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Other related Ang
Dating Daan Q and A's: (1) (2)
(3) (4)
First
in behalf of the ministry team I would like to apologize for posting
your email address. Please be assured that it will not happen
again.
Our
ministry was informally organized 6 years ago by
a team of young professionals who has the heart to evangelize the lost
especially in the area of cultism. Ours is a non-denominational, para-church
ministry with the mission to equip the Christian pastors and believers
to share the gospel with cultists and skeptics who oppose the orthodox
teachings of Christianity. We also are committed to "contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the
saints" (Jude 3, NASB) Several cultic groups
have risen in the Philippines during the past century and they have
been successful in misleading thousands of Filipinos in their web of
deception. Others boastfully claim that they are the
"restored" Church of the Lord Jesus Christ while some say
they are God's "modern-day" movement. They mocked the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ and defiled the sound Christian teachings
past on by the apostles from generation to generation.
While
a few good books have already been written documenting and refuting
the major teachings of those heretical groups, each of them are doubly
fast in refuting those literatures as well giving their members no
time to think by their own. A good example would be the booklet
entitled, Ang Mga Lihim at Mga Kabulaanan ng
Iglesia ni Kristo (Manalo) 1981, written by a former top
ranking INC official, Dr. Melanio P. Gabriel,
Jr., who became a Christian. When these booklets were released
from the printing press, the INC (1914) officials immediately
countered it by publishing a 9-page magazine entitled, Ang
Katotohanan Sa Lihim ng Iglesia Ni Cristo Na Inihayag ni Dr. Melanio
Gabriel Jr.[1] The ministry will focus on
refuting the teachings of the cults, occults,
and New Age movements here in this country hoping to lead many
Filipinos under the saving grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Is
there something wrong with the theology of Mr.
Eliseo Soriano and Ang
Dating Daan? Yes! Soriano is
one self-styled, charismatic person who has been successful to-date in
leading hundreds of Filipinos away from the truth of the Gospel. He
lures them through his program, "Itanong Mo
Kay Soriano" and "Bible Expose"
posing as a self-taught Bible teacher who pretends to know the
Scripture by quoting the Ang Biblia [2]
in a word-for-word manner. One example of his teaching is the
promotion of polytheism, a "belief in or worship of many
gods" [3] as oppose to the Biblical monotheism,
"the belief or doctrine that there is only one God." [4]
Soriano believed that Jesus is a Mighty God and therefore cannot be
called the Almighty God because such
title is reserved only to the Father. This teaching is not new anymore
because Charles Taze Russell, founder of
the Jehovah's Witness cult has already
taught this ever since their movement begun in the late 1800s. One way
of understanding the Scripture is to unify its teachings according to
the whole revelation of the Bible and not distort the entirety of the
message by just one pet verse. What does the Bible say:
A.
The Old Testament teaches that there is only one God in Dt.
4:35,39; 6:4; 2 Sam. 22:32; Is. 37:20; 44:6.
B.
The New Testament also teaches that there is one God in Jn 5:44; Rom.
3:30; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Gal 3:20.
C.
If there is only one God in the Scripture how is it that this one God
emphasize he is the true God in a number of Scripture passages (2 Chr.
15:3; Jer. 10:10)? Is it not enough to say he is God because after all
there is only one God?
D.
Remember that before the creation of the world God has no reason to
emphasize Himself being true since according to Him there will be no
Gods formed before or after Him (Isa. 43:10).
E.
When man was deceived by Satan himself that they will be like God
(Gen. 3:5). Mans eyes were opened that they can make themselves like
"God" (although not God in nature) and history can testify
about this that even the great Pharaohs of Egypt wanted themselves to
be called "God" and have their subjects bow down to them. In
the history of the Bible, men have learned even to create and form
"gods" out of gold, wood, nature and others. Even in the
Jews idolatry have crept in when Rachel stole his father's teraphim
(Gen 31:19).
F.
Since many "god" have been created and formed by men
from the time of the prophets and the apostles, God has to proclaim
that He is the true God and not those are created and formed by
humans. They are false "gods" (or "idols"). While
the Hebrew word kazab in Psalm 4:2 (cf. 40:4) was translated as
"deception" (NASB), "leasing" (KJV),
"lies" (RSV), "false" (TEV), NIV renders this as
"false gods." Is there a justification for this rendering?
Christian authors Okorochoa and
Foulkes gives us an additional insight of this verse in their
book, Understanding the Psalms (Vol. 1):
"Often
it seems that there is much corruption in life around us, corruption
in business dealings, corruption in politics. The Bible has strong
words against bribery and against dishonesty in business dealings
(see Amos 5:12; 8:4-6 and Proverbs 17:23). Sometimes those who lead
us seem to be dishonest in the way they speak. There are also lies
in what some people try to tell us is the way of life. In the Old
Testament the words translated 'vain words' and 'lies' are often
used for idols and for all objects
of worship other than the true and living God." [5]
Therefore,
even though the Ang Biblia renders this
"kabulaanan" while MBB
translates this as "pagsisinungaling," the Hebrew word kazab
speaks of this as "false gods." False gods or idols can
be applied to anything like, carvings of gods and goddesses,
materials, wealth, money, greediness, etc. that rivals the true God of
Israel.
G.
Why are they called false gods or idols? They are false gods or
idols because they are not God by nature (i.e. "Diyos sa
kalikasan"). The book of Galatians chapter 4 verse 8
differentiates between a God who is by nature God and those who are
not.
H.
What therefore are some God's natures? He is eternal (Ps 90:2;
Rom. 16:26); omnipotent (2 Cor. 6:18); omniscient (Jer. 17:10);
omnipresent (Jer. 23:24). According to Soriano,
his "God" is not omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He
arrive at this perverted understanding because of some verses where he
had a hard time unifying:
First
premise: If nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
Second
premise: While it is impossible for God to lie (Heb. 6:18)
Conclusion:
Therefore God is not omnipotent because something is impossible for
Him to do.
Soriano
tends to dwell on his second premise without even bothering to
consider the first premise. The answer to this "puzzle" is
simple, God cannot contradict Himself therefore. It is like asking
this question, "Can God create a stone wherein He Himself cannot
move?" The answer is the same. But in spite of this He still
remains to be the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient righteous God of
Israel. Soriano cannot just discredit the
Lord's attribute by his worldly philosophical reasoning. I believed
this is because of his lack of Bible training in terms of
understanding the original languages of the Bible.
(to
be continued...)
Foot
Notes:
[1]
The purpose of this literature is not actually to refute the said
booklet biblically but to attack the personality of Dr.
Gabriel (a physician) as allegedly harboring ill-feelings
against Mr. Erano G. Manalo for
terminating his services in the INC Metro Manila Secretariat on April
11, 1979.
[2]
This is a Tagalog rendition of the American
Standard Version
[3]
Webster's New World Dictionary of American
English (3rd College Edition), (New York: Simon & Schuster,
Inc., 1988), 1048.
[4]
Ibid., 879.
[5]
Okorochoa, Cyril C. and Foulkes, Francis, Understanding
the Psalms, Vol. 1, (Ghana: Africa Christian Press, 1995), 30.
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