Debunking the Iglesia ni Cristo's arguments on the Great Apostasy and John 10:16

"I give them eternal life and they will not die. Neither any man can pluck them out of My hand" (John 10:28)

I have read in Fr. Abe's group entitled, "The Splendor of the Church Ring of Fire" a quote from the PASUGO (God's Message in English), a 1997 edition on the Church that Jesus established. Here are some of their quotes which I will scrutinize with the Bible and history itself if it substantiate their claim. Note that my comments will be in black while the PASUGO will be in red:

Christ’s pronouncement in John 10:16 states that He has other sheep “which are not of this fold.” Whom He must also bring and who shall hear His voice, that there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The Easy-to-Read New Testament (Life Publishers International, 1978) renders the last portion of that verse: “In the future there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (Italics ours). Certainly, this pronouncement is a prophecy about a future event.

My reply to that will be this, when Jesus walked the earth, there are Jews who believe in Him. Yes, it will be a future event, but it refers to the Gentiles who will one day embrace the Gospel through the message that the Apostles preach so that they will be part of the Church which is the fold in John 10:16. And that One Shepherd is none other than Jesus Christ Himself basing it on John 10:11, "I am the Good Shepherd who is willing to die for the sheep". The Church Fathers also affirmed that it is Gentiles to whom the message of salvation is being sent when Jews who rejected Christ rejected the Gospel as well. St. Paul describes this to the Gentiles who are "the other sheep" in Ephesians 2:11-13,  "For which cause be mindful that you, being heretofore Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands;  That you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the conversation of Israel, and strangers to the testament, having no hope of the promise, and without God in this world. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who some time were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ". Also, the Iglesia ni Cristo stated this, But Christ said He has other sheep (cf. Jn. 10:16 ) and was referring to the same group of people foretold by the apostles in Acts 2:39 as partakers also of the promise of God – “and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This prophecy was fulfilled when the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo) reemerged in the Philippines in 1914. But if we examine this verse, prior to the emergence of Mr. Manalo's sect, Peter's sermon in Acts 2:39 is already being fulfilled when Jews and Gentiles embrace the Gospel and on that first Pentecost day, 3000 Jews are converted in Acts 2:41.

Peter preaching at Pentecost

                                                          Paul preaching on Mars' hill

However, after the death of the apostles, many members of that Church were led astray by false teachers and the rest were killed. The Church suffered the same fate met by ancient Israel . Just as those former people of God were brought captive in Babylon , the Church became a captive to the “new” Babylon , which was the Roman Church. That is why in the prophecies in which both the emancipation of God’s people from the Roman Church and the reemergence of the Iglesia ni Cristo, the new Israel, in these last days are foretold, images of the former people of God being set free from Babylon were used

The Church didn't suffer the same fate met by Israel. In fact, our Lord promised that He will be with His Church till the end of time (Matthew 28:20). If the Church apostatized, it would mean our Lord is lying when He said, "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). The Early Church Fathers after the Apostles defended the orthodoxy of Christian doctrines like the divinity of Jesus Christ, which is denied by the Iglesia ni Cristo since for them, Jesus is only a human being with flesh and bones and is not one with the Father in terms of divinity. Shortly after Constantine became emperor and imposed the edict of Milan in 313 A.D., the Church are free to worship Christ in public. After Constantine's death, Theodosius became emperor and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire. The Church demolished all pagan places of worship, especially the statue of the Roman emperor in the, "Imperial Cult" in fulfillment of this passage:

Deuteronomy 7:5-6 (NIV), "This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."

2 Chronicles 34:4-5 (NIV), "Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles, the idols and the images. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem."

"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)

                                                Christianity won against the idols of paganism


The Church also compiled the Holy Scriptures and determined which books should belong to the Canon under the direction of Pope Damasus I. If Iglesia ni Cristo are studying Church history, they should realize that there are Gnostic Gospels that claim to be inspired like the Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Shepherd of Hermas, Gospel of Peter and the like. I have questions for the Iglesia ni Cristo:

1. How did you know that the four Gospels are indeed authentic?
2. Is there already a table of contents as to the books of the Bible?
3. After the death of the last Apostle (John), were the New Testament books already compiled during the first three centuries of early Christianity? From the Gospels to the Pauline Epistles? (NOTE: In the history of the Church, some Christians doubt the authenticity of the books of Revelation and Hebrews)
4. In the Old Testament, what Canon are you following, the Canon of the Pharisees (Palestinian Canon) or the Canon of Christians (Palestinian and Alexandrian Canon) which includes the Septuagint?
5. If you think that the Deuterocanonical books was only added during the Council of Trent, how come prior to the Reformation, it is already in the Canon to begin with?
6. If you follow the pattern of Jamnia which rejected the Deuterocanonicals, why do you still accept the New Testament?

Job 8:8 (Douay Rheims), "For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers:"

Ecclesiastes 7:25 (Douay Rheims), "I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent:"
Its not just knowledge of the Scriptures that counts, its also historical knowledge. Be mindful of that, Iglesia ni Cristo.

The BIG QUESTION: Did the Manalo family even helped Pope Damasus I in determining which books belong to the Sacred Scriptures if his church claimed the church apostatized?