The Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ)

A church founded in the Philippines in 1913–1914 by Felix Y. Manalo, whom it holds to be God's last messenger, led today by an Executive Minister, with worship twice a week, a Holy Supper, and the teaching that salvation is found only in its membership.

Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ), About the Iglesia Ni Cristo

Iglesia Ni Cristo, History (undated page)

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Holy Scriptures

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Holy Spirit

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: One God, the Father

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Lord Jesus Christ

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Messengers of God

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Church and Salvation

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: Baptism

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Church Administration

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: Worship of God

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: God's Election

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Resurrection of the Dead

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: Judgment Day

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Beliefs: The Holy City, New Jerusalem

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Worship

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Edifying the members

Iglesia Ni Cristo, Sharing the faith (Evangelism)

INC Media, What to Expect in an INC Worship Service

INC Media, Does Your Baptism Actually Count?

INC Media, Christmas Is Not A Christian Holiday (INC International Edition)

INC Media, Pagan Origins of Easter (INC International Edition)

INC Media, What You're Really Giving up for Lent (INC International Edition)

INC Media, A Close Look At Catholic Mass (INC International Edition)

INC Media, Christian Brotherhood (interview)

Pasugo: God's Message, 'Prioritize Church membership, focus on serving God' (March 2026 print issue; posted 5 August 2026)

Pasugo: God's Message, The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in Jerusalem (posted 20 August 2026)

Pasugo: God's Message, Kresten Jucutan, Persistent obedience amid all circumstances (posted 27 September 2024)

INC Media, Trabajando Como Líder Médico en México (13 August 2020)

A. E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, cover feature on the Iglesia Ni Cristo Central Temple organ, The Diapason, April 2015, pp. 24–26 (the builder's account)

The Philippine Star, 'INC sample ballot lists 8 Senate bets,' 10 May 2025

GMA News Online, Hana Bordey, 'Iglesia ni Cristo endorses Bong Revilla's reelection bid, senator says,' 8 May 2025

Wikipedia, Iglesia ni Cristo (a secondary source, used only where the Church's own pages are silent, and marked where used)

Felix Manalo was born in 1886 in the Philippines and, by the account in Wikipedia, passed through several churches before he began to preach in 1913. The Church dates its life from its registration on 27 July 1914. Under his son Eraño G. Manalo it spread overseas from 1968, and since 2009 it has been led by his grandson Eduardo V. Manalo. Its own history page is short and gives no account of Manalo's earlier life, so that part rests on Wikipedia and is marked.

Felix Manalo is born

Felix Ysagun (Manalo) is born on 10 May 1886 in Taguig, Philippines, and is baptized into the Catholic Church. The Church's own history page gives the years of his life as 1886 to 1963. The birth date and the baptism are from Wikipedia, which is the only source saved for them.

Manalo moves among churches

Wikipedia reports that Manalo joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1904 and was a lay preacher there, studied with the Presbyterians, was with a body called "Iglesia ni Cristo 1901" (the Christian Mission), and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1911, where he also served as a lay preacher. The Church's own pages do not tell this part of his life, so it is given here as Wikipedia's account.

First baptisms

By Wikipedia's account, Manalo withdrew in November 1913, began preaching soon after, and baptized his first converts along the Pasig River on 25 December 1913. The Church's own pages saved for this chart do not give these dates.

Registered in the Philippines

The Church's history page says the Iglesia ni Cristo "was registered in the Philippines on July 27, 1914," and its first local congregation was in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila. Wikipedia gives 13 July 1914 for the registration. This chart follows the Church's own date.

The Pasugo begins

The first issue of the Church's magazine came out in February 1939 under the name "Ang Pasugo." It is now "Pasugo: God's Message," the monthly official magazine of the Church.

Felix Manalo dies

Felix Manalo died on April 12, 1963. By then the Church had established ecclesiastical districts in more than half of the provinces of the Philippines. His son Eraño G. Manalo became Executive Minister.

The first congregations abroad

Led by Eraño G. Manalo, "the Executive Minister then," the Church established its first two congregations outside the Philippines, in Honolulu, Hawaii, and San Francisco, California. London followed in 1972, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1990, Rome in 1994, Jerusalem in 1996 and Athens in 1997. (The Church's evangelism page adds that its radio station DZEM began broadcasting in February 1969.)

Eduardo Manalo succeeds

Eraño G. Manalo died on August 31, 2009, and his son Eduardo V. Manalo became Executive Minister. Wikipedia dates Eduardo's office from 7 September 2009.

The centennial

On July 21, 2014, the Church inaugurated the Philippine Arena, in Bocaue, Bulacan. The centennial celebration was held there on July 27, 2014, "attended by millions of its members from all over the world," in the Church's words.

A deputy executive minister

Wikipedia reports that on 26 May 2025 Angelo Eraño V. Manalo, a son of Eduardo, was unanimously elected deputy executive minister of the Church and took his oath on 31 May. The Church's magazine names him in that office by February 2026.

Endorsements in the midterm elections

The Philippine press reports that the Church votes as a bloc, and that candidates seek its endorsement. Before the May 2025 elections, The Philippine Star reported, sample ballots naming eight Senate candidates "were released to INC officers after the Thursday night worship services," and it wrote that "The INC has been known for its bloc voting, usually completing a full slate of 12." Senator Bong Go thanked the Executive Minister for the endorsement (The Philippine Star), as did Senator Bong Revilla (GMA News, which noted that the Church had not yet confirmed it). This is reported practice, outside the chart's doctrinal parts.

Felix Y. Manalo

The founder, called by the Church "God's Messenger in these last days." The Church teaches that he fulfilled the prophecy of the messenger from the Far East, and he is the first of its Executive Ministers.

Eraño G. Manalo

Felix Manalo's son and Executive Minister after him. Under him the Church planted its first congregations outside the Philippines, from Hawaii in 1968 to Athens in 1997.

Eduardo V. Manalo

Eraño Manalo's son and the Church's "present Executive Minister" on its history page. Under his leadership the Church inaugurated the Philippine Arena and held its centennial there in 2014.

Angelo Eraño V. Manalo

Eduardo Manalo's son. The Pasugo reports him officiating at worship as "the Deputy Executive Minister" in February 2026, teaching members to live by "the biblical teachings taught by God’s Messenger." Wikipedia dates his election to 26 May 2025.

The date of registration. The Church's history page gives 27 July 1914, and this chart keeps that date. Wikipedia gives 13 July 1914 as the date of registration with the Philippine government and 27 July as the Church's anniversary. What the Church's own pages leave out. They say nothing of Manalo's earlier churches, of the Pasig River baptisms, or of the court cases and political questions that Wikipedia and the Philippine press report. Those are outside this chart's doctrinal parts, and no matter of that kind is stated here without a court record or a major news report. The bloc vote is given above from The Philippine Star and GMA News; no court case is stated.

The Bible is the sole basis of faith, but only God's messengers may teach its meaning, Felix Manalo is the last of them, and the Church Administration's decisions bind as the words of Christ.

The Iglesia ni Cristo says plainly that the Bible is "the sole basis of faith and service to God." It adds that God "has purposely hidden His words in mystery," so that men who read by their own knowledge cannot reach the truth, and that the work of understanding and teaching the Bible belongs "exclusively to the messengers of God." It holds that Brother Felix Y. Manalo is God's messenger in these last days. It also teaches that every member must submit to the Church Administration, whose decisions are, in its words, the words of Christ.

We believe that the Bible is the sole basis of faith and service to God.

the task of understanding God’s words in the Bible, and teaching them without any alteration, without adding or diminishing, is given exclusively to the messengers of God

To abide by the decisions laid down by the Administration is to abide by the words of Christ

The page on the Holy Scriptures says that God "has purposely hidden His words in mystery (Rom. 16:25), so that men who strive to understand the Scripture through their own worldly knowledge can never come to know the truth," and that the gospel "preached by those who are not sent by God" is what the apostles called "another gospel." The page on the messengers adds a test: "the proof that the messengers were inspired by the Holy Spirit is that their teachings never contradict one another."

Baptism is by immersion, for taught and repentant believers, for the forgiveness of sins. But the Church teaches that membership in the Iglesia ni Cristo is the only means of salvation, and that Christ saves no one outside it.

The Church baptizes by immersion and only those who have been taught, believe and repent. It does not baptize infants, who are dedicated to God instead. One of its articles says that the purpose of baptism is the forgiveness of sins, citing Acts 2:38. Its page on salvation then makes a further claim: the Savior's salvation comes only through membership in the Church Of Christ, and Christ will not save anyone outside it. The Church identifies that church with the Iglesia ni Cristo.

membership in the Church Of Christ is the only means for people to receive the salvation that the Savior Jesus Christ brings.

Christ will not save anyone outside the Church Of Christ because it would be against the law of God.

The purpose of baptism is the forgiveness of our sins.

On the mode and the subject of baptism the Church says: "the baptism commanded by Christ (Matt. 28:19) and preached by the Apostles is done by means of immersion (Rom. 6:4; John 3:23; Acts 8:36-38)," and "Since an infant cannot do these things, therefore infant baptism is not practiced in the Church Of Christ." A member's article on INC Media, written by a convert raised Catholic, holds that his baptism as an infant did not count, and says he was baptized again at fourteen. The Church's saved pages do not say what happens to a member who is put out of the Church. Wikipedia says such a member is "expelled or excommunicated," "thus losing salvation," but that is Wikipedia's account and not the Church's own words.

The Holy Supper is bread and the fruit of the vine as symbols, kept for the forgiveness of sins and only inside the Iglesia ni Cristo. It is a special occasion, not a weekly act; the Church's pages do not say how often.

The Church calls its observance the Holy Supper. Its own pages say that it was instituted by Christ and that members keep it "in accordance with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles." The bread "symbolizes" the body and the juice of the fruit of the vine the blood. Members examine themselves beforehand and vow to renew their lives, "to receive the blessing of the forgiveness of our sins." The Church says that the true way to remember Christ's death is to partake of the Holy Supper "being observed inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo." It does not keep Lent or Easter. No page of the Church's states how often the Supper is held. Its magazine, the Pasugo, names it with the year-end Thanksgiving among the "special occasions" for which ministers were sent to lead small congregations abroad, and its dated reports put it in March in recent years. Wikipedia, a secondary source, calls it yearly. So the Supper is an occasional observance in the Church, not an act of every first day of the week.

We observe the Holy Supper in accordance with the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles.

partake of the bread symbolizing the body of Christ, and partake of the juice of the fruit of the vine symbolizing the blood of Christ

the true way to remember or commemorate the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is to partake of the Holy Supper being observed inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo

In its comparison with the Catholic Mass the Church says: "during the holy supper, the purpose of eating the bread, and drinking the juice of the fruit of the vine, was for the forgiveness of sins." It rejects the Mass because the Catholic Church gives the bread alone to the laity, and it holds that the Mass is not the Supper Christ instituted. How often. A Pasugo history of the congregation in Jerusalem says that "During special occasions, such as the Year-end Thanksgiving and the Holy Supper, ministers of the gospel were sent to personally lead the brethren." A Pasugo report from Canada dates one "Holy Supper on March 10, 2023," and an INC Media interview from Tijuana says the 2020 quarantine began "approximately a week after we had our Holy Supper." Members prepare for it ahead of time. None of these says "once a year," and Wikipedia is the only source saved here that does. Who may take part. The pages say only "inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo."

One Church Administration headed by an Executive Minister governs every congregation, through ministers and officers. Members are bound to submit to it.

The Church is governed as a single body. The Church Administration, headed by the Executive Minister, teaches the members "through the help of ministers and ministerial workers." Congregations are grouped into ecclesiastical districts. The Church teaches that every member is "duty-bound to submit himself to the Church Administration because it is God's commandment," and that God entrusted to the Administration the message and the ministry of reconciliation. Deacons and deaconesses greet visitors at the house of worship. Wikipedia, a secondary source, says that only ministers have the authority to interpret and teach Scripture in the Church.

every member is duty-bound to submit himself to the Church Administration because it is God’s commandment (Heb. 13:17).

To submit to the Administration is to be bound by its instructions (Matt. 18:18).

Thus, the Church Administration, through the help of ministers and ministerial workers, thoroughly teach and counsel the members

The Church's history page says that "Through the leadership of its present Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, the Church continues to progress and succeed," and that "Thousands of ministers and Church officers are being added worldwide." The Christian Family Organizations (for married members, single members, youth, children, students and employees) are part of how the Administration teaches. The Church's saved pages do not describe elders in the sense of the New Testament, and do not say that a congregation chooses its own leaders.

Hymn singing, prayers, a Bible lesson and a voluntary offering, in one order everywhere, in a sanctuary with no images, men and women seated apart.

The Church says its worship follows the first-century pattern and is "characterized by psalms and hymn singing, prayers, studying the words of God, and offerings." The service is usually held twice a week and has the same form in every country. The room has no crosses or images. Offerings are to be "voluntary and not compulsory." Men and women are seated in separate sections. The Church does not keep Christmas, Easter, Lent or other seasons, which it says are not in the Bible.

observes the worship service which is characterized by psalms and hymn singing, prayers, studying the words of God, and offerings (I Cor. 14:26, 15; 16:2).

the worship service of the Iglesia Ni Cristo is usually held twice a week in the house of worship and consists of hymn-singing, prayers, voluntary offering, and the study of God’s words

So, while there is hymn singing, there isn’t clapping or yelling involved.

The Church's description of its service: "every worship service in the Church Of Christ—wherever you are in the world—follows the same simple format: arrival and personal prayer, hymn singing, opening congregational prayer, preaching of a Bible lesson, closing congregational prayer, giving of voluntary offering and benediction." Instruments. The Church's own pages say nothing about instruments. The organ builder A. E. Schlueter, writing in The Diapason in April 2015, says the Church's administration set out in 2012 to install a pipe organ in the Central Temple "to further raise the level of worship services, and to praise God with a higher form of hymn singing," and that before it "the organ used by the church was a Hammond electronic organ." He describes "a congregation that worships with full voice." So the congregation sings, with a choir and an organ, at least at the Central Temple. Wikipedia says that the choir leads the singing.

The Holy Spirit is a power sent by God, not God; it teaches God's messengers, and the Church speaks of no miraculous gifts in its own pages.

The Church teaches that the Holy Spirit is "the power" sent by the Father in Christ's name "to teach and remind His messengers of all things that Christ said." It also helps and strengthens the Church. The Spirit is not God: it is "one of the spirits being sent by God." The Church's pages saved for this chart do not teach that miraculous gifts such as tongues or healing continue, or that they have ceased. Its claim is of another kind: that the Spirit reveals the meaning of God's words to the messengers, and that Felix Manalo was inspired in this way.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the power (Acts 1:8) sent by the Father in the name of Christ, to teach and remind His messengers of all things that Christ said (John 14:26).

although the Holy Spirit is a spirit, never does the Scriptures refer to it as “God the Holy Spirit” because it is not God but one of the spirits being sent by God.

God reveals the meaning of His words to His messengers by means of the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:20-21)

The Church also teaches that "There is no trinity of persons in God." On its page on the Father it says that the Bible "points to the Father alone as the true God." That teaching is treated below, with the Church's other distinctives.

Christ will return, the dead will rise, the ungodly will be destroyed, and the faithful members of the Church will live in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem.

The Church holds that Christ will return and that his return is the Day of Judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. The dead will rise in two kinds of resurrection, those who did good to life and those who did evil to condemnation. Members who have died will be raised on the day of Christ's return, and the faithful who are alive will meet him in the air. The Holy City is, in its words, "the future home of the members of the Church Of Christ who stay faithful up to the end."

The day of Christ’s return is the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

There are two kinds of resurrection: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned

This is the future home of the members of the Church Of Christ who stay faithful up to the end.

On entry into the Holy City: "Only those given by the Father to Christ can enter the New Jerusalem (John 17:12). And those given to Christ are called by God into the fellowship with Christ (I Cor. 1:9) and this calling is done by means of the Gospel as preached by God’s messengers." Those called are "gathered in one body (Col. 3:15) which is the Church (Col. 1:18) called the Church Of Christ, Iglesia Ni Cristo in Filipino."

Felix Manalo, God's last messenger

Brother Felix Y. Manalo is the messenger from the Far East whom God sent in these last days, and the right understanding of the Bible comes through the messengers.

The Church holds that God has sent messengers in each age and that in these last days he sent Felix Manalo, the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies of a messenger from the Far East. Through the messengers God reveals the meaning of his words by the Holy Spirit. The Church's English pages call him "God's Messenger in these last days." Wikipedia, a secondary source, says that members hold him to be the last messenger of God in the end times. The Church does not describe Manalo as God, and it says that God alone is God.

We believe that the late Brother Felix Y. Manalo is God’s messenger in these last days; he was the fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies concerning the messenger from the Far East (Rev. 7:2-3)

the proof that the messengers were inspired by the Holy Spirit is that their teachings never contradict one another (I Cor. 2:13).

In these last days, God sent His messenger to administer man’s return to the true teachings of the Church.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

The Church takes seriously that God speaks through those he sends, and that is true: he sent the apostles. But the faith "was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and the church stands "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20). A church is laid on that foundation once. Neither text names a later messenger. The Church rests the claim on Revelation 7:2 and Isaiah 43:5, but the angel there ascends "from the sunrising" in a vision of sealing, and the text names no person, no nation and no century. Isaiah 43:5 is a promise to gather Israel. The Church's own test is that a messenger's teachings "never contradict one another," and the apostles' test is firmer: a gospel different from the one they preached is under a curse, whoever brings it, "or an angel from heaven" (Galatians 1:8). By that test Manalo's teaching is weighed against the apostles', and where it differs from theirs, as on the person of Christ, it falls.

The consequence. A messenger whose word is the key to the Bible is a second authority beside the Bible, whatever the Church says of the Bible's sufficiency. The Church teaches that men cannot reach the truth of Scripture through their own knowledge. That puts every member's reading below the minister's, which is the opposite of the Bereans, who were "more noble" because they were "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Credit. The Church does not worship Manalo and it says so, and it keeps God and Christ above its leaders.

The church that fell away and was restored

The church Christ built in the first century departed from the faith after the apostles died, and God has now brought it back in the Philippines.

The Church teaches that Christ's church was established in the first century, that "after the death of the Apostles" it departed from the true faith, and that in these last days God sent a messenger to the Philippines to bring people back to the true Church. The Iglesia ni Cristo is that church, restored. It underlies the claim that salvation is found in its membership.

Eventually, after the death of the Apostles, this Church which was established by Christ in the first century departed from the true faith.

it is in the Philippines (in the Far East) where God sent an angel or messenger to preach the true and pure Gospel of Christ to the people in order to bring them back to the true Church

I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.

The apostles did warn of a falling away. Paul told the elders at Ephesus that after his departing "grievous wolves shall enter in among you" (Acts 20:29), and the Church is right that churches and whole bodies have turned aside from the apostles' word. But the Lord also promised that the gates of Hades "shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18) and that he would be with his people "always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). Paul wrote of glory "in the church" "unto all generations" (Ephesians 3:21). The cure the apostles gave for the falling away is the written word that they left, and not a new messenger: "the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3) is the standard against which every church is tried. The claim that the church wholly ceased, until a man arrived in the twentieth century, cannot be reconciled with those promises.

The lineage chart on this site, "The Line and the Branches," has no lane for this body. It places the Iglesia ni Cristo among the churches founded on a later messenger, as it does the Latter-day Saints and the Watch Tower, and it does so for the same reason: a body that says the church ceased and was restored through a living messenger makes a different kind of claim from one that traces its descent from the apostles.

No Trinity; Christ is a man

The Father alone is God. Christ is the sinless Son of God and the only Savior, but a man, not God.

The Church teaches that the Father alone is the true God, that "there is no trinity of persons in God," and that the Holy Spirit is a power. It teaches that Christ is the Son of God, the one Savior and the sole mediator between God and man, who did not sin and has been exalted by God above every name. But it says that Christ is "man in nature" and "not God."

There is no trinity of persons in God.

But we do not subscribe to the belief that Christ is a God-Man or both God and man.

never did He appropriate the title “God” nor “God the Son” for Himself because He is not God but a man.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus,

The Church is right that Christ is the one Savior and that he is truly man: Paul calls him "himself man, Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5), and the Church is right that he hungered, thirsted and died. But the apostles say more. John writes that "the Word was God" (John 1:1) and that the Word "became flesh" (John 1:14). Thomas fell down before the risen Lord with "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28), and Jesus did not correct him but blessed those who believe without seeing. Paul says that "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9), and that Christ was "existing in the form of God" (Philippians 2:6). The Church's reply, that Christ called the Father "the only true God" (John 17:3), is true and is not an answer: the same Son is called God by the apostles. To say that he is "not God but a man" denies what the apostles preached about him, and it is an error about the person on whom the whole gospel rests. Of the Church's teachings this is the one that most separates it from the apostles' faith.

The Holy Spirit. The Church says the Spirit is not God. Peter said that to lie to the Holy Spirit is to lie to God: "thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" (Acts 5:4). Credit. The Church teaches one God, the creator, and Christ as sinless, as the only Savior and as the one who will return, and it rejects every idea that Christ is a second God beside the Father. Its error is in the person of Christ, not in a want of reverence for him.

Christmas, Easter and the church calendar

The Church does not keep Christmas, Easter, Lent or other seasons, because they are not in the Bible.

The Church does not keep Christmas, Easter or Lent. Its International Edition programs say that Christmas is not in the Bible, that Easter has pagan roots, and that Lent is not commanded. Instead, it says, members commemorate Christ's death in the Holy Supper.

Christmas is not in the Bible.

We should never observe dear friends or honor the holiday Easter.

members of the Church Of Christ, we don’t participate in the observance of Lent because it’s clear that such observance is not only not commanded in the Bible

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day: which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s.

Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years. I am afraid of you, lest by any means I have bestowed labor upon you in vain.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

The Church is right that the New Testament commands no Christmas, no Easter and no Lent, and it stands nearer the apostles than the churches that bind a calendar on their people. Paul asked the Galatians, "Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years" (Galatians 4:10) with alarm. But two things are to be set beside its position. Paul also taught that the matter of a day is for conscience: "Let each man be fully assured in his own mind" (Romans 14:5), and "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day" (Colossians 2:16). A ban on what the text leaves to conscience goes beyond the text, as does a command to keep it. And the Church puts the Lord's death in a Holy Supper kept apart from the first day of every week, when the apostolic church met "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7). It declines the days that the apostles did not appoint and sets aside the one day that they did.

The house of worship

No crosses or images, and men and women seated in separate sections.

The Church's sanctuary has no crosses and no images, because, it says, "we follow strictly what the Bible says." Seating is in two sides, a male section and a female section, which the Church says is done "to maintain the solemnity and orderliness of the worship services." Deacons and deaconesses greet visitors and show them to their seats.

There are no crosses or graven images because in the Church Of Christ, we follow strictly what the Bible says.

After the foyer, they’ll guide you to the main sanctuary, where the seating is arranged with two sides: the male and the female sections.

My little children, guard yourselves from idols.

There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus.

But let all things be done decently and in order.

The Church is on the apostles' side in keeping images out of the assembly: "guard yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). It is also right to want order, for "let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). Seating men and women apart is not commanded in the New Testament. As a custom of one congregation it would be a matter of order and no more, and the text neither requires it nor forbids it. It becomes a fault only if it is bound on every congregation as the Church's rule. The Church's saved pages give it as a matter of solemnity, not as a command of Scripture, and on that footing it is no departure from the apostles. The Church is not charged with more than it says.

The plumb line is the New Testament: what the apostles commanded, and what the churches practiced with their approval. Each position above is set against it, and the wall below shows how far each one stands from it. Choose a course to read the Scripture and the reason. The Iglesia ni Cristo is not a body on this site's lineage chart. It stands there as an event in 1914, because it measures itself by a later messenger and not by the New Testament alone. So the placements below are authored on the lineage rubric's rungs, and the reason for each is given with it. The Church stands on the line in how it baptizes, and it asks its members for a serious life. It stands far from it in who may interpret the Bible and in the head of its government, and it departs from it in a Supper kept as an occasion rather than each first day. Its claim that no one is saved outside its membership is the gravest of its departures after the person of Christ; on the wall it is charged once, under salvation, where its baptism otherwise stands on the line.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

The Church says the Bible is "the sole basis of faith," and that is to its credit. But it says that only God's messengers may understand and teach the Bible, that Felix Manalo is the last of them, and that the decisions of the Church Administration are "the words of Christ." Scripture says it is complete: it makes "the man of God" "furnished completely unto every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17), and any gospel beyond the apostles' is under a curse: "let him be anathema" (Galatians 1:8). On the rubric, a messenger whose reading of Scripture is the key to it takes the last rung for the rule of faith, an Administration whose rulings bind where Scripture is silent takes the last rung for silence, and a bound doctrine about a person the New Testament does not so describe (Manalo as the angel of Revelation 7:2) takes the last rung for added teaching. The membership claim is counted under salvation, not here.

The Bible and its interpreter. A church that holds the Bible alone and lets the Bible be read only through a chosen person has put that person between the reader and the text. The apostles asked for the opposite: "examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11), and the Bereans were commended for testing even Paul. Not a lineage lane. The lineage chart gives no lane to a body whose later messenger binds. The Church's own account is that Manalo's coming was prophesied and that his teaching never contradicts the apostles'. This chart weighs that claim and does not treat it as settled.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved.

For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit.

And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.

The Church baptizes as the apostles did: by immersion, of taught and penitent believers, for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and on the three baptism rungs it stands on the line. But it makes membership in the Iglesia ni Cristo "the only means" of salvation, and it binds members to its Administration's instructions, citing the Lord's words on binding and loosing (Matthew 18:18). The New Testament does put the saved in Christ's church: "the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved" (Acts 2:47). It never makes a man's standing turn on one organization and its officers, so the placement is moved one step off the line, for a standing held in the institution's hands. This claim is counted here only; the authority placement rests on the messenger and the Administration, not on it.

The placement. Baptism's subject, mode and purpose sit on the line. The one step is for the Church's answer to how a man is saved: "membership in the Church Of Christ is the only means," and Christ "will not save anyone outside" it, under an Administration whose instructions bind. The step is not larger because the baptism the Church preaches is the apostles' baptism; what it adds is a fence around it. Where the Church is right. Christ saves his church, and a person is saved by entering Christ by baptism in his name. That is the Church's own page. Where it errs. The body of Christ is made up of all who have been baptized into him by faith and live in his word, and the Church identifies it with one organization, whose teaching holds that the Bible cannot be understood without its messengers. The gospel Paul preached asked for faith in Christ, repentance and baptism. It asked for no allegiance to a later leader. On the rubric this is the question of a man's standing, which the Church places in the institution's hands. Wikipedia reports that a member put out of the Church loses salvation, which the Church's saved pages do not confirm. If that is so, the institution holds a verdict that belongs to the Lord.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.

The Church says the Supper is bread and the fruit of the vine, kept in remembrance of Christ's death, and that is the apostles' pattern: "ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26). Members examine themselves, as Paul asked: "let a man prove himself" (1 Corinthians 11:28). But the apostolic church broke bread "upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread" (Acts 20:7), and the Church keeps the Supper as a "special occasion," not on each first day. And it keeps the table "inside the Iglesia Ni Cristo," a fence of membership in one body that the text does not set.

The placement. On the rubric the frequency takes the rung for "a few times a year," the nature of the Supper the rung of a memorial with a blessing attached, and the access the rung of a membership fence; the placement is their mean, not moved. The Church's own pages do not say how often the Supper is kept. If it is once a year, as Wikipedia says, the rung for frequency still holds, since the rung beyond it is a Supper effectively not kept. Remission of sins. The Church says the bread and the cup are taken "for the forgiveness of sins." The Lord's words over the cup are that his blood "is poured out for many unto remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). The Church is right that the Supper rests on his death, and it is not a sacrifice offered by a priest, which is to its credit against the Mass. Access. Restricting the table counts against a church only where Scripture is against the restriction. To bar the unbaptized and those under discipline is the apostles' own. To bar every Christian who is not a member of one organization is not.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;

Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren.

The apostolic churches were governed by elders chosen "in every church" (Acts 14:23), and "in every city" (Titus 1:5), who were to tend the flock "neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3). There was no office above the congregation. The Church has the opposite shape: one Executive Minister at the head of one Administration that teaches, governs and binds every congregation, and that the members must obey as the words of Christ. On the rubric the head of the whole body takes the last rung for the eldership, the Administration over all congregations takes the last rung for autonomy, and the ministers, who alone interpret and teach, take the fourth for clergy and laity. The Church is right to ask members to love one another as brothers and sisters (Matthew 23:8).

Hebrews 13:17. The Church bases its order on "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them" (Hebrews 13:17). The elders named in the New Testament are those over a congregation, who "watch in behalf of your souls." The text does not make one man head of a worldwide body, and it does not make his decisions the words of Christ. Acts 16:4 gives "the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem," which were the apostles' own decrees, not a later office's.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

The Church's worship has the items that Paul names, prayers, teaching, an offering and "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19), with no crosses or images and no clapping or performance. The congregation sings, and that is the apostles' pattern. But by its organ builder's account of the Central Temple, the singing of congregation and choir is carried by an organ, and every reference to music in the Christian assemblies of the New Testament is to singing; the melody Paul names is made "with your heart." The one set order everywhere is an order, not a rite with efficacy. On the rubric the organ takes the contested rung for music, the fixed order the first rung for added acts, and prayer to the Father the line, so the placement sits one step from the line.

The source. The Church's own pages do not mention instruments. The account is the organ builder's, in The Diapason (April 2015), of the Central Temple in Quezon City: the Church had long used "a Hammond electronic organ," and in 2012 its administration set out to build a pipe organ for the centennial. Whether every local congregation uses an organ is not stated there.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? While it remained, did it not remain thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thy power? How is it that thou hast conceived this thing in thy heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,

The Church says the Holy Spirit is a power sent by God and not God. Peter told Ananias that to "lie to the Holy Spirit" was to lie "unto God" (Acts 5:3-4), so the Spirit is God. And the Church says the Spirit still reveals the meaning of God's words to a messenger, so that Manalo's reading is inspired. The apostles' own sign-gifts were given "through the laying on of the apostles’ hands" (Acts 8:18), and they were the confirmation of the apostles' word (Hebrews 2:3-4); "whether there be tongues, they shall cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8). The Church's pages do not claim miracles today, and that is to its credit. They claim a continuing inspiration, which the apostles' completed word does not leave room for. The placement is authored: the Church denies the Spirit's deity, and it holds that he still gives a binding revelation to a chosen man.

Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;

The Church holds what the apostles taught about the end: Christ will return, the dead will rise, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29), and the faithful who are alive will "be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). It also expects the ungodly to be destroyed, which many readers of 2 Peter 3 share. Where it stands apart is in who enters the Holy City: "the members of the Church Of Christ who stay faithful," and no one else. The multitude John saw is "out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues" (Revelation 7:9), and the Lord's promise is to his disciples, not to a membership roll. The placement is authored: the doctrine of the return and the resurrection is the apostles', and the narrowing of the Holy City to one organization is the Church's own.

The Iglesia ni Cristo holds much that the New Testament holds. It baptizes by immersion, and only believers who have been taught and have repented, and it teaches that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. It rejects infant baptism. It names one God, the creator, and one Savior, Jesus Christ, who died, rose and will return, and who was without sin. It teaches that the dead will rise and be judged. Its worship is plain, with hymns, prayers, a Bible lesson and a voluntary offering, and without crosses, images or performance. It does not keep Christmas or Easter as holy days. It asks its members to love one another as brothers and sisters, to hold to a life of holiness, and to be present at worship. It asks a good deal of its members, and many give it.

Measured by the New Testament alone, the Iglesia ni Cristo stands on the line in how it baptizes, and far from it in four places: who may interpret the Bible, the head of its government, who Christ is, and who is saved. The Bible is not the only authority if its meaning is given by a messenger the Bible does not name, and no church that rests on a later man has the foundation of the apostles and prophets. A church governed by one Executive Minister and one Administration is not a church of elders in every city. Christ is not less than God, for Thomas called him "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28) and was not corrected. And the gospel offers salvation in Christ to every one who believes and is baptized into him, not to the members of one organization.

These are not the failings of a people who never opened the Bible. The members study it, they refuse images and the church calendar, and they ask more of themselves than many churches do. What remains is to do what the Bereans did, and to ask of the messenger and the Administration what the Church asks of the Mass and the pope: where is this in the apostles' writings? The faith is "once for all delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3), and the one who believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mark 16:16), whoever baptized him and whatever the name over the door.

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