TOTAL APOSTASY? TOTAL LIE!

The Original Church of Jesus has disappeared?

Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormon Church made a surprise finding in 1830. ‘The Church Jesus founded in Jerusalem is dead or totally disappeared in the 1st century itself! It is apostatized!’ So, he formed a new church in America and called it “Church of Jesus Christ” or “Mormon Church,” and claimed that, in the last days the original church will re-emerge through him. Those who want to be saved must become a member of the re-emerged church and believe in two Holy Books: The Bible and Book Of Mormons! (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966)

Felix Y. Manalo copied this mental gimmick of Joseph Smith; when he proclaimed the original Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem was disappeared in the 1st century because of apostasy and persecution. But it is re-emerged through him in the Philippines on July 27, 1914. That is the true church! Those who want to be saved must believe in the Bible and the Fundamental Teachings of ‘Iglesia Ni Cristo’ or ‘Church of Christ.’ (‘Pandoktrina’ Serie 1976-77) What is the truth? Who says the lie? Let us analyze their claims in the light of the Holy Bible.


Promise of Jesus Contradicts Total Apostasy:

As history proves, from the beginning until now, many false prophets have appeared with contrary views to divide the only one Church Jesus established forever. But the Church was always victorious over them, as it was Jesus who is guiding His Church through the Holy Spirit. Many denied what Jesus taught! Some preached Jesus is only a man. For others, he is only God. Some disbelieved the Holy Spirit, while others questioned the validity of sacraments. Foreseeing this danger, Jesus even warned His apostles about the work of Satan against the Church He founded: “Many will come in my name to lead you astray” (Mat. 24:5). But Jesus always assured the apostles His eternal presence with the Church. “When two or three are gathered in my name I will be in your midst,” was His word. He is not one who knows to establish His Church, but does not know how to safeguard it. The Church, he purchased by His blood, was not just for a few days, but for eternity!

Iglesia Ni Cristo tries to make the people believe in a false doctrine of apostasy by quoting the above passage from the Bible, which really meant against them; by Jesus; “For many will come in My name, saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray” (Mat. 24:5). This may be tactfully interpreted as ‘all’ to prove the Church, Jesus himself instituted, failed to survive in history. “Many” will fall away never meant all will fall away. ‘Many Filipinos are working in Japan,’ does not mean all Filipinos are working in Japan. The word ‘many’ never defend their claim of total apostasy.

Nobody can deny the biblical fact that Jesus instituted His Church upon the apostles in 33 A.D. Jesus didn’t create thousands of churches as we see now, but only one Church, which He called ‘My Church’ upon Simon whom He renamed “Peter, the Rock.” Mat. 16:18-19 says, “You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my Church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven….”

When Jesus instituted the Church, he also assured its protection. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Those who carry total apostasy theory for their very survival, and to justify their illegal fake churches, are making Jesus a liar who made a promise and failed to keep it. More than that, Jesus gave His assurance to the apostles; He will be with His Church “even until the end of the world” (Mat. 28:20) not for a few days.


Total Apostasy teaches Satan is more powerful than Jesus!

According  to them, when the Christians were persecuted in Rome, Jerusalem and all over the world, the Church ceased to exist; Jesus abandoned His Church. So, the enemies of the Church became victorious. Can a Christian believe in this foolishness? Can Jesus, the good shepherd, abandon His Church when its members were sacrificing their lives for Him? Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The hired man who is not a shepherd and to whom the sheep does not belong as his own beholds the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them, because he is a hired man and does not care for the sheep!” (Jn. 10:11-13). Jesus is the good shepherd, not hired one. This total apostasy in the 1st century is a myth and a lie. If anyone accepts this lie, he proclaims Satan is more powerful than Jesus himself – ‘false prophets’ are stronger than “Christ.”


Church as Body of Jesus can never be totally apostatized:

Jesus considered the Church as His own body. When Saul persecuted His Church, Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute  me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5).

Those who are compelled to carry the doctrine of total apostasy have to believe Saul was able to persecute and even kill Jesus, His body, the Church!


The Old Testament Prophecies against Total Apostasy:

Isaiah 9:5-6 says, “For us a child  is born, to us a son is given; and the government  will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” See? He will uphold His kingdom ‘forevermore,’ ‘without end.’

In the Book of Daniel, we read a very clear statement against total apostasy. Daniel 7:14 says, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed.” Once more, Daniel 2:44 speak about this unrealistic myth of total apostasy.

Daniel 2:44 says, “And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring to an end, and it shall stand forever.”


The Fiction of Total Apostasy questions the Validity of the Bible:

In the Gospel, we never see Jesus commanding us to believe in a ‘Bible.’ There was no Bible at the time of the apostles. The Bible emerged in the 4th century only! Those who use the Bible to support their doctrine of apostasy contradict themselves when history proves the Bible itself is coming from a Church that they call “apostatized in the 1st century.” The Bible was completed and formulated in 397 A.D. by the Council of Catholic Church (For more details, please read “Who Made The Bible?”).


Poor Knowledge of History:

Complete apostasy theory is supported by poor knowledge of its proponents in Church history. In the 1st century itself, the Church started to flourish in different parts of the world. The apostles travelled to different countries. The History of the Church in Rome and Jerusalem are blood stained. In fact, strong witness of martys strengthened the Church more and more. ‘Blood of the martyrs became the seed of Christianity.’ But there were other churches, which grew without fierce persecution. Take the case of the Church in India. In A.D. 52, St. Thomas the apostle came to Kerala, S. India and the Church he established there was protected and supported by the kings and rulers. Until now, that Church, known as St. Thomas Christians, keeps pure Catholic doctrines. There was neither apostasy nor total persecution in the history of that Church. Remember, history of churches is not exclusive to the Church in Rome and Jerusalem.


Conclusion:

Jesus is not a dead God. He lives and rules through his body – the only church he instituted here on earth. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the Church as promised by our Lord. Evil can never overtake her. The powers of hell, ‘wolves with sheep’s clothing’ (Mat. 7:15) tried the best to kill her always in different  forms –political or religious. Caesar and Nero in Rome, Napoleon in France, Henry VII in England, Carl Marx and Lenin in Russia, Martin Luther in Germany, Mao in China… the list of persecutors goes on. The political powers perished. The anti-Catholic churches were broken into pieces. They all kept but one dream: “destroy Catholicism.” But still now, she continues as victorious as ever. The greatest moral power in the world. When the Pope speaks, all nations listen whether they belong to Muslims, Hindus, Protestants, Communists or Secularists. “The gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18).

But the apostles of apostasy will appear always. They all will carry the Bible. Years before, Satan tempted Jesus quoting the scripture passages three times (Lk. 4). Now he uses the same trick to destroy the mystical body of Jesus! “Quote the Bible, destroy Catholic faith” is the new policy! So Jesus warned His apostles “Beware that no one leads you astray…many will fall away…” (Mt. 24:4-10)

Jesus has only one bride! His Church! “Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her” (Eph. 5:25). Now new preachers are creating new churches, new wives for Jesus! They can never be the bride of Christ. Christ will never divorce his wife for whom, he died, with whom, he lives! He is, he was, and he will be, faithful to his church, his bride!

NEXT: Can We Call A Priest ‘Father’? 

Why Do Catholics Baptize Infants

“Don’t baptize children” is also a new dogma that the world heard from anti-Catholics, 1500 years after the beginning of Christianity, which was not demanded by Jesus nor practiced by his apostles in the early Church. Baptism is an external sign of an internal grace that we receive by the acceptance of Jesus as the Lord and Savior. The Bible says, it was given to children, adults and old ones alike by the apostles. The children were never denied baptism. No early documents of Christianity, supports that.

Acts 2:38-39 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is made to you and to your children and to all those far off, whomever the Lord our God will call.”

At the time of Jesus, circumcision was the way to be consecrated to God. Apostles replaced baptism for circumcision. Circumcision was administered to children eight days after birth.

Col. 2:11-12 – “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with Him in baptism.”

In the New Testament, baptism was administered to the whole family including children and adults. Baptism was never denied to children: Paul baptized the household of Stephanas (1 Cor. 1:16).  “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved (Acts 16:31). “Crispus, the synagogue official,came to believe in the Lord, along with his entire household.” (Acts 18:8)  Here the Greek usage of “whole household” was a normal usage at that time which included children and adults in a house.

Jesus commanded baptism as a necessity for everyone to enter into the kingdom of God. (Jn. 3:5) Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” Jesus didn’t say “except children,” but he said ‘no one can enter.’ Children should not be banned from entering into the kingdom of God as Jesus wished.

Mk. 10:14 – “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belong to such as these.” Denying baptism to children is just preventing them from entering His kingdom. So, it becomes the duty and responsibility of parents to give the child the most urgent thing that they have to give – ‘Grace of God!’

“How can the children make an act of faith before receiving baptism?” In order to answer this doubt, we should know that ‘faith’ is God’s gift, not something that we get when we study some doctrines. Here, the Catholic Church follows the example of Jesus, who forgave sins because of the faith of others: Mk. 2:2-5- “after they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus healed the paralyzed servant because of the faith of a Centurion. Mt. 8:10-13 – “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.”…And Jesus said to the Centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” At that very hour his servant was healed.


Baptism: Immersion or Pouring?

The use of ‘water’ is an external sign of an internal grace of God. At the time of Jesus, ritual washings were practiced. The priest washed his hands to show purity. Pilate washed his hands to show his innocence. When Jesus accepted this sign, he didn’t intend for baptism ‘a bath in water.’ It is because of that misunderstanding, some sects prepare artificial swimming pools inside their worship centers. They accuse Catholic baptism is invalid as it is not done by immersion. Jesus and his disciples did not use such pools, for baptism. Wherever they got some water, baptism was administered. Acts 8:36-38 “As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look there is water. What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Here, ‘some water’ doesn’t mean a ‘river’ or ‘pool.’ On the day of Pentecost 3000 men were baptized there itself. We don’t read the apostles leading them to a river or to a sea to get those all immersed. Sprinkling of water may be used to baptize them. (Those 3000 never included women and children who were more than that!)

In the Church, immersion, pouring, and even sprinkling were used in the centuries that we consider, using of water, as an external sign, is the important thing. The Didache, which was considered as ‘inspired’ by some of the old Christian Churches (Syria, 70-110 AD) says: “Regarding baptism, baptize thus….. baptize ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ in the running water. But if you have no running water, baptize in any other, and if you cannot, in cold water, then warm. But if the one is lacking, pour the other three times on the head ‘in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.’ ” (The Didache, Ch. 7)

NEXT: TOTAL APOSTASY? TOTAL LIE!

Who Made The Bible

                                     

‘Bible alone’ is not the basis of faith

Jesus in His life never mentioned about a Bible. He never commanded us to believe in a book. We cannot see He ordered apostles to write a book. During the time of the apostles there was no Bible at all. Jesus founded, not a book as the basis of faith, but the Church as the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). And He promised not that book, but He Himself will be with His Church till the end of the age (Mt. 28:20) and the Holy Spirit will lead the apostles and the successors into the ‘fullness of truth’ after His ascension to heaven (Jn. 14:16-17). He even said, “If anyone refuses to listen to the Church, treat him as if you would a gentile or tax collector.”-Matthew 18:17


Tradition and the Bible

In the early centuries, before the Bible was formed Christians believed the teaching of the apostles and their disciples, as the basis of their faith, which the Church calls “Holy Tradition.” These traditions were not human customs mentioned in Mt. 15:3, 6-9, that were observed by Pharisees, but they were accepted as guided by the Holy Spirit.

In fact, the words such as ‘Bible’, ‘Purgatory’, ‘Trinity’, and ‘Assumption are all coming from these early Christian traditions! Later, when the Bible came, it defended those traditions.

2 Thess.2:15, “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.”

1 Cor. 11:2, “Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.”


Why the Bible was formed?

In the early centuries of the Church, there appeared more than 50 gospels, which include the 4 gospels that we see in the New Testament and other gospels such as gospel of James, gospel of Thomas, gospel of Hebrews, etc… There were 22 Books of Acts: Acts of Apostles, Acts of Paul, and Acts of Thecla, etc… There were numerous Epistles that we see in the New Testament and others such as Paul’s letter to Laodiceans, Epistle of Barnabas, etc… It created total confusion among early Christians because some of the books and letters were ‘spurious’ and others genuine. Some of them contained even superstitions and funny stories of miracles of Jesus and apostles. Many false prophets appeared with different theologies contrary to the apostolic teaching. For Arius, Jesus was not God. For Apollinarius, Jesus was not man. Macedonius preached Holy Spirit is not God. For Maricionites, all the gospels are false. All of them started to quote the scriptures available at that time.

To defend the true Chuch and its doctrines from the apostasies, the Catholic Church decided to select some books that seemed genuine and inspired; it is known as the Canon of Bible  (Greek ‘Kanon’ means something serving to determine, rule). Thus, the Bible came from the Church! The Church is not coming from the Bible.


Church made the Bible

It was Melito, Bishop of Sardis (170 A.D.) who first tried to have an Old Testament Canon but many of the inspired books are not seen in his list.

The Council of Laodicea (360 A.D.), with the permission of the Pope in Rome, produced the first canon of the Bible. But it is only in the year of Pope Damasus (367 A.D.) a great effort was done to form a Bible. This Holy Pope compiled the books which he felt genuine and ordered St. Jerome to translate them into Latin, which was the official language of the Church. St. Jerome went to Jerusalem and lived 30 years in a cave to do the job. At 397 A.D., he finished his works and presented it to the Pope. This is known as ‘Latin Vulgate.’ Pope Siricius called it the ‘Bible,’ which means ‘collection of books.’

(In fact the term ‘Bible’ has a pagan origin. The Greek word ‘biblia’ is coming from the Phenition city of ‘Byblos’ that was a trading port for papyrus. For the Greeks, ‘biblos’ meant those books ‘an invocation of the goddess or muse’ (daughters of Zeus who inspired poets, speakers, and artists). Remember, critics always accuse Catholic feasts, such as Christmas for its pagan background. Even the Bible itself has a pagan background.)

Though Luke was not an apostle of Jesus, the Pope accepted his gospel because it clarified all doubts about doctrines of Mary-as it was believed in the early Church that Luke got ideas about the infancy of Jesus from Mary. Luke was also famous for his paintings of Mary and Child Jesus (One of these pictures is still kept in the Basilica of Mary Major in Rome). Matthew gives a very clear idea about the Primacy of Peter and the Church Jesus founded on him. John’s gospel was used by the early Christians to defend  the real presence of Jesus, as one whole chapter of this gospel deals with that subject “my flesh is true food and my blood true drink.” Mark, being a close associate of Peter in Rome defends the selection of Peter, and his authority.


‘Where is that in the Bible?’ Anti-Catholics always ask this to prove Catholic practices are baseless or unbiblical. In order to answer them, we should know the true story about the origin of the Bible. Hundreds of protestant pastors have already comeback to Catholic Church just because they studied not only the Bible, but also the great history of the Bible. (please watch ‘Journey Home’ in EWTN channel.  Mondays 8pm, encores: Tuesdays 1am & 10 am, Wednesdays 1pm, Saturdays 11pm. This exciting call-in program examines why so many people, including fallen away Catholics and individuals from other denominations, are being drawn home to the Catholic Church.)

No Bible without the Church

Those who deny tradition, Primacy of Pope and believe in the new dogmas of “total apostasy” are really questioning the validity of the Bible. When we say gospel written by Luke, Mark or Matthew, it doesn’t mean we have any evidence that it is written by them. These beliefs are based only on tradition. All scholars in ‘textual criticism of the Bible’ say many of the gospel parts are later additions of the disciples of evangelists. Mark and Luke were not even apostles of Jesus; they wrote what they heard from Peter and Paul. The Bible has no errors just because the Catholic Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, didn’t include erroneous books in the Bible. The Church even accepted some disputed books in the Bible such as Epistles of Jude, James, Peter and John. The Book of Revelation was considered unacceptable in many early Christians. They were not considered genuine in some churches. But it was the infallible decision of the Pope that made these books acceptable to all. They believed  the Bible is trustworthy because the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church; the Pope is infallible. (Mt. 28:20)-“Teaching them to observe what I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

All what the apostles preached and the early Christians practiced are not found in the Bible. The Bible itself admits that (Jn. 21:25), “There are in fact, many other things also which Jesus did, which, if ever they were written in full detail, I suppose the world itself could not contain the scrolls written.” Those who accept the Bible as the only basis of faith will never reach the fullness of truth that Jesus revealed later through His Church. (Jn. 16:12-13)-“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to the fullness of truth.”


Prophecies and warnings in the Bible

The prophets who claimed the death of the original Church Jesus instituted, created churches just against the teachings of the Bible and contrary to the practice of early Christians. Joseph Smith claimed he is the last prophet! Felix Manalo claimed as the last messenger, an angel. Millions are spent already in the T.V. shows to announce the emergence of this modern ‘savior.’ “We will be saved only through their doctrines!” “A new angel Gabriel with a new  annunciation!” “His church will last ‘till the end of the world while the Church founded by Jesus failed to exist!” Are they more powerful than Jesus Himself? For Manalo, he’s an angel, while Jesus is only a man. They all prophesied their times as the ‘Last Days’ about which Jesus said, “Neither the angles in heaven nor the Son knows.” But this new angels and prophets are very sure that their time is the Last. They may have more wisdom than Jesus. (After their surety of Last Days, even centuries passed without any happenings. But their T.V. shows continue to keep its believers in a hope by showing  Tsunami, Katrina, Rita and War in Iraq as symptoms of Last Days). But Jesus warned us not to believe any ‘christs’ who come in His name (‘Christ’ means Savior).

In the Last Days, Jesus didn’t promise he will send an angel or prophet as His Last Messenger. The Bible says the message that we received from Jesus is the Last: “In times past God spoke in partial and various ways through the prophets; in these Last Days, He spoke to us through the Son…through whom He created the universe” (Heb. 1:1-2). These people who put themselves in the place of Jesus is really fulfilling the prophecies of the Bible which warned the coming of the Anti-Christ. “Whoever denies the Father and the Son will be the Anti-Christ. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father” (1 Jn. 2:22-23).

“For many will come in my name, saying “I am the Christ,” and they will lead many astray” (Mt. 24:4-5). The Bible warns about fake angels who may appear to destroy the only one Church Jesus founded in this world. The Bible makes this prophecy: “for such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who pretend as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan pretends  as an angel of light. His ministers also pretend as ministers of righteousness!” (2 Cor. 11:13-15)

Gal. 1:8 – “Even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one that we preached, let that one be accursed!”

We should not forget the warning of St. Peter – the first Pope: “False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.” (2 Pet. 2:1)


The Sad Story of the Bible!

Until 1400 AD, Catholic monks preserved the original purity of the Bible and made copies by hand. Everyday in the Holy Masses, the congregation attended both ‘Breaking of the Word’ and ‘Breaking of the Bread.’ The Bible was not available to common people as there was no printing at that time as it is today.

In 1453 AD, printing was invented. Copies of the Bible made available. In 1517 AD, Martin Luther attacked the Church, but first he vandalized the Bible itself. Just to defend his dogmas, he threw out 7 Old Testament books from the original early canons of the Bible (Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, Tobit, 1st Maccabees and 2nd Maccabees). He planned to destroy even the New Testament book ‘Letter of James’ which spoke against his doctrine ‘sola fide’ (man is saved not by work but faith alone). But James 2:26 says: “Faith without works is dead.” When opposition mounted, he was satisfied, accusing this Epistle as ‘Epistle of the straw.’ So now, the Bible that is used by Protestants are partial, incomplete, and unauthentic.

His followers started to fight each other on interpreting the Bible by creating contrary theologies and new dogmas. Thousands of churches were formed. All believed the Bible alone is the basis of faith; a dogma never taught by Jesus, never written in the Bible, nor supported by the Bible. Each church started to change interpretations and even words in the Bible according to their desire. It created more than 200,000 churches with contrary views, all based in the Bible. All claim the guidance of the same Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can never do this dirty confusion and total anarchy as it is the Spirit of Truth. There are more than 700 churches here in the Philippines with ‘Bible alone theory.’ Thus, history proved, beyond any doubt, the ‘Bible alone’ theory is not from God. In fact, the Bible became an instrument in the hands of Satan to create chaos and anarchy in Christendom when it is taken out from its real basis – the Church founded by Jesus upon Peter. So Jesus warned, (Jn. 15:6) “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither.”

History proved beyond doubt that two teachings of Luther were wrong. ‘Sola Scriptura’ (Bible alone is the basis of faith) and ‘Sola Fide’ (Faith alone is the basis of salvation).

If you have a Bible, you can create your own church, with your own interpretations! You can cheat many poor people by proclaiming yourself as an angel or prophet! But can you give them salvation? The church you create will never be the Church of Christ. Religion making business is a money-making business now!

NEXT: Why Do Catholics Baptize Infants