother Liwanag, the followquestions were asked whichProtestant Pastor was unable tanswer:

a. I f it is true that faith alone wsuffice for man to be saved frocondemnation, then why did Chrestablish His Church?

b. You admitted that you wraised in th e United Church Christ in th e Philippines, why diyou transfer to th e CAMACOInc'.?

The moderator urged Rev. Dadivas to answer th e questions bhe admitted that he could noBrother Liwanag then . read thdeclaration of Albert Sanders, a

Protestant professor and pn ,eRev. Dadiva's instructors, that it' through th e church th 'at God seeking to carry ou t His sqving p"pose in th e world. 'There was nother way, for the Church o f Chris th e only body o f Christ . (Chrisian Beliefs by Albert Sanderpp. 51-52). Credible evidences completely disproved th e allegationsth e Protestants that faith alone 'enough 'for salvation. The publicwas enlightened that th 'e ChurchChrist (Igl esia l1i Cristo) is the on

way for mankind to attain salvation.Hence , th e aftermath of ' he d

bate was very compensating. Anumber of souls suqmitted for thBible study of doctrines. The victory In favor of th e IgleSia ni Cristis another manifestation of God'scontinuing help and guidancepromised to His people . - 0

THE PASUGO SUPPLEMENT



25/44

S E M I N A R F O R C H U R C HM I N I S T E R S A N D W O R K E R S

H E L D I N C E B U

The 'Division of Cebu recently.hosted a one-day Seminar participated by all Ministers and Worker s from the Divisions of Cebu,Bohol and Negros Oriental. TheSeminar was officiated by BrotherTeofilo C. Ramos , Sr., who stronglyemphasized on the improvement ofthe quality of a preacher to attainmore success in all church works.The solemnity of the sermontouched alI th e ' participants whichmade them pledge for a betterand more meaningful performanceof their duties towards God.

After th e Seminar, th e Kadiwaand Binhi of th e Division of Cebupresented an impromptu programfor th e entertainment of th e v i s i t i ~ g.Ministers and Workers .

Meanwhile, th e new se t of .officers of Buklod , Division ,of Cebu,led by its President, . BrotherBraulio Enriquez, pledged for'stronger unity an d to assist in alIchurch undertakings. Year 1978 isa great challenge to th e brethren intheir duties ; hence, big activitieswere taken. Visitation to inactivemembers was initiated, construc-

. tion of chapels in some locales wasscheduled , and a province-widecampaign . Operation Madagaya

ong Pagbubunga (Operation MassProduce) was launched.In order to speed up {or this

year 's church works which is centered mostly in the province-widecampaign "Operation Madagayaong Pagbubunga , , l the Division ofCebu has been categorically dividedinto three districts. The SouthernCebu District, th e Northern CebuDistrict and th e Central Cebu District. Each district was given ,a coordinator to closely supervise th eBuklod locale officers in th e per

formance oftheir share in alI church. works . .

Pamamahayag ., (Biblical Exposi t io ns) are now being undertakennightly by alI ,th e locales which com .pose Cebu's Central District aMReligious Public Rallies are scheduled following ;t house-to-housecampaigri. All Mimsters an d Worker s of the Division of Cebu, heartilypledged to offer to God 1,000souls , before th e end of this year.- 0 ' .

MASSIVE PROPAGATIONCAM-PAIGNS LAUNCHED

IN NUEVA ECIJA II

Nueva Ecija II Division Minister,Brother Felipe Aguilar , togetherwith th e Church Workers I havelaunched a massive propagation. ampaign to revive inactive brethren in th e Division. With God ' shelp an d guidance , th e propagation

campaigns have effectively helpedin th e restoration of many inactivebrethren and also in 'th e conversionof non-believers into th e Fold.

As of this writing, th e locale ofBaloe , Sto. Domingo, has th e highes t number of yields - 98 souls areundergoing Biblical Expositionsconducted by B .rother ValintinSantos ,- aside from th e numerous in-

APRIL 1978

active members who are under observation. Hence, th e Baloc Chapelha s always been ftlled during Worship Services

The locale of San Jose City headed by Brothers Victorino Cajucom,Ramon P. Gonzales Sr., Ferna ndo

S. Villanueva and Andres Sadora,placed second with around 80 soulsundergoing Biblical Expositions,an d some inactive brethren who arealso under observation. I t is expected that under th e management ofth e newly-elected Buklod President,Brother Dominador Escuadro, mis- .sionary works ar e more bound tosucceed in San Jose City. - 0

RELIGIOUS PUBLICDEBATE HELD

ROXAS CITY

Brother Alejandro LedesCapiz Division Minister have scessfully resisted Mr . Jesse

san, a representative of thev'ah's Witnesses in his attemphumiliate th e Church of Christdebate recently held at Bq.Roxas City. Subject of th ewas: Resolved: That Mr. FelixManalo is not the fulfillmenanother angel .n !?-evelation 7bu t Christ .. Brother Ledesma sfor th e negative, wl;1ile Mr . Fon the affirmative.

Unfortunately, amidst th e

audience , Mr.Fussan

was unaprove their stand more so dth e Cross-Examination, wheBrother Ledesma reminded that at th e time of the writing prophecy - Revelation 7:2-3Apostle John, Christ was alreadyheaven; then Brothe 'r .Le

. asked: ''Therefore, i f Chrisalready in heaven, why thenApostle John no t write .: desbu t rather: 'And I saw anangel ascending from the eastthus , Mr ,' Fussan was tongueand became hopeless .' to winth e cause of this debate -" Goodwills"s (Converts) who wbeing converted into the ChurcChrist.

Hence , th e moderator , BarCaptain, Mr . Bauson declareddebate in favor of the ChurChrist and consented that isecond resolution; "R esol ve dJesus Christ is the true Godtrue man .. the "Witnesses"

not anymore fight the ChurChrist bu t instead sign an agment with the Church of Cstating admission of their defPresently, more "Goodwills" now undergoing Biblical Exptions conducted by Brothers JoCarillo and Francisco Espino,Church of Christ Workers in RoCity . - 0



26/44

OPERATION

"SABA Y -SABA Y"WEEKLY CHURCH

ACTIVITIES

IN SORSOGON

The Division of Sorsogon wasdivided into five districts for th epurpose of providing full supervision ' and to ensure effective pe r 'formance of church duties and obligations. This is in connection withOperation . Sabay-Sabay . . of week

ly church activities in all districts.Each district is headed by a

Minister elected as Team Leader tolead th e ministerial force, bothlocale and district officials in masspropagations and in zealous participation in all churcha ctivities .

. Sabay-Sabay Dalaw .. in all districts is jointly participated once aweek by Buklod and Kadiwa members. Activities for every "dalaw"are:

a) House-to-House Visitations in'th e morning with lectures and prayer s for th e brethren of a partic u l ~ rlocale.

b) Special , W r s h i pServices inth e afternoon attended by allbrethren of the whole districtusually officiated by BrotherDaniel ~ . Solano (Division Minister)

c) Open Forums or ReligiousRallies in th e v ~ n i n g .

For th e past few months, severalheartwarming Special Worship Services, Debates, Open Forums andReligious Rallies were held in fived i s t r i c t s o f t h e Divis ion w h i c h a d d e dan d gave th e brethren morestrength and sincerity in th e performance of their duties for th eglory of God's name.

H

These "Sabay-Sabay" dist{ictactivities has shown another markof success for the Division of Sorsogon. 'A big number of people inevery district are presently . undergoing Biblical Expositions togetherwith a big number of restored inactive members.

' Meanwhile, 10 Religious Rallieswere held in different parts of Sorsogon: Coron-Coron, Pulot, Bacon,Nasuje, Trece Martire.z, Butag, Barcelona, Patag, Menito, Casiguranan d Bulan. Hence 200 souls are nowscheduled , for Baptism in StaMagdalena - th e first in the History of th e Division. --... 0

POEM

NEGLECT NOT THE GIFT YOO HAVE

o thou tireless servant,God-sent messenger, .Do not neglect the gift you have;Bu t strive to study,Give attendance to exhortation,And continue in teaching;So that it ma y be known to allThat yo u are progressing.

In all aspects ojlife,

Be an example to all believers.In word. in behaviour, in love,Injaith an d in purity.Take heed unto thyself,A nd unto th e doctrineBefirm in them;F()r in doing thisYou shall both save yourselfAnd those who hear you.

VENROS M SANTIAGO

Tm,: PASUGO SUPPLEMENT



27/44


28/44

N A L A L A M A N .B A N I N V O ?eSENJAMlN SANTIAGO, SR.

ANG PINAGBABATAYAN NG IGLESIA KATOLIKASA PAGTUTU -RO /NG SI PEDRO'Y INIHALAL NI CRISTO

NA PUNO NG IGLESIA?

I INAGPAPANGGAP ng Iglesia Katolika na kaya raw siyaan g tunay na iglesiang itina yoni Cristo ay sapagka't siya ay namamalaging pinamamahalaan ng mgakahalili ni Apostol Pedro - ito rawan g mga papa. Kaya ipinaggigiitall ng Iglesia Katolika na an g kaniyang mga papa ay hu

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1978 04 Pasugo ''the World; What Lies Ahead