If There is No Infallible Teacher, What Good is an Infallible Bible?


The NT never claims infallibly for itself or its Table of Contents. Without an authoritative Church and without the Infallible Interpreter we don’t even have an infallible book.

STAN WILLIAMS WROTE:

I have this progression written:
· Fallible men wrote the infallible Scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit;

· Fallible men also infallibly selected which writings were to be included in the Bible, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit;

· Fallible men, again, through the Holy Spirit, infallibly interpret the Scriptures,

· Fallible men, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit bind and loose things on earth; and

· Fallible men, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, forgive and retain sin.

Interesting that Protestants claim the first bullet point but sidestep the rest, as if (Mary Kochan just wrote), as if the H.S. spoke on his own and not through men.

AL KRESTA RESPONDED:

I think the Protestant scholar would say that the New Testament is infallible and is an objective source of knowledge about God. Our interpretations of it, like our interpretations of nature, can be exploratory, not final, provisional. We study God’s word and God’s world. With both, our studies never exhaust the object of our study and our study is always provisional.

The problem then becomes do I need to know infallible truth to be saved? If so, where do I find it if your interpretation of the proposed infallible NT is provisional, exploratory and subject to revision?

I think they would then respond that on the important matters like salvation we know enough to be saved.
My response would be, fine. Is that an infallible knowledge of salvation or a provisional knowledge of salvation?

If his response is an infallible knowledge of salvation I would say that he has contradicted himself because he said his interpretations are always provisional and subject to revision. So why should I take his interpretation of salvation to be infallible when other Protestant scholars require different interpretations of salvation. The Churches of Christ require baptism, Quakers have no sacraments, Liberal Protestants are often universalists and require nothing more than recognizing that you are already saved. Wesleyan scholars seem to expect a second work of grace to precede salvation (I am uncertain about this last one).

If his response is that we don’t need infallible knowledge to be saved, I would say, “Then why are you insisting that the NT is infallible. It seems pointless given that you have no infallible interpretation of it. So we are back to where we started.”

The Far East Doctrine of Mr. Felix Y. Manalo





Felix Manalo, founder of the Iglesia Ni Cristo Church in the Philippines, did not have a witness outside of himself that he was a prophet of God to restore the primitive Church, which he claimed had apostated. So, he turned to the Bible to find scriptures he could interpret that would authenticate him as this prophet and authorize him to be the founder of a new religion. He found two text that fit his need and these he manipulated into a Manalo-Christology or a Manalo-Messiasology. Sometime between 1914 and 1941 and a final court decision where the conduct of Manalo was legally established, he claimed to be the Messias and used this identity to coerce girls and women into sexual relationships. He told these females he was like Solomon and could have many wives and concubines. According the ruling of the Court, Manalo used his office as head of the Iglesia Ni Cristo and as a Messias to seduce and persuade these females into fornication and adultery. He already had a large following at that time who believed his claim that he was chosen by God to restore and set up the primitive Christian Church.

Here is a scripture text he used to bear witness that INC is the true Church of Christ and contains his ordination as the endtime servant of God:

Isaiah 43:5-6: "Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, 'Give up,' and the south, 'Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth.'

What is meant by "from the east"?

According to Manalo and the INC central administration, the word "east" here is from the Hebrew "mizrach" (Strongs 4217)--sunrise, and they interpret this to mean the far east, the Philippine Islands.

So, according to Manalo, he was to bring the offspring from the far east, the Philippines. Bring them where, to what location? Manalo never really interpreted this as the Philippines or we would look even further east for the land to bring them from to where the Philippines are located. Going east there is no land until you reach AMERICA! But it is claimed this prophecy was Manalo bringing souls into his Iglesia Ni Cristo church out of the 7,100 islands of the Philippines. Manalo is nothing but a Filipino false cristo.

Does Isaiah 43:5-6 apply to Felix Manalo? No! It applies to Israel the nation, the people of Isaiah to whom he was prophesying!

What is the context of Isaiah 43? The Filipino people or Israel? It is Israel!
Isa 43:1--But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isa 43:2--When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Isa 43:3--For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isa 43:4--Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Isa 43:5--Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Isa 43:6--I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Isa 43:7--Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Felix Manalo and INC central administration are thieves! They are Bible theives. They have stolen a promise from the Israelites and applied it unto themselves. As much as God loves the Filipino people and the Philippine nation, they are not ISRAEL! They are not called by his name! They are not JACOB! They did not exist when Isaiah prophesied this to his people.

It is a deception and a lie for Manalo, the INC, and INC members to apply this text to the constituents of the Iglesia Ni Cristo denomination. If anyone believes this claim from Manalo, the central administration, and or INC ministers, THEN THEY HAVE BELIEVED A LIE! If such individuals cannot discern this lie as simple as it is to refute, how would it be possible to deliver them from the greatest of their deceptions, that being Jesus is not God just a man? A man who needs salvation himself.

Manalo claimed Jesus was no more God then he was. Manalo needed salvation, therefore we conclude in Manalo's private revelation Jesus needed salvation also. Do not make yourself equal to Jesus as a man unless you want applied to Jesus all that is applied to the rest of male humanity!

The ravenous bird claim:

Isa.46:11: "Calling a ravenous bird from the east. A man who executes my counsel from a far country."

Isa. 46:3--Hearlem unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
Isa. 46:4--And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Isa.46:5--To whom will ye like me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
Isa. 46:6--They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
Isa. 46:7--They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, not save him out of his trouble.
Isa. 46:8--Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.
Isa. 46:9--Remember that the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa. 46:10--Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isa. 46:11--Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man what executeth my counsel from a far county: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

Manalo, the INC central administration, and the members of INC are theives! This text belongs to the nation and people of Israel and has no application to the Philippines or the Filipino people!

What is meant by "ravenous bird?"

God was accusing the Israelites of idolatry. He was rebuking them for making idols of gold and silver and worshipping them. He calls them transgressors. He tells them to remember the ancient days and his miracles. He asserts his Divinity and Sovereign Oneness. He tells them his counsel, his judgments, his word will stand and come to pass according to his own purpose. He then tells them he will bring a ravenous bird, a man from the east who will execute his counsel. What was this counsel? It was judgment. What is a ravenous bird identity to be fulfilled in the person of a man?

First it is a raven, a black bird by outward description (Filipinos are not a black people); a bird of prey, a bird that eats the flesh of dead animals, it is a vulture kind of bird, omnivorous, meaning they will eat anything which is edible. Their usual diet contains insects, seeds, berries, carrion (the bodies of animals killed by creatures other than the raven).

It is claimed the favorite food of ravens is human bodies where they go first for the eyes (like eating grapes).

Ravens are considered mischevious and theives, stealing when your head is turned or swooping down when you least expect it, snatching and flying away with squawks of victory.

They are an unclean bird, one that was forbidden the Israelites to eat. The very carcass of this bird was not to be found on the property of Israelites. It was just as much an abomination as the swine (and dinuguan) and is found in the same chapter on unclean animals (see Leviticus 11:13-20; "shall be an abomination unto you").

Noah sent out a dove and a raven from the ark. The dove returned the raven had plenty to eat of dead carcases and did not return.

It was the ravens who came and tried to steal and eat the sacrifice of Abraham in Genesis 15:11.

The word "fowl" in Genesis 15:11 is the Hebrew word "ayit" (Strongs #5861), the very same Hebrew word for RAVENOUS in the text Manalo claims identifies him.

Look at Ezekiel 39:4 where God says he will give the dead bodies of Gog unto the RAVENOUS birds.

There is only one purpose of God calling for a RAVENOUS bird from the east country to come into the land of Israel and that is to eat the dead bodies of the idolaterers among the Israelites.

Manalo applied this bird identity unto himself?

The central administration and members of INC apply this bird to their prophet and founder?


Is this not a good reason to suspicion that the entire deceived mass of the membership of INC are not in their right mind. They do not know or have not been taught to rightly divide (interpret) the Word of God?

Manalo claims he is the ravenous bird from the east, from the far east, from the Philippines. And he is the "man" to execute the counsel of God in the Philippines. This claim if it was not so serious would be funny!

Does Isaiah 46:11 apply to Felix Manalo? If it does, then he has identified the membership of the Iglesia Ni Cristo as dead people. Maybe God allowed Manalo to make this claim so those who did have their right mind would get up out from among dead people and come among the living who are in Christ's true body.

Any Filipino who falls for the perversion that Manalo is the RAVENOUS BIRD is seeking a religions delusion. Do not be so anti-Catholic you will accept a religion and a false prophet who has created a pirated Church of Christ in the Philippines..

Why believe lie on top of lies and remain in the captivity and mental prison of Manalo and the central administration?

Listen wonderful and peaceful Filipino people: GET OUT OF YOUR INC CHURCH AND DO NOT LOOK BACK.

GET OUT AND SAVE YOUR SOUL.

DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE MERCHANDISE AND YOUR CASH EXTORTED FROM YOU BY THREATS AND COERCION.

I HAVE SHOWN YOU THE TRUTH.

YOU HAVE BEEN DECEIVED INTO A CULT WHO USES SLICK DECEPTION AND MANIPULATION OF BIBLE SCRIPTURES.

REMOVE THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE, THE BLINDFOLD, THE EMBLEMS OF YOUR SLAVERY, AND SEEK GOD THROUGH THE REAL JESUS CRISTO.

YOU CAN BE FREE.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS, ...MORE SLAVERY OF MIND AND BODY

OR

FREEDOM OF SPIRIT AND SOUL?

THE CROSS IN THE GOSPEL AND IN THE KORAN

In chpter one of his first letter to the Corinthians, verses 22 to 24, Paul, the apostle, said: "For the Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom, but we prech Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and wisdom of God." If we consider the words of the apostles generally we see that the Gospel which they preached from the dawn of Christianity and which people recieved nd accpeted by which they were saved, was the joyful news which Paul summarized in these words in 1 Cor. 15:1-4. Even so, with the passing of some five hundred years after Paul nd the spreading of the Gospel in all the world, there were those who objected to this truth s to the saying to the Christians, "You are mistaken in your religion." Maybe these objectors took their ideas from heretics-Jews converted to Christianity, whose fathers were neighbours to those who believed tht Christ would (did) not die. We are very indebted to John, one of the writers of the Gospel, who mentions, this matter when he recorded for us the saying of the Pharisees in their dispute with Christ, in John 12:34 states: "We heared from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Mn must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?'" According to Iskander Jadeed in his book intitled "THE CROSS", page 10, that this heresy was widespread among the Christians of the rabian Peninsula, saying that Christ was able to transform from one image (form) to another, and when His enemies came to arrest Him He cast His likeness on to another man, who was crucified insted of Him, but Christ was lifted up to the One who sent Him, scorning His enemies.
Now my friend remember that the passage in the QURAN about the last dys of Christ is in greement with this story and opposed to the Jewish version. It says, Surat an Nisa 157-158, "Their saying, (that is the Jews) 'We slew the Messiah, Jesus the Son of Mry, Allah's Messenger', they slew Him not, nor crufified Him, but it appeared so unto them, and lo! Those who disagree concerning it, are in doubt therefore, they have no knowledge thereof, save pursuit of a conjecture, they slew Mhim not for certain, but llah took Him up to Himself."

Clearly we understand from the version of the heretics who clung to Christianity, that the Cross, in their estimtion, was not n historical event, or a doctrine of redemtion, but a symbol or a sign, as the str which guided the Magi to the cradle of the Child in Bethlehem, or as the apperance of dove in which the Holy Spirit appeared, coming to Christ at His bptism in Jordan. But the hevy cross on which Christ was hanged, which is the altr of redemtion, where the Lamp of God was sacrified to take away the sin of the world, was of no importance to them! They rejected the truth which Paul proclaimed to the nations in Galatians 3:13-14, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us;for it is written 'Cursed be everyone who hangs on tree, that Christ Jesus the blessing of Abrham might received the promise of the Spirit through faith'"

Can Faith Alone Save You?

Can Faith Alone Save You?

Many good people have been taught from childhood that they need only a strong faith in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer to be saved. By this they mean that obedience to God's Laws, the practice of virtue, good works, hve no effective part to play in the saving of one's soul. Here are the reasons why this is illogical:
1. Faith in Christ is incomplete and superstations if it does not mean faith in veerything Christ was and said and did. He presented Himself to the world as a Redeemer, indeed, but also as a teacher nd lawgiver. His constant stressing of the importance of obedience to God can only mean that it is necessary for a man's savaation, just s is belief in the merits of His passion and death.
2. Faith in Christ as a Redeemercaannot save a man who neglects to heed these specefic warnings He gave: "If thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commaandments."(Matt. 19:17 "Not every man that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven."(Matt. 7:21)
3. Fith in Christ as a Redeemer should not blind one to the great effort He mde to show the world the evil nd the punishments of sin,and to inspire men to repent of and renounce sin. His pssion and death, while they paid a debt that men could not hve paid, were at the same time a dramtic appeal for sorrow for sin and reformtion of life as necessaary for salvtion.
4. The doctrine of faith alone as the means of salvation has led inevitably to the minimizing of the importnce of some of Christ's most severely promulgated laws. It has led many to deny His sttement that divorce nd remaarige are the same as adultery; it has induced maany to renounce obedience tospiritual authority, which He inculcated so clearly; it has mde it easy for men to defend their avarice and social injustice.
5. If faith alone were necessary for salvation, there would be no point in a general judgement at the end of the world, which Christ described as an event in which "every man will be judged according to his works." If good works are not necessary to salvation, why should any man be judge ccording to thier deeds?
Faith in Christ is necessary to salvation, that is indeed clear. But it mus be a complete faith, faith in everyting Christ said, faith that overflows into ction, virtue, good works, St. James put it simply when he said: "Faith without works is dead."(James 2:14,17) and in James 2:24 of Revised Standard Version, states: " You see that a man is justified by works nd not by fith alone." God bless us and Pax Christi

Patrick never chased the snakes out of Ireland. Nor do we really know whether he used the shamrock to teach converts about the Trinity. But what we do know about St. Patrick is far more interesting than many of the legends that grew up around him. Our new special-edition Catholic Update, The Real St. Patrick explores the roots of St. Patrick's Day and ways to add a spiritual dimension to the celebration.

Bishop Patrick was an ordinary man who, in trying to bring Christ’s love to the Irish people, lived an extraordinary life. 

St. Anthony Messenger