Thursday, September 4, 2008

Felix Manalo and the Trinity

Also on this blog:
The Beast
King Jehoram, Felix Manalo and Judas Iscariot
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Our world is made up of patterns. Patterns play a large part in life. It helps us make the world more predictable. We wake up certain that the sun will rise in the morning. It is simply because we woke up to so many sunrises that there is no reason to believe otherwise.

Such is the case with INC. There are just so many patterns to say that Manalo did not deny the Trinity until well after he has founded INC.

Fact 1:
The reason that Manalo left the SDA that the pasugo states is that he disagreed with the beliefs specifically about Saturday worship. Nothing about the belief in Christ's divinity.
Manalos love affair with the Adventists or Sabanistas, ended after he began to question some of their doctrines, particularly their Saturday (Sabbath) observance.
Isabelo T. Crisotomo - May-June 1986 issue of the Pasugo magazine, page 7

Fact 2:
He has retained what he has adopted from the CMA: baptism by immersion, which Leslie Wolfe considered a very vital requirement for validity.

Then he discovered another Protestant group, the Christian Missionary Alliance, known as the Disciples of Christ in the United States, which baptized its members by immersion. Knowing that this practice most closely adhered to the Bible, he joined the Disciples and became an evangelist.
ibid., p.7

Fact 3:
He has retained the church name doctrine (Church of Christ) which he has learned from Wolfe


Fact 4:
Up until 1918, Manalo maintained communion with the Christian Missionary Association, consider the event on December 25 where protestant missionaries laid hands on Manalo, headed by CMA's Leslie Wolfe, and among them, Emiliano Quijano, the CMA pastor who ministered Manalo's marriage with Honorata in 1913 when Manalo was still a preacher for the SDA.

On December 25, 1918, ministers of the Christian Mission honored Felix Manalo as an outstanding evangelist. The certificate was signed by Ministers Leslie Wolfe and Higinio Mayor, attested by attorney V. Dimagiba. The affair, held at the Gloria Theater in Tondo, Manila was attended by Church members and several
Protestant pastors.
ibid., p.9

It is also noteworthy that Felix Manalo did not start ordaining ministers until
after this event.
In may 1919, Manalo presided at the first ordination of Church ministers, laying his hands on Justino, Casanova, Teodoro Santiago and Federico Inocencio.
ibid., p.10


Fact 5:
Leslie Wolfe was very vocal against comity and open membership, so it means that he considered Manalo an ally church consistent with the beliefs of CMA' long after Manalo founded the INC.
Among the conservative members of the Disciples of Christ there began to be concern that some missionaries and mission churches were allowing nationals to become members of the churches who had not been baptized by immersion. The conservatives felt that this practice was contrary to the historic plea of the Stone-Campbell Movement. One country where the controversy was particularly played out was the Philippines. Leslie and Carrie Wolfe were Society missionaries in the Philippines who decried the open membership practices of the Philippine mission and their exposure of what they saw as inconsistencies in the mission added fuel to an already growing fire in the United States which would eventually see polarization of the Disciples into onservative and liberal camps.
Clinton J. Holloway - December 2003
http://www.worldconvention.org/country.php?c=PH
Consider fact 2 and fact 3. This were the tenets that CMA upheld. Another that was vital: belief in the Christ's divinity.

Fact 6:
Leslie and Carrie Wolfe were proponents of establishing independent churches of Christ around the Philippines (this was the predecessor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines - UCCP). Many of those independent churches were called Iglesia ni Cristo. While doing some research a long time ago, I came upon a newsletter from the 1950's: 50 years of Iglesia ni Cristo. But something was not right. It was not the INC that we now know. On the first few pages was a message from Carrie Wolfe. There were old pictures, and there was Carrie Wolfe with church members, and a banner painted with the name Iglesia ni Cristo. Conclusion: the name Iglesia ni Cristo has been used long before the Manalo registered the INC. Manalo's INC was just one of the many, and Leslie and Carrie Wolfe organized them into a united association.

So what has happened along the way? When did Manalo introduce the belief system that denied the Trinity? When did he dissociate himself from Wolfe's society? That is a good topic for research and I pose that challenge to everyone here.

There is also semiotic evidence. Symbols speak to us. Rather than being mute objects, they are articulate witnesses.

Consider the INC logo:














The lamb sitting on the book is strikingly similar the the catholic symbol Agnus Dei. The Agnus Dei symbolizes Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.




In the same way, the radiant dove is also strikingly similar to the catholic symbol for the Holy Spirit. The image on the left is from the St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican.




In this regard, we will be assuming that the symbols used by INC are consistent with the Christian symbols and how they are interpreted.

What then is the presence of the triangle on INC's logo? In Christian symbology, this is glalringly obvious. Do a google search quick!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

SOME CORRECTIONS: CMA or Christian Missionary Alliance is different from United Christian Missionary Society of the CHURCH OF CHRIST(Disciples of Christ, USA)which is commonly called CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES). CMA is another denomination where Manalo was then a member. Church of Christ Disciples is actually voted to be apart of the United CHURCH OF CHRIST in the Philippines but some did not and voted to be an independent CHURCHES OF CHRIST. The Disciples are common in the Tagalog Region wherein it was also called IGLESIA NI CRISTO and they are actually Tagalog congregation just like the IGLESIA NI CRISTO established by Manalo.CMA actually believed in Baptism by immersion but the Disciples believe that Baptism through immersion (alone) is essential for salvation - this is another belief Manalo retained in his IGLESIA.

pasugo said...

Thanks for your inputs/corrections. These are well appreciated.

The Pasugo source I quoted seemed to equate the two ("the Christian Missionary Alliance, known as the Disciples of Christ in the United States"); anyway, I admit I need more work with my history of the Ptotestant movement in the Philippines.

So to which group was Leslie and Carrie Wolfe affiliated?

Anonymous said...

As I said Christian Missionary Alliance is another denomination and is still existing today as the present Christian Missionary Alliance of the Philippines (CAMACOP)(http://www.camacop.org/). Leslie and Carrie Wolfe were once affiliated in the United Christian Missionary Society of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH(Disciples of Christ, USA).

pasugo said...

I read through and now, I understand a bit. Leslie and Carrie Wolfe eventually broke off from the society and continued on to be indpendent missionaries.

There is just one gap in my narrative: The Iglesia ni Cristo (Manalo) magazine mentions Manalo joined the CMA. This must not be accurate then, since he was obviously in the circle of Leslie Wolfe. However, in the same breath, the magazine also stated he joined the Disciples and became an evangelist.

Unknown said...

the compass and the inverted triangle can be incorporate by a masonic symbols, as you look closely the compass and the inverted triagle are place in the middle of the seal like the masonic compass and the inverted square of masonic emblem, the comapass as they say.. is the blade or represents the male symbolism and the inverted triangle(or the inverted square for mason symbol) is the chalice, a symbol for female.if you make a straight line at the tips of the compass it will create another masonic symbol wich is the hexagram, I have not heared that mr. Manalo and the INC are affiliates of a secret society called the freemason, but according to their symbols and their abilities to influens the government I think they are much alike. its just my observation, what do think?

Anonymous said...

It seems that your proposition that the INC "Pope" Felix Manalo founded the INC as trinitarian, united in mission with other churches and ecumenical in its nature. This can be traced on December 1918 when bishops and pastors of the Protestant churches recognized his greatness and exemplary skills in mission and evangelism..Again the question is when did Manalo really put up his beliefs in unitarianism?

Anonymous said...

the INC add some symbols from the freemasonry...

Anonymous said...

See this and find the striking similarities of Masonry and the Iglesia.

http://thepinoycatholic.blogspot.com/2009/09/see-any-similarities.html

Anonymous said...

the INC used to have female ministers, but decided later on to drop this function.

Anonymous said...

Hi!

I think I can answer all your questions regarding the CMA or the Church of Christ where Felix Manalo was affiliated before. yes he belonged to our Church starting 1909. if you have questions post it so i can answer it one by one..

Anonymous said...

I thank God for sending a man who preached the truth about Him. The FATHER is the ONLY TRUE GOD, the God of Jesus, the God of Abraham, the God of the prophets , the God of the apostles ... the ONLY TRUE GOD forever and ever.

ikapitongtatak said...

in 1918, bro. Felix Manalo went to America for further studies and went back to the Philippines approximately 1920's so how come he is present in the Philippines in 1918 when went to the America

juancatolico said...

ikapitongtatak, FYM only went to America in August 30, 1920 to study. Please see a copy of his passport application:

https://www.reddit.com/r/exIglesiaNiCristo/comments/948dzx/passport_application_of_fym_dated_august_18_1920/

Since he did not travel overseas other than the documented US travel, we can assume he's still in the Philippines

Anonymous said...

Did he believe in trinity or did he invent that word or is he a false prophets? What kind of catholic was he? I don't believe in trinity.