Ang tanda ng krus ay tanda ba ng Anti-Cristong hunghang?

Iglesia Ni Cristo open forum: Pag nagtanda ng krus, Anti-Cristo na????

Felix Y. Manalo

Marami sa mga kaibigan nating mga kaanib sa Iglesia Ni Cristo at maging sa iglesiang Protestante ang nagsisitanong kung bakit nag-aantanda ng krus ang mga Katoliko. Sabi ng isang ministro sa Central, wala namang turo ang Biblia na mag-krus. Ginagamit nila ang "Siya ang Inyong paklnggan, ang aral ng Katoliko" ni Padre Enrique Demond sa pahina 11, ganito ang ating mababasa:



"Ang TANDA ng SANTA CRUZ ay siyang TANDA ng TAONG KATOLIKO.Ang paraang ginagawa sa paggamit ng santa cruz ay dalawa: ang mag antanda at ang magkrus.Ang ang pag aantanda ay ang paggawa ng tatlong krus nang hinlalaki ng kanyang kamay;ang unay sa noo,...mabuti at pinakikinabangan lubha ang magkrus na malimit..." ("Siya ang Inyong paklnggan, ang aral ng Katoliko" ni Padre Enrique Demond ph.11)


Hindi lang yan tanda ng Katoliko, tanda po rin ng isang Kristyano. Anong masama sa sinabi ni Padre Enrique Demond? Isa pa po sa sinabi ng mga INC ni Manalo ay yung sa sinabi sa librong, "Ang pananampalataya ng ating mga ninuno" ni Cardinal James Gibbons sa pahina 10 at ganito ang ating mababasa:



"...kinukurusan namin ang aming mga NOO.Ang GAWAING ITO,Y TUNAY NGANG DI INUUTOS NANG TAHASAN NG KASULATAN:DATAPWAT INUUUTOS NG TRADISYON,..." ("Ang pananampalataya ng ating mga ninuno" ni Cardinal James Gibbons)


At eto ang nagiging konklusyon nila, dun sa "PASYONG CANDABA" ni Padre Anciento de la Merced, ganito ang ating mababasa:



"IPAG-UUTOS MAGQUINTAL sa NOO O CANANG CAMAY SUCAT PAGCACAQUILANLAN NA SILA NGA,I CAMPONG TUNAY NITONG ANTI CRISTONG HUNGHANG." ("Pasyong Candaba" by: Aniceto Dela Merced,p.207)


Naku po, ganyan ba ang konklusyon ng mga INC? Pag nag-krus daw kampon na ng Anti-Cristong hunhang? Tignan natin kung ano ang tinutukoy na nilalagay sa noo o canang camay sa Pasyong Candaba. Pasasagutin ko na ang Biblia sa Apocalipsis 13 sa talatang 16-18, ganito ang ating mababasa:



Apocalipsis 13:16-18 (Ang Dating Biblia), "At ang lahat, maliliit at malalaki, at mayayaman at mga dukha, at ang mga laya at ang mga alipin ay pinabigyan ng isang tanda sa kanilang kanang kamay, o sa noo; At nang huwag makabili o makapagbili ang sinoman, kundi siyang mayroong tanda, sa makatuwid ay ng pangalan ng hayop o bilang ng kaniyang pangalan. Dito'y may karunungan. Ang may pagkaunawa ay bilangin ang bilang ng hayop; sapagka't siyang bilang ng isang tao: at ang kaniyang bilang ay Anim na raan at anim na pu't anim"





Kaninong marka ang magpapatunay na kampon ng Anti-Cristong hunghang? Ang tanda ng pangalan ng hayop at bilang ng kanyang pangalan. Walang mababasa dyan na kapag nag-antanda tayo ng krus, kampon na ng Anti-Cristong hunghang. Halatang dumaragdag ang INC sa sinabi sa Biblia. Ang tanda ng krus ay isa ring tatak. Naipaliwang ito ni kapatid na Marwil Llasos ang sa tatak ganito po:



“Ang matibay na pinagsasaligan ng Diyos ay nananatili na may TATAK nito, nakikilala ng Panginoon ang mga kanya, at lumayo sa kalikuan ang bawa’t isa na SUMASAMBITLA ng PANGALAN ng Panginoon. “ II Tim. 2:19

Sa talata, binabanggit ni Apostol Pablo ang tungkol sa TATAK na pinagkakakilanlan ng Panginoon ang mga kanya. Maliban sa TATAK ay binabanggit din ni Apostol Pablo tungkol sa PAGSAMBIT sa Pangalan ng Panginoon. Ano ang pangalan ng Panginoon? “…Pangalan ng Ama, ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo” (Mt. 28:19).



Alin sa mga religion ang may PagtaTATAK habang SUMASAMBITLA ng Panginoon? Mga Katoliko ang kinatuparan ng binabanggit ni Apostol Pablo sa pamamagitan ng PAGTATAK NG KRUS habang inuusal ang pangalan ng Ama, ng Anak, at ng Espiritu Santo. Tanong: Ito ba ay ginawa din ni Apostol Pablo? Aba’y natural sapagkat hindi niya iaaral kung hindi niya mismo nagawa. Patunay yan, ayun sa Biblia, na si Apostol Pablo ay nagtatak ng krus. Ito ay iniaral niya kay Timoteo na kaniyang alagad. Tayo ang nagpapatuloy nito. Ano ang ikatitiyak natin? Walang ibang reliyon ang nagtatatak at sumasambit sa pangalang ng Panginoon. Kaya ayun na rin sa talata, dito makikilala ng Dios ang mga kanya. Dito rin nakikilala ang mga Katoliko.



May tatak pala sa Biblia at yun ay ang tatak ng Pangalan ng Ama, Anak at Espiritu Santo. Ang pag-aantanda ng krus ay isang palatandaan na pingmamalaki natin ang ginawa ng Panginoong Jesus sa atin 2000 taon nang nakaraan. Dito po sa Galacia 6 sa talatang 14, ganito ang ating mababasa:



Galacia 6:14 (Ang Dating Biblia), "Datapuwa't malayo nawa sa akin ang pagmamapuri, maliban na sa krus ng ating Panginoong Jesucristo, na sa pamamagitan niyao'y ang sanglibutan ay napako sa krus sa ganang akin, at ako'y sa sanglibutan"



Pinagmamalaki ni Pablo ang krus ni Kristo sa talatang yan. Ito ay isang tanda ng tunay na Kristyano at kapangyarihan ng Diyos ayon po sa sinabi ng talata:



1 Corinto 1:18 (Ang Dating Biblia), "Sapagka't ang salita ng krus ay kamangmangan sa kanila na nangapapahamak; nguni't ito'y kapangyarihan ng Dios sa atin na nangaliligtas"





Kaya, yan ang tanda na pinagmamalaki ang krus na pinagpakuan ni Cristo. Bakit nag-aantanda ang Katoliko sa kamay at noo? Ito ay patunay ng lingkod ng Diyos. Dito po sa Deuteronomip 6 sa talatang 8, ganitp ang ating mababasa:



Deuteronomio 6:8 (Ang Dating Biblia), "At iyong itatali na pinakatanda sa iyong kamay at mga magiging pinakatali sa iyong noo"



Anong tanda yon? Tanda ng krus ni Kristo at ang Pangalan ng Panginoon. Anong pangalan ng Panginoon? Basahin natin dito po sa Mateo 28 sa talatang 19:



Mateo 28:19 (Ang Dating Biblia), "Dahil dito magsiyaon nga kayo, at gawin ninyong mga alagad ang lahat ng mga bansa, na sila'y inyong bautismuhan sa pangalan ng Ama at ng Anak at ng Espiritu Santo"



Ang tatak na ito, ang tatak ng krus ay galing sa Diyos. Ganito po ang katunayan:



Ezekiel 9:3-6 (Ang Banal na Biblia=Abriol), ‘Ang kaluwalhatian ng Diyos ng Israel ay tumaas sa mga KERUBIN na dating kinaroroonan patungo sa pintuan ng templo at tinawag ang taong nakasuot ng lino at sa kanyang tagiliran ay may hawak na sisidlan ng panulat. Sinabi sa kanya ng Panginoon, lumibot ka sa lunsod, lumibot ka sa Jerusalem at TATAKAN NG KRUS ang mga noon ng mga taong humihibik at umiiyak dala ng lahat ng kasuklam-suklam na bagay na ginagawa sa loob ng lunsod…Patayin ninyo ang matanda, binata, dalaga, bata at babae hanggang sa malipol ang lahat, subalit HUWAG NINYONG GALAWIN ANG SINO MANG MAY TATAK NA KRUS.’



May tatak na krus daw! Galing ito sa Panginoong Diyos at patunay na pinagmamalaki namin ang krus ni Cristo. Sino ang gumagawa nito? Mga Catolico! Ito ang sabi sa Pasyong Mahal:



"Ngunit ang krus ni Kristo, na isinakop sa tao na siyag malapit kono, nakagaling na totoo sa naghihingalong tao" (Pasyong Mahal ph. 203)

Why I love religion and Jesus as well: Countering, "WHY I HATE RELIGION BUT LOVE JESUS"

"Why I hate religion, but love Jesus"

I have watched this link entitled, "WHY I HATE RELIGION BUT LOVE JESUS" and I found out some loopholes in his statement. Here are some of the myths of anti-religion proponents:


MYTH # 1: Jesus came to abolish religion

If this person read his Bible well and let God do the explaining for him, he wouldn't have jumped to conclusions that Jesus came to abolish religion. He came to fulfill, not to abolish (Matthew 5:17). In fact, He raised the Ten Commandments to a higher standard and brought the Jewish festivals to fulfillment like the Passover pointing this out to the Holy Eucharist (Matthew 26:26-28). In fact, the word "religion" came from the Latin word, "religare" which means "to bind together". It sounds more like "relationship". Religion and relationship aren't contradictory, they are complementary. When a person enters a personal relationship to Jesus, he enters a religion as Scripture says:

John 6:56, "Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood lives in Me, and I in him"
John 15:4, "Remain united to Me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself. It can only do so if it remains in the vine. In the same way, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in Me"

Likewise, the Apostle St. Paul tells of a religion wherein Jesus is manifested in the flesh

1 Timothy 3:16, "No one can deny how great is the secret of OUR RELIGION. He appeared in human form and was shown to be right by the Spirit. He was seen by angels, was believed throughout the world and was taken up to heaven"

So, both Jesus and Paul are united in saying that a person enters a religion when he enters a relationship.


MYTH # 2: Religion promotes hypocrisy

Its not the fault of religion that there are people who are hypocrites. Just like in Catholicism, we cannot blame Catholicism itself for the pedophile priests and the Dark Ages. These are the result of Catholics who fail to practice what their Faith has taught them. Even during the time of Jesus, there were Apostles who were loyal to Him like John and some who betrayed Him like Judas Iscariot. Others ran away when Jesus was arrested and Peter denied Him three times. So, as Fr. Burns said, "To say that religion is to blamed for hypocrisy, its like staring at death and blaming the hearse"

MYTH # 3: Religion aims only to build big churches and pastors rich

Again, this is not the fault of religion. Religion is still intact in its virtues and teachings just like the Roman Catholic Church is intact in its virtues and teachings that contraceptives is itself evil and abortion is wrong. This is the fault of pastors aiming to become rich and "making the Word of God a cheap merchandise" (2 Corinthians 2:17) and "not serving Christ the Lord, but their own bellies" (Romans 16:18).

"Think not I came to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I came not to abolish, but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17)



So why I love Jesus and religion? First, its because 2000 years ago, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My Church and the fires of hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). And this Church is the true religion, the Roman Catholic Church, with its line of successors from Peter to Benedict XVI. I love religion because Jesus Himself established it and redeemed it through His own blood (Acts 20:28) and the night before His passion, He broke bread and said to His followers, "Take and eat, this is My body, take and drink for this is My blood. Do this in memory of Me" (Matthew 26:26-28). Through this eating of bread and drinking of the cup, it paved the way for a New Covenant which is fulfilled in Jesus' religion. When I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior and receive Him in Communion, I entered a religion which is His Church and when He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), His religion had only just begun.

Mary in the Bible (Mariology)

                                                           Mary as the Mother of God

First, I want to clear all the misconceptions of anti-Catholics, non-Catholics and also Catholics alike about the Lord's Mother. There are a lot of Biblical Typologies that can be pertained to Mary. Now, Typology is a symbol in the Old Testament that points to something greater in the New Testament.



1. Mary, the New Eve



First, let us look at the first Proto-Evangelion in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, here's what it says:



Genesis 3:15 (Good News Translation), "I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel"



Now, based on this passage, the Woman and the Serpent will fight and out of the Woman's offspring will sprout the One who will crush the Serpent's head. Now, in the wedding at Cana and at the Cross (John 2:1-11, John 19:26-27), Jesus called His Mother, "Woman". But why is that? Jesus was pointing it out to something greater, that she is the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, the Woman who will have enmity with the Serpent. Also, why did St. Ireneaus said, "death through Eve, life through Mary"? It is because when St. Paul said in Romans 5:19 that death came through one man (Adam), so did life came also through one Man (Jesus). also in 1 Corinthians 15:47, Paul compares Adam to Christ, Adam is from the earth and the the New Adam came from heaven. Now what am I trying to point out here? In the Bible, Eve and Mary are full of grace. One brought death by eating the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:6, the other brought life through the fruit of her womb, Jesus and through her obedience (Luke 1:38, 42). One listened to the voice of the Serpent, the other listened and obeyed the Lord through her fiat in Luke 1:38.

                              

   "I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring's heel" (Genesis 3:15)

2. Mary, the New Miriam

First, how does the Bible describe Miriam? She watches over Moses (Exodus 2:4) , she is a prophetess (Exodus 15:20-21), she spoke against Moses, the servant of the LORD and was eventually punished for it (Numbers 12:9-16).

But how does this point out to Mary? Mary watches over her Son as the Holy Family fled to Egypt to escape Herod's wrath (Matthew 2:15), she was the Mother of the Lord (Luke 1:43), who is God Himself and also she honored Jesus who prefigured Moses (John 2:4-5).

Mary kept Jesus from harm as Miriam did Moses in the banks of the Nile

3. Mary, the New Ark of the Covenant

First, what does the Ark contain? The Ark contains the Ten Commandments in Exodus 40:3, the Ark is so holy that only few could ever dare touch it in Numbers 4:5-6 and in 2 Samuel 6:7-9. Now what is this got to do with Mary?

First, God is so holy that He cannot tolerate sin in Habakkuk 1:13, Mary had to be sinless in order to bear the Holy Son of God since it is impossible that Jesus Christ and Satan to coincide in 2 Corinthians 6:15. Why is Mary called "The Ark of the Covenant"? Simply because just as the Ark contained the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Mary carried in her womb the One who came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). David was filled with awe at the old Ark in 2 Samuel 6:9, Elizabeth was filled with awe in Luke 1:43 at the New Ark.

The Old Ark carried the Ten Commandments. Mary, the New Ark carried the One who came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them

      "But I love only one and she is as lovely as a dove. All women praise her. Queens and concubines sing her praises" (Song of Solomon 6:9)



4. Mary the New Queen Mother (Gebirah)



Our Protestant friends out there for sure will use Jeremiah 7:17-18, "Do you not see what they are doing in the streets of Judah and in the cities of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the men build fires, and the women are baking cakes for the goddess whom they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out sacrifices to other gods and provoke Me to anger"



But if we will consider its timeline, the Queen of Heaven that Jeremiah is referring to there is Astarte, the Canaanite goddess. They will argue, "But Queen of Heaven is a pagan title", my response to that is, yes it is, but so does, "king of kings", "lord of lords", "god", "lord", "son of god". Why use the arguments that Jews and atheists use against Jesus to malign Mary?





Now let's get to the issue, why was Mary called the Queen Mother? Let's look at the Bible from a Davidic kingdom perspective. Queen mothers are usually the mother of kings right? And the kings on the other hand, honor these queen mothers in 1 Kings 2:19. The reason why Mary is called the queen mother is that Jesus, her Son is King. Here's what the Scripture says about the queen mother:



Psalm 45:9 (Good News Translation), "Among the women of your court are daughters of kings and at your right hand sits the queen, wearing ornaments of finest gold"



Based on this passage, the queen wearing ornaments of gold sits next to this King whom the Scripture declares as "God" (Psalm 45:6-7). The role of Mary being the queen mother is found in John 2:4-5, wherein Mary intercedes to Jesus for the guests in Cana. Jesus, though His hour had not yet come, didn't refuse His own Mother and that is beautifully illustrated in 1 Kings 2:19-20, wherein Bathsheba intercedes to Solomon on Adonijah's behalf. If a feeble king like Solomon could not refuse his mother, how much more the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords whose Name is Jesus Christ? He cannot do so as well and He is greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42).



The bottomline is this: We call Mary Queen of Heaven not in a sense that we elevate her to a level of Deity, but because her Son is King, that's only the point. Martin Luther said in his sermon that Mary is a Queen of Heaven yet it doesn't make her a goddess.

5. Mary the Mother of God



Protestants for sure will be horrified at this when they hear that Mary is the Mother of God. They will say, "She is the Mother of the human Jesus only, but not the Mother of the whole Person of Jesus". Protestants should know that mothers bear persons and not just natures. I'll cite an example:



The name of John Mark's mother in Acts 12:12 is Mary right? Do we think people will say, "This is Mary, the mother of the body of John Mark"? No! They will say, "This is Mary, the mother of John Mark". The same applies to Mary's Divine Motherhood. We say Mary as the Mother of God, not in a sense that she came before Jesus Christ, but because through her obedience in Luke 1:38, Jesus, the Word who was with God and is God took flesh in her womb (John 1:1, 14). That is why Elizabeth said, "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43). If Mary is the Mother of the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus is God, therefore, Mary is the Mother of God. Mary is not the Mother of the human Jesus only, but also of the whole Jesus, His human and divine nature.

                        "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43)

6. Mary the mirror of Justice


Why is Mary called the mirror of Justice? Look at a mirror, just as it reflects light from the sun, so does Mary. She reflects light from the Sun of Justice with healing in its wings who is none other than the Lord Jesus in Malachi 4:2. Mary is the mirror of Justice, Jesus Christ is the Sun of Justice. No wonder why she is called also, "THE DISPENSER OF GRACES" based on this title.



PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT THE LITANY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY CONFIRMS THE RELATIONSHIP THAT MARY HAS WITH HER SON JESUS CHRIST. GOD BLESS AND AVE MARIA!

The Bible proves beyond doubt: JESUS IS GOD

                                                               The Lord Jesus Christ


JESUS CLAIMED TO BE GOD:
John 8:24, "If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins"
John 8:28, "When you lift up the Son of Man, you will know that I AM"

John 8:58, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM"
John 10:28, "I give them eternal life and they shall never die. No one can snatch them from Me"
John 10:30, "I and My Father are one"
John 14:9, "He who sees Me sees the Father"
John 17:1, "Father! The hour has come! Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You"
John 17:5, "And now Father! Glorify Me in your presence with the same glory I had with You before the world began"

The High Priest Caiaphas and the Jewish nation

THE JEWS' REACTION:

John 5:18, "For this reason, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, not only for breaking the Sabbath, but also for calling God His Father, making Himself equal with God"

John 10:33, "The Jews said to Him, 'We do not stone You for any good work, but for blasphemy because YOU, A MERE MAN, MAKE YOURSELF GOD!'"

John 19:7, "The Jews said, 'We have a law and according to that law, He must die, for He claims to be the SON OF GOD!'"

The transfiguration of Jesus Christ

THE APOSTLES DECLARED JESUS IS GOD:

THE APOSTLES DECLARED JESUS IS GOD:

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God"

John 1:18, "No one has seen God (The Father) at any time. The only begotten GOD, who is in the bosom of the Father hath declared Him"
John 20:28, "Thomas said, 'My Lord and my God!'"
Acts 20:28, "Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood"
Romans 9:5, "They are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors and Christ, a human being belongs to their race who is the blessed God forever! Amen!"
Philippians 2:6, "Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not think that He should be equal with God"
Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily"
1 Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, was seen by angels, was preached throughout the world and ascended into heaven"
Titus 2:13, "As we await the blessed Day we hoped for, when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ will appear"
2 Peter 1:1, "From Simon Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. To those, who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ was given a faith as precious as ours"
1 John 5:20, "We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding , so that we may know the true God. We live in union with the true God- with His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life"

THE FATHER DECLARED JESUS IS GOD:

Hebrews 1:8, "But to the Son, the Father said, 'Your throne O God is forever and ever! You rule over Your people with justice!'"

Jesus Christ, the King of all nations!!!!

The Papacy in Scripture

                                          The Lord Jesus giving the keys to the Apostle St. Peter

Many people, particularly our Protestant friends are still having a difficulty regarding the Papacy and who is the rock that Jesus is referring to in Matthew 16:18. Let us read the entire passage of Matthew 16, starting from v.13 up to v.19. Here are as follows:

Matthew 16:13-19,"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him,“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

At first, I didn't believe in the Papacy when I was making a decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church since my mindset is that the Roman Church is the Whore of Babylon in Revelation 17, but now, I've noticed something. And this is, when Jesus took His disciples to the territory of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His followers this to paraphrase it, "Who am I according to you?", then His followers based their answers from the people who followed Him. But when Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God", Jesus gave Peter three things:

1. The name "Peter" which means "rock"

2. That upon him, the Church will be built

3. The power of the keys

Now they will object saying, Jesus wasn't referring to Peter being the rock, He was referring to Himself. My answer will be, in the Old Testament, the people of Israel looks to Abraham being the rock, the quarry on which they are carved in Isaiah 51:1-2. But how come this is the case when in fact, Psalm 18:2 says that the LORD is a Rock? It only proves that the LORD shares His dignity with whomsoever He wishes like what He did to Abraham. The LORD is a Rock in other verses, but here, He shares His dignity with Abraham. That is proof also that this Scripture is true, "For the LORD is a great and glorious King, favor and glory are what He gives. He will not refuse any good deed to those who do right" (Psalm 84:11). The same applies with Jesus Christ, Jesus is shown to be the True Rock in 1 Corinthians 3:11, but He shares His dignity with Peter in Matthew 16:18. And also, Protestants will argue, but in Greek, the word that is used for Peter is "Petros" and "Petra" which means "small stone". My reply to that is, its not just small stone, but it also means "rock". And also, take note that the rock is a neuter, neither masculine nor feminine. And those are synonymous to each other in the 1st century Greek. Also, we have to go from the Greek to the Aramaic, the language which Jesus our Lord spoke. When we transliterate Matthew 16:18 to Aramaic, here's what it says:

Matthew 16:18, "You are Cephas and upon this Cephas, I will build My Church and the fires of Hell shall not prevail against it"

Remember, Greek and Aramaic have different grammatical structures. Greek is the lingua franca (universal language) in the Mediterranean. The Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Aramaic. Unfortunately, the Aramaic language was lost so all we have is the Greek. The proof that there's still Aramaic in the Gospel of Matthew is found in Matthew 27:46, when Jesus cried out, "Eli, Eli, lema Sabachtani?" (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?). Now let's get to the "power of the keys". In Matthew 16:19, we read, "And to you I give the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loosed on earth will be loosed in Heaven". Now, this verse reminds me of an ancient prophecy in Isaiah 22:20-22 and we read:

Isaiah 22:20-22, "And, when that day comes, I shall summon my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I shall dress him in your tunic, I shall put your sash round his waist, I shall invest him with your authority; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. I shall place the key of David's palace on his shoulder; when he opens, no one will close, when he closes, no one will open"

Here, the Almighty Father replaces Shebna with Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. He will have the keys of office, now, this key of office means authority to execute the king's command. The Father makes Eliakim a Prime Minister of Hezekiah's kingdom with the keys of office symbolizing authority. Now in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, the New Hezekiah gives to Peter, the New Eliakim the keys of office. This key that Peter will have will give him authority to carry out Jesus' command after His ascension to Heaven. In fact, during the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith won't fail and when he has turned, he must strengthen the brethren in Luke 22:32. Unfortunately, Peter denied Him three times, but eventually, repented and the Lord gave him a task to shepherd His Church and guide it in John 21:17. The proof that Peter has these keys of office symbolizing authority is this:

1. Peter is the one who led the Apostles during the election of a twelfth apostle who will replace Judas Iscariot, that is, Matthias (Acts 1:16-22)

2. Peter was the first to speak on behalf of the Apostles when the people said they were drunk (Acts 2:14-39)

3. Peter spoke to the Sanhedrin about the risen Christ (Acts 4:1-12)

4. He exercised his power to "bind and loose" when he said to Ananias and Sapphira that they were lying to God, which caused their death. He also rebuked Simon Magus for attempting a spiritual gift (cf. Acts 5:1-11, 8:18-24)

5. Peter was the one who stopped the debate between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians about the Law of Moses being imposed on the Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:7-11). Now Protestants will tell me, but it was James who stopped the debate and settled the issue. My answer to that is James was second the motion to Peter's decision. He affirmed it. Papal infallibility is different from impeccability. Impeccability means the Pope cannot sin, which is impossible. When Catholics say the Pope is infallible, it means that in terms of faith and morals, he is the final word as Peter was during Christ's absence. If Christ rendered Peter infallible (not impeccable) in terms of oral and written teachings like 1 and 2 Peter, why can't He render also his successors as such since He can forsee the anarchy that would come if He didn't?

 Even until today, the Popes carried this role of Peter. God bless the Roman Catholic Church!! This is the proof of Christ's Divinity! The unbroken line of successors! From St. Peter to Pope Benedict XVI!!!

The reliability of the Holy Scriptures

                                                       St. Timothy studying the Scriptures

Many people, including the atheists are having a hard time reading the Holy Scriptures. Some, if not all, are saying, "The Bible is just a myth, a fairy tale". But let me tell you three things that you should know about the Holy Scriptures:

1. Sacred Scripture is supported by history

The Scriptures appeal to some sources outside of Scripture. Let us read from a passage in the Scripture, in the book of 2 Kings, here's what it says:

2 Kings 20:20 (New International Version), "As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?"

Here, the other records of Hezekiah's life were written in a source outside of Scripture, that is, the history of the kings of Judah. The Scriptures can and will be trusted. About Jesus, there were lots of historical evidences that show He really existed. One source that we can find reliable is the Jewish Antiquities written by 1st century historian, Flavius Josephus. Here's what it says:

"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day (Tesitmonium Flavianum, Jewish Antiquities by Josephus Book 18, Chapter 3, 3)

Josephus was a Pharisee, he wasn't a Christian, but he didn't deny the existence of Jesus. He called Jesus, "a wise Man, if it were necessary to call Him a Man" because he had heard how this Man from Nazareth performs lots of signs to prove He was who He said He was. The Gospels declare how Jesus was crucified by Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor at that time and Josephus writes it in his historical records. Another source that we can find on the historicity of Jesus was Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian. Here's his testimony:

"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind" (Cornelius Tacitus)

Tacitus at that time, was spectating the Christians being fed to the lions, burned to death and killed during the time of Nero. In his Annals, Tacitus confirms the testimony of some historians about "Chrestus" or Jesus. Because this is not the first time that Chrestus is mentioned, Suetonius, another Roman historian, writes this, "Since the Jews were constantly causing disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome" (Claudius 25:4). This was recorded in the book of Acts 18:2. Claudius expels the Jews from Rome for starting an issue regarding Chrestus (Jesus). There are so many evidences from history regarding the events in the Bible. Take for another example the death of John the Baptist. Josephus writes this:

"Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man... Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion... Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death"

Now, in the 2 Gospels of Matthew and Mark, we can see how Herod killed John to please the wicked Herodias. This is another event in the Bible that proves the Bible is indeed true. In the end, Herod Antipas, the one who slew John was defeated by King Aretas IV of Nabatea in 36 A.D. These are not make up stories, these are stories of real people, the words of the Scriptures.

2. There are already prophecies that are fulfilled in the Scripture

There are so many prophecies in the Scriptures that are fulfilled already like the Virgin Birth. Hundreds of years before Christ, Isaiah makes a prophecy, "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and give birth to a Son. His Name will be called Emmanuel" (Isaiah 7:14), which was fulfilled through Mary's fiat to the angel, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Jesus was indeed born of a Virgin in Bethlehem. Another is that of the sufferings that the Messiah will have to endure for our sake (Isaiah 53). He will be rejected by His own people which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Though He was in the world, people rejected His claims and do not want Him. They killed Him on the Cross but three days later, He came to life again in fulfillment of Psalm 16:10. Another prophecy is founded on Daniel 2:22-45. God establishes a Kingdom and crushes pagan Babylon, Greece, Rome. This was fulfilled in Matthew 16:18, when Jesus established His Church on Peter which is the rock and defeats these pagan nations through the power of the Gospel. This Kingdom will last forever but will be made perfect once the Antichrist is defeated.

There are more prophecies that will be fulfilled like the Matthew 24 Olivet Discourse. Jesus tells His Apostles that there will be wars, famines, and earthquakes and this is what we are seeing right now. Also, Jesus predicted the rise of false messiahs and false prophets and false messengers. These are also people who teach strange doctrines and will deny the Master who redeem them in 2 Peter 2:1. Also, Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 about the ANTICHRIST who is the son of perdition who exalts himself as God. This man will not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ in 1 John 2:22.

3. The Scriptures change lives

The Scriptures are written under the inspiration of God and profitable for correction, for reproof, for doctrine and instruction in righteousness in 2 Timothy 3:16. The Scriptures are the ones that points us to the Truth as the Scripture says, "Dedicate them to Yourself by means of the truth, Your Word is Truth" (John 17:17). It gives us strength in time of need in Psalm 130:5. If we place God's Word in our hearts, we won't end up sinning against the LORD in Psalm 119:11. The Word of God can be trusted and can be used against Satan as Jesus Himself did in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11. Isn't it wonderful for us when we take some time to read it? But we need to read it also in the heart of the Church since the Church according to Paul is the Pillar and Ground of the Truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 and the Church is not an invisible church that teaches diverse doctrines, but a Church that serves one Lord, teaches one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all in Ephesians 4:5-6. Scriptures should be interpreted in the light of the Church since the Bible didn;t came by accident, it was determined at the Council of Carthage in 493 A.D. and here's the basis:

"The Council of Carthage, called the third by Denzinger,[4] on 28 August 397 issued a canon of the Bible quoted as, "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, 4 books of Kingdoms, 2 books of Chronicles, Job, the Davidic Psalter, 5 books of Solomon, 12 books of Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobias, Judith, Esther, 2 books of Ezra,[5] 2 books of Maccabees, and in the New Testament: 4 books of Gospels, 1 book of Acts of the Apostles, 13 letters of the Apostle Paul, 1 letter of his to the Hebrews, 2 of Peter, 3 of John, 1 of James, 1 of Jude, and one book of the Apocalypse of John.[6]" (Source: Wikipedia)

So, read the Scriptures and listen to the Church which gave you that. God bless and I do hope through this premise, you are blessed by the Lord to read the Scriptures!!

Ang ugali ng isang Catholic Faith Defender

                                                 Si Jesus na nakikipag-usap sa mga Pariseo

Marami, kung hindi lahat ay nakakaalam kung ano ba ang layunin ng apolohetika. Marahil, may iba na pumapasok dito dahil gusto lang nilang mang-asar. Ang iba naman ay para makipag-away sa ibang relihion. Ano ba ang layunin ng apolohetika? Upang itaguyod at ipagtanggol ang turo ng Iglesia Katolika Apostolika Romana sa mga taong nambabatikos sa aral na ito. Nanggaling ito sa salitang Griego na "apologia" o "pagtatanggol". Ano ba ang ugali dapat ng isang taong apolohetika o Catholic Faith Defender?

1. Dapat lagi siyang handa

1 Pedro 3:15, "Kundi inyong ariing banal si Cristo na Panginoon sa inyong mga puso: na lagi kayong handa ng pagsagot sa bawa't tao na humihingi sa inyo ng katuwiran tungkol sa pagasang nasa inyo, nguni't sa kaamuan at takot"

Kita ninyo? Kailangan laging handa ang isang apolohetika sa kung ano ang kanyang isasagot. Pano siya nagiging handa? Basahin natin ang Ecclesiastes 7:24, ganito po ang ating mababasa:

Ecclesiastes 7:24, "Ako'y pumihit at inilagak ang aking puso na umalam, at sumiyasat, at humanap ng karunungan, at ng kadahilanan ng mga bagay, at umalam na ang kasamaan ay kamangmangan, at ang kamangmangan ay kaululan:"

Naghahanap dapat siya ng karunungan sa pamamagitan ng pagsusunog ng kilay. 

2. Nagkakaroon siya ng pasensya at kaamuan

Kawikaan 25:15, "Sa pamamagitan ng pagpipigil ng loob ay napahihikayat ang pangulo, at ang malumanay na dila ay bumabasag ng buto."

Kailangan nagiging mapasensya tayo dahil hindi lahat ng makikinig sa atin ay mapapanalo natin sa isang idlap lang. Kailangan din natin siyang idasal sa Panginoon nang sa gayon ay mahihikayat ang mga taong nakikinig sa atin.

3. Nagiging mapagpakumbaba

Kawikaan 16:18, "Ang kapalaluan ay nagpapauna sa kapahamakan, at ang mapagmataas na diwa ay sa pagkabuwal."

Kapag tayo ay nagiging mayabang, ito ang tutulak sa atin patungong kapahamakan. Wag nating iisipin na dahil sa atin ay napapanalo ang taong may duda sa pananampalatayang Katoliko. May kasabihan na, "WIN AN ARGUMENT, LOSE A CONVERT". Hindi komo nanalo na tayo sa debate sa ibang relihion e marami na tayong napapanalo rin. May mga tao rin na kahit anong debate ang gawin natin, nagmamatigas pa rin. Wag sana ito maging paraan para tayo ay magmataas. Tularan natin si Jesus na kahit nananalo sa debate sa mga Pariseo, hindi Niya ginawang magyabang. Maging mababa tayo nang sa gayon ay nagiging asin at ilaw tayo sa mga nanlalamig nating kapatid sa pananampalataya (Mateo 5:13-16), lalo't idineklara na ng Santo Papa, Benedicto XVI ang "PORTA FIDEI" o "TAON NG PANANAMPALATAYA" (Year of Faith) sa taong ito. 

Purihin ang Pangalan ni Jesus ngayon at magpakailanman! Sa Kanya ang kaluwalhatian!!!