The Anchor of the Soul and the Lying god of the Church of Felix Manalo

In one of the Bible Expositions conducted by Bro. Eli Soriano, award-winning evangelist and host of the religious program Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path), an inquirer asked about their group’s logo; specifically, the meaning of the anchor at the bottom of the logo. Bro. Eli answered, “The anchor is Christ.”

He explained that the meaning of the anchor is hope, which symbolizes Christ. He read Hebrews 6:18-19 –

“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;”

The soul has an anchor. And our anchor, the hope of our soul, is the Word of God, because God cannot lie. This was the evangelist’s biblical explanation. And because God cannot lie, Bro. Eli said, we can trust in His words. We can count on His Word in times of trouble. Just like when sailors out in the sea encounter a storm, they would drop an anchor into the sea so that they may have hope that their ship would not capsize or sink, because it is anchored to the rocks at the bottom of the sea.

This explanation was cited by a minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) in their television program Ang Tamang Daan (The Right Path) broadcasted in their station Net 25. Iglesia Ni Cristo or INC is a religious sect based in the Philippines, founded by the late Felix Y. Manalo. After citing Bro. Eli’s explanation, out of nowhere, one of the ministers in the panel attacked Bro. Eli’s person. The following are excerpts of that episode:

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Rene Panoncillo: Naalala ko kapatid na Jun, may nagtanong po kasi tungkol sa logo nung samahan ni Mr. Soriano.

Ramil Parba: Ah, yung angkla? Yung angkla?

Rene Panoncillo: Oo, may ipinaliwanag siya: yung angkla si Kristo yan; sinipete ng pananampalataya.

Ramil Parba: Parang logo ng seaman, ano?

Rene Panoncillo: Seaman? Ba’t seaman naman yan?

Ramil Parba: Eh, talagang seaman naman ‘tong si Mr. Soriano eh. Si-manloloko, si-mandarambong…

Maximo Bularan, Jr.: Si-mangongotong.

Ramil Parba: Si-mangongotong. Talagang seaman yan.

TRANSLATION:

Rene Panoncillo: I remember Bro. Jun, someone asked about the logo of the congregation of Mr. Soriano.

Ramil Parba: Ah, the anchor? The anchor?

Rene Panoncillo: Yes, he has an explanation: the anchor is Christ; the anchor of faith.

Ramil Parba: Like the logo of seaman, isn’t it?

Rene Panoncillo: Seaman? Why is that seaman?

Ramil Parba: Mr. Soriano is really a seaman. A deceiver, plunderer…

Maximo Bularan, Jr.: Extortionist.

Ramil Parba: Extortionist. He is really a seaman.

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These are the ministers of Manalo. They attack without basis. Bro. Eli’s explanation was clear that the anchor is Christ, but the ministers of Manalo did not mind it; rather, they put a negative connotation to it. They associated the anchor with seaman, and seaman with Bro. Eli, and then they attacked Bro. Eli saying that he is a deceiver, a plunderer, and an extortionist because “he is really a seaman.” What is their basis that a seaman is a deceiver, a plunderer, and an extortionist? They did not only vilify Bro. Eli but the Lord Jesus Christ as well, because Christ is the anchor with which they associated their idea of “seaman.”

These ministers of Manalo are out of their minds. They speak evil of what they understand not. Even though it is written in the Bible, they refute it. The anchor is Christ. The Word of God is our hope because God cannot lie. When ministers of Manalo heard this — that Bro. Eli believes that God cannot lie — they again contradicted it. The following are excerpts of their arguments from the same program:

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Leopoldo Guevarra: Nangangatuwiran kasi si Eliseo Soriano eh, imposible ika sa Dios ang magsinungaling, hindi ang ibig sabihin non, eh hindi kayang gawin ng Dios yun!

Jose Ventilacion: Ang pinag-uusapan dun katangian ng Dios.

Leopoldo Guevarra: Oo.

Jose Ventilacion: Hindi Siya sinungaling.

Leopoldo Guevarra: Kung gusto niyang gawin yun, aba, kaya niya. Ang lahat ng bagay kaya niyang gawin eh.

Jose Ventilacion: Makapangyarin po sa lahat ang Dios eh.

TRANSLATION:

Leopoldo Guevarra: Eliseo Soriano is reasoning out that it is impossible for God to lie. That doesn’t mean that he cannot do that!

Jose Ventilacion: What’s being considered there is the character of god.

Leopoldo Guevarra: Yes.

Jose Ventilacion: He is not a liar.

Leopoldo Guevarra: If he wants to do that, why, he can! He can do all things.

Jose Ventilacion: God is Almighty.

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That is the kind of god the church of Manalo has; a god capable of lying. You can just imagine what will happen if that kind of god decides to take back his words when he wishes to.

In the Bible, Bro. Eli said, it is impossible for God to lie. It is written in Hebrews 6:18, “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie…” God will not lie and He cannot lie. In Titus 1:2, it says, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”

God cannot lie. But to the ministers of Manalo, it is not impossible for their god. Their god can lie. That is why from their leader down to the ministers, they have learned dreadful amount of lies. However, the God of the Bible, the true God, cannot lie even if He wants to, because He is God of Truth, Bro. Eli explained. And the God who cannot lie cannot change to become a liar in the end. That is impossible. James 1:17 says –

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

That is the character of God; He cannot change. And when He says He cannot lie, time will not come that He will lie. Unlike the doctrine of the church of Manalo, that if God wants to lie, He can. God cannot change, Bro. Eli reiterated. God is permanently good. God is permanently eternal. God permanently does not change. God permanently cannot lie. But the god of the church of Manalo can really lie. For them the meaning of Almighty, even if it is evil, their god can do it. The God of the Bible is not like that.

There many things that God cannot do, Bro. Eli furthered. The God of the Bible does not oppress, and He cannot neglect the oppressed. But for the church of Manalo, their god can do anything, including lying. These people are enemies of the Bible. Even though the Bible says it’s impossible for God to lie, they contradict it; because they are hiding their own lies. They have records of lying. This is what Manalo himself says regarding his ministers.

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Eraño Manalo: Ngayon, kung ang isang manggagawa, mga kapatid, sinungaling, hindi pwedeng manindigan. Kung ang isang manggagawa kakampi sa katiwalian, hindi pwedeng manindigan. Kung ang isang manggagawa, siya pang nagtuturo ng katiwalian, ay lalong masamang manggagawa ito. Wala ng sariling paninindigan, ay siya pang kasangkapan ng diablo. Eh sino ho yang ganyang manggagawa? Maraming manggagawa natin, halos lahat, ganyan.

TRANSLATION:

Eraño Manalo: Now, brethren, if a worker is a liar, he cannot stand firm. If a worker is an ally of corruption, he cannot stand firm. If a worker himself teaches corruption, this worker is much more evil. Having no conviction, he is even an instrument of the devil. And who are these workers? Many of our workers, almost all, are like that.

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Almost all of the workers of Manalo are liars. This is not strange; because Manalo himself is a liar. What he said one day, he will change the next day when he is cornered. He said, the Far East is the Philippines. When Bro. Eli criticized this doctrine, he changed it. In their official church magazine, Pasugo, published on November 1967, page 33, Manalo said:

It is clearly testified to by history that the Far East is the Philippines.

Another evidence about their belief that the Far East is the Philippines was published in another Pasugo on December 1970. On page 11, they drew the map of Asia, wherein they encircled the Philippines. Then in the arrow pointing towards the Philippines they wrote “Far East.”

Pasugo, December 1970, p.11

When Bro. Eli criticized and refuted this repeatedly, in Pasugo, published in July 1997, on page 5, this was Manalo’s declaration:

Let us set this clear. We have never taught that any mention of the expression “Far East” refers to the Philippines.

What a big lie! “We have never taught that any mention of the expression “Far East” refers to the Philippines”? The evidences are in their Pasugo. They said, “It is clearly testified to by history that the Far East is the Philippines.” But when Bro. Eli criticized it, they changed it. That is what happens when your god is capable of lying. You also become a liar. In the Bible, the father of lies—which is the enemy of Christ, the Word of God, the anchor of the soul—is satan. John 8:44 says –

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The father of lies is satan. And satan is the god of Manalo and his ministers.