Iglesia ni Cristo

• Formation: July 27, 1914
• Founder: Félix Manalo Ysagun

Overview

The Iglesia ni Cristo, which means “Church of Christ” in the Philippine language of Tagalog, is an indigenous Filipino Christian church with about 3 million followers worldwide. It is among the largest independent religious groups in the Philippines, with approximately 2.8 million people claiming membership in the church in the 2020 Filipino census. Despite the comparatively low number of worshippers, especially when compared to more mainstream religious groups such as the Roman Catholic Church, the members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) are highly visible in Filipino society. In the twenty-first century, INC has grown rapidly, and as of 2018, the church claims to have 7,000 individual congregations in more than one hundred countries worldwide.

The group is regarded as controversial in some quarters, in part because of the claim by founder Félix Manalo Ysagun that he was God’s last messenger and his church was the true heir to the original Christian church founded by Jesus in the first century. In addition to such claims, which other mainstream Christian churches reject as heresy, the group has been accused of using intimidation to frighten former members into silence. At least three expelled members have been granted asylum in Canada after they reported that church members had made threats on their lives. In addition, the church has been granted regular access to several of the Philippine’s prime ministers, and the INC has endorsed the candidacy of preferred candidates in exchange for their ongoing support. In 2014, the Philippine government officially honored the church by declaring it the “Year of Iglesia ni Christo,” and in 2018, Prime Minister Rodrigo Duterte, himself a figure of some controversy, appointed current INC leader Eduardo Manalo to be the special envoy for Overseas Filipino Concerns.

History

Félix Manalo Ysagun was born on May 10, 1886, to devout Catholic parents in Tuguig near the Philippine capital of Manila. Manalo was born into near poverty during a period of Philippine turbulence, as the country was engaged in both the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898) and the Filipino-American War (1899–1902). The subsequent death of his father during his youth and his inability to attend school due to the instability in his country left Manalo feeling disillusioned with the Catholic Church.

Seeking an alternative to the Catholic faith, which wielded enormous power in the Philippines, Manalo joined a Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) in 1904. He began attending an MEC seminary for religious education and eventually became a pastor. However, the MEC proved to be merely a steppingstone of religious exploration, and Manalo eventually studied a series of different faiths, including the Presbyterian Church and the Seventh-Day Adventists. None of these proved to a fit and Manalo began to earn a reputation for challenging religious leaders. Despite his doubts, he immersed himself in the Bible, though he increasingly questioned some of the most fundamental doctrines of Christianity. In 1913, he married Honorata de Guzman, with whom he would have six children.

After leaving the Seventh-Day Adventists, Manalo returned to Manila where he worked in a hat shop and began associating with a group of freethinkers called mga pilosopo, though he disliked their lack of biblical knowledge. Frustrated, he immersed himself in the Bible and claimed to have spent two full days and three nights in a trance in November 1913. During this period, he claimed to have been visited by God, who told him to found the Iglesia ni Cristo. On July 27, 1914, Manalo officially registered the church with the Philippine government. His initial attempts to evangelize on behalf of his new faith were unsuccessful, but by 1924, he had managed to attract 3,000 adherents. The INC gained thousands of followers in the wake of World War II (1939–1944) during a period when religious revivalism was popular among Filipinos. By the 1950s, his health began to decline and he relinquished leadership of the church to his son, Eraño.

Under Eraño, the church began to branch out internationally, beginning with the United States, which had a large Filipino expatriate community. The church eventually spread throughout Europe and Asia. In 2009, Eraño was succeeded by his son, Eduardo. In the twenty-first century, INC has begun to target Africa for further expansion. The church’s combination of fundamentalist Christianity and indigenous beliefs have made it a natural fit among some African communities. Between 2012 and 2018, Eduardo Manalo oversaw the opening of 1,115 new chapels, of which sixty-four were located outside the Philippines.

Beliefs and Practices

Filipinos have demonstrated a willingness to embrace non-traditional churches that infuse Catholic belief systems with indigenous practices. The Aglipayan Church, for instance, dates to 1902 and counts more than 6 million people as members. Such churches have connected themselves to many Filipinos’ dissatisfaction with the power of the Catholic Church in their country. At the same time, they appeal to people raised in the Christian faith but feel disenchanted with Western-based churches.

Manalo’s INC is sometimes regarded as a restorationist church for its desire to return to aspects of the first Christian church. Members of INC are taught that it is the one true church as ordained by God, though many of INC’s beliefs deviate from traditional Christian orthodoxy. For instance, Manalo taught that Jesus was not divine in nature but solely human and that the Catholic belief in the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit was false; instead, he argued that there was only one true God and that the Bible was the sole physical list of infallible mortal instructions left to humankind. In addition, the INC opposes the rite of baptism and argues against the authority of the pope as a messenger of God. The INC argues that other Christian faiths have watered down God’s message and fallen off the path laid out for humankind. Accordingly, INC says that only members of its church can gain salvation.

Critics have suggested that Félix Manalo’s placement of himself as the messenger of God made the INC into a cult. Manalo told adherents that in his vision, God advised him that he was the messenger from the Far East mentioned in the Book of Revelation. As the true messenger of God, Manalo was regarded as infallible and members were discouraged from attempting to divine their own interpretations of the Bible. The INC’s leadership has responded to critics by arguing that the church is responsible for numerous financial donations to charity, particularly among the nation’s poor—acts that opponents suggest are merely aimed at increasing church membership.

Bibliography

“About Us.” Iglesia ni Cristo, 2019, iglesianicristo.net/eng/about. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Belz, Emily. “Inside the Iglesia Family.” World Magazine, 14 Feb. 2019, world.wng.org/2019/02/inside‗the‗iglesia‗family. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Harper, Anne C. Understanding the Iglesia Ni Cristo: What They Really Believe and How They Can Be Reached. Wipf and Stock, 2014.

“Iglesia ni Cristo.” Catholic Answers, 19 Nov. 2018, www.catholic.com/tract/iglesia-ni-cristo. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Introvigne, Massimo. “Iglesia ni Cristo.” Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge: 2006, pp. 292-293.

“Pastor Flees Philippines to Seek Refuge in Canada.” Pacific Post, 3 May 2016, asianpacificpost.com/article/7479-pastor-flees-philippines-seek-refuge-canada.html. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Reed, Robert R. “The Iglesia ni Cristo, 1914–2000: From Obscure Philippine Faith to Global Belief System,” Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania, vol. 157, no. 3, July 2001, pp. 561-608.

“Religious Affiliation in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing).” Philippine Statistics Authority, 22 Feb. 2023, psa.gov.ph/content/religious-affiliation-philippines-2020-census-population-and-housing#:~:text=Roman%20Catholics%20account%20for%2078.8,Central%20Visayas%20with%2090.5%20percent. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Sawa, Timothy, Lynette Fortune, and Bob McKeown. “Church of Secrets.” CBC News, 11 Nov. 2018, newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/canadian-dead-philippines-church-iglesia-ni-cristo/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.