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The Iglesia Ni Cristo Under a Microscope Helping INC Members Keep More of Their Money, Survive Shunning, and Discover the Truth About Their Church and God

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The Iglesia Ni Cristo Under a Microscope Helping INC Members Keep More of Their Money, Survive Shunning, and Discover the Truth About Their Church and God Edward K. Watson Free Version The Iglesia Ni Cristo Under a Microscope Helping INC Members Keep More of Their Money, Survive Shunning, and Discover the Truth About Their Church and God The Iglesia Ni Cristo Under a Microscope Helping INC Members Keep More of Their Money, Survive Shunning, and Discover the Truth About Their Church and God Edward K. Watson Copyright © 2019 by Edward K. Watson All rights reserved. This free version may be copied, stored, printed, and shared on the condition that no part is modified in any way without prior written permission of the author, Edward K. Watson. Revision: 1.00 (May 01, 2019) ISBN: 978-1-988194-19-6 This book is an amplified version of Why I Am NOT an Iglesia Ni Cristo: A Systematic Refutation of One of the Most Juvenile Religions of Our Time. Original Copyright © 2015 by Edward K. Watson (ISBN-13: 978-1519772374 | ISBN-10: 1519772378 | CIPO Registration No: 464061) Nestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Revised Edition, edited by Barbara and Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger in cooperation with the Institute for New Testament Textual Research, Münster/Westphalia, © 2012 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. Used by permission. Special thanks to Ralph Marion Victa for providing additional insights to the INC interpretation. Distributed by Brainy Books www.EdwardKWatson.com This version with the watermark is given away for free so that everyone in the Philippines who wants one can have their own copy. Please share it with others. Just know that this book took thousands of manhours to create. If you find this free version helpful, please consider purchasing the pdf version without a watermark or the actual book itself. See https://edwardkwatson.com/inc for more information. Dedication This book is dedicated to the regular Iglesia Ni Cristo church member. Although I am portrayed to be your worst enemy for writing this book, the truth is I wrote it because I want you to keep more of your hard-earned money, strengthen your family by eliminating the shunning, and regain your dignity as a proud Filipino who thinks for himself or herself and is no one’s slave – not to any foreigner and neither to any INC minister or leader. In other words, I wrote it because I love you and am willing to suffer the attacks because of it. This book only presents facts that you can easily confirm with mere minutes of effort. Look at the biblical passages in context and use multiple online versions. Don’t believe my interpretation; don’t believe the INC minister’s interpretation – find out for yourself. Do your own independent study. You are human and possess the most powerful computer in the universe—your brain. For any church to tell you that you are incapable of understanding the Holy Bible and should just trust your minister to interpret it for you is an insult. You should be especially offended since the same person who tells you to trust him is the same man who takes money from you for his own benefit. You should recognize this conflict of interest practice for what it is: Unethical! Filipinos are famous the world over for your hospitality and empathy. But the INC church has warped this noblest of traits into one that views all non-INC members, including precious innocent children, as deserving of eternal torture if not baptized INC! If this is true, then God is an evil monster. You may not appreciate my help now in trying to stop you from being victimized, but you will. At some point, the threats of the INC leaders lose their power and you can walk away into freedom – freedom to control your own mind and money, and hopefully, freedom to truly follow Jesus Christ – the one who couldn’t save us if he wasn’t also “God.” May God bless you and give you the courage and strength to follow him, now and always. An Apology Being laughed at is one of the most effective psychological tools to force people to reevaluate their decisions and lifestyle. When I wrote the original version of this book, I used a mocking tone to force INC ministers and members to get emotional when confronted with its contents. This way, those who aren’t true believers would feel uneasy about their adherence and will start questioning their faith. Since returning to true faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and God, I recognize that while ridicule is effective and probably deserving in the case of the INC leadership, it isn’t really the fault of the rank and file INC members that they are so ignorant of the Holy Bible’s real teachings. They are victims who are manipulated into continually paying large sums of money to the very institution that keeps them ignorant and enslaved. And while they definitely deserve the salvation that comes from the living God, Jesus Christ; the moral thing for me would be to write this version by just stating the facts without mockery but injecting a little humor at Felix Manalo’s expense. I will also be informal and personal when issuing challenges to INC leaders and ministers since they have elevated themselves into pretending to be the ultimate experts on the Bible while knowing full well that they’ve been lying to their members about what the Word of God teaches. So, I apologize, for making fun of INC members in this book’s original version. I was prideful and was wrong. However, I still condemn the INC leadership and ministers for their overwhelming dishonesty and manipulation of their members just to keep extracting money from them. God will not be mocked. I witness to them that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God and they will see him in his glory as our God and Creator of the universe when they stand before him to be judged. The Holy Spirit witnessed this truth unto me and I dare not deny it. Repent, and obey him before it is too late. Table of Contents Notice and Warning ................................................................................. ix Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Christianity’s Denomination Taxonomy ..................................................................... 1 Christian Theology: Nontrinitarian Versus Basic Trinitarian Versus Expanded Trinitarian ........................................................................................................... 4 INC Characteristics ................................................................................................... 6 INC Unethical Practices ............................................................................................ 7 INC Membership Size ............................................................................................... 8 Is the INC Growing Rapidly? ..................................................................................... 9 Inflated Membership Figures & Block Voting .......................................................... 10 Ethnic Composition of the INC ................................................................................ 11 Why is the INC Successful With Filipinos? ............................................................. 12 Mindless Zombies ................................................................................................... 13 The Juvenile Level of INC Theology ....................................................................... 15 Why People Stay in the INC: Fear of Shunning ...................................................... 16 Why Does the INC Use Different Bible Versions? .................................................. 18 The INC Minister’s Gatekeeper Conflict of Interest ................................................. 19 The INC Minister Is Not Evil – He’s a Victim and Needs Help to be Freed ............. 20 No One, Not Even the INC Church, May Ethically Violate Someone’s Natural Rights ............................................................................................................... 22 Violence and Intimidation From the INC Church ..................................................... 24 Truth, and Nothing but the Truth ............................................................................. 25 Common Ground Among Non-INC Christians ........................................................ 26 Chapter 1: Iglesia Ni Cristo Logical Problems ...................................... 35 Lessons in Logic ..................................................................................................... 35 The Burden of Proof is on the Iglesia Ni Cristo ....................................................... 37 1.1) Was Felix Manalo the Only One to Possess Genuine Authority to Restore the True Church? ................................................................................................... 38 1.2) Was Felix Manalo the Only One to Possess Genuine Authority to Baptize Others?............................................................................................................. 44 1.3) The Futility of INC Baptism .............................................................................. 48 Closing Thoughts .................................................................................................... 49 Chapter 2: Is Felix Manalo Prophesied in the Bible? ........................... 51 2.1) Isaiah 41:2 – Is Felix Manalo, the “righteous man from the east”? .................. 51 2.2) Isaiah 46:11,13 – Is Felix Manalo the “ravenous bird from the east”? ............. 53 2.3) Revelation 7:1-3 – Is Felix Manalo the ascending angel from the East? ......... 77 2.4) Isaiah 41:9-15
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