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Geraldine Anne Gacutno

World Religion

Mr. Elpedio T. Vesera

October 19, 2018

'Ang Dating Daan' Church of God Int’l Cult Organization (now they prefer to be known as

Members Church of God International)

Members Church of God International, abbreviated as MCGI, is an international Christian

religious organization with headquarters in the Philippines. It started as a small group with less

than a hundred believers in 1977. It is popularly known in the Philippines as Ang Dating Daan

(English: The Old Path; abbreviated as ADD), the title of its flagship radio and television program

and currently the longest-running religious program in the Philippines with Brother Eliseo Soriano

as its "Overall Servant" (Former title: "Presiding Minister").

Members Church of God International believes that the Almighty God, the Father sent his

begotten Son, Jesus Christ, instrumental in the establishment of the "Church of God", first planted

in Jerusalem and preached by the apostles. They believe that Gentile nations, including the

Philippines, are partakers of the promise of eternal life, through belief in Jesus Christ and the

gospel and are not authorized by God to establish their own church, but mere members associated

with the same "body" or the church written in the gospel by accepting it and executing the doctrines

written by the apostles. Guided by this scriptural principle, the church's registered name contains

descriptive words "ang mga kaanib" in Tagalog or "members" in English to emphasize the group's
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association today, as "members" of the "Church of God" that is already established long time ago

and was written in the Bible.

On April 25, 1980, in compliance with government regulations, Eliseo Soriano registered

the group with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as Ang Mga Kaanib sa Iglesia ng

Dios Kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohan, sa Bansang Pilipinas (English: Members

of the Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of Truth in the Philippines). In 2004, its

registered name was changed to "Members Church of God International" (Tagalog: Mga Kaanib

sa Iglesia ng Dios na Pandaigdig) in line with the church's overseas expansion.

For them, the church's primary objective, as commanded by Jesus Christ, is to propagate

the gospel unto all nations until the consummation of the ages, convert sinners to believe and

glorify God and to make them qualify for the eternal life in heaven. Currently, MCGI is present in

six inhabited continents of the world with more than 1,360 established local congregations. Its

flagship program Ang Dating Daan is being broadcast in more than 70 countries, in five languages

over terrestrial television, radio, internet and carried by at least seven satellites across the globe.

They believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit but they adopt a

nontrinitarianism orientation, rejecting the Trinitarian concept that there is "one God in three co-

equal persons", which for them is against the Bible. They believe that the Father is greater than all,

greater than Jesus Christ as declared by Christ himself. They do not observe customs and traditions

which they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity. MCGI members prefer

themselves to be called and identified as plain "Christians". MCGI is not related to the many

Church of God groups that descended from the Barney Creek Meeting House revival of the late

19th century in the United States.

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History

The Members Church of God International in the Philippines rooted from a similar

denomination, the Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan (Church of

God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Support of the Truth) which was first led by Brother Nicolas

Antiporda Perez in Pulilan, Bulacan, Philippines in 1928. On December 10, 1936, the Church was

registered with the Philippine government by Brother Nicolas Antiporda Perez as first church

Presiding Minister with a Central Office in Natividad St., Pasay, Rizal (now Pasay City). Since

the year the church was established, church workers were being sent to the nearby provinces

around Manila. Brother Nicolas Antiporda Perez, lead the church from 1928 until the time of his

death in May 1975, the church was then a small group with less than hundred congregations.

After Perez's death in 1975, Levita Gugulan, the secretary-general of the church, succeeded

as presiding minister; Soriano countered the authority of Gugulan. On February 21, 1976, Brother

Eliseo Soriano, the only ordained minister by Perez, together with 16 other members created a

schism and began a new church organization called "Mga Kaanib Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus,

Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas" (translated as "Members Church of God

in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of Truth in the Philippine Nation") which was officially

registered in 1977.

In 1980, missionary works started and was first done in the towns of Pampanga and then,

the neighboring provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Metro Manila. In the last

quarter of 1980, the church launched the radio program Ang Dating Daan (ADD). Through the

local radio station DWWA 1206 kHz, ADD was heard in many parts of the Philippine Archipelago.

The program became popular in the Philippines because of its live question and answer portion.
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In 1983, the program kicked off its national television appearance through IBC Channel 13. Ang

Dating Daan as a program in radio made its stint in RJTV 29, PTV 4, SBN 21, and now UNTV.

In 2004, the church changed its name to "Members Church of God International". On

January 7, 2006, the first live Bible exposition in the United States was held in Los Angeles,

California. In 2008, Bible Expositions were conducted in the continent of Oceania bringing forth

the first congregation in Papua New Guinea. In the same year, congregations were established in

Ghana, West Africa as a result of a series of Bible studies in Africa. The early months of 2009 saw

the Church introduced in Latin America.

A schism in MCGI happened in 2009 when Willy Santiago, one of the bible readers of

Brother Eliseo Soriano in his radio and TV programs had a dispute over the church leadership

succession and "erratic" changes in church doctrines (such as prostrating towards the east in prayer

and Sabbath). This resulted twelve MCGI members including Willy Santiago to split from the

group in October 2009 and established a new religion, the Members Church of God in Jesus Christ

Worldwide or MCGJCW, with membership now consists mostly of former MCGI followers.

Organization and administration

The organization is managed by the MCGI Central Administration under the MCGI

Workers Ministry. It is composed of the Overall Servants (Tagalog: Mga Lingkod Pangkalahatan),

council of Helpers of the Ministry (Tagalog: Mga Katulong ng Pangangasiwa abbreviated as

"KNP") and Church Workers (Tagalog: Mga Manggagawa).

Overall Servants
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Currently, Brother Eliseo Soriano is the Overall Servant (Tagalog: Lingkod

Pangkalahatan) to MCGI (formerly called as Presiding Minister or Tagapangasiwang

Pangkalahatan in Tagalog) and his deputy, Brother Daniel Razon is the Vice Overall Servant

(Tagalog: Pangalawang Lingkod Pangkalahatan, formerly called as Vice Presiding Minister or

Pangalawang Tagapangasiwang Pangkalahatan in Tagalog). They supervise the entire

organization, implement policies and projects, teach the Helpers of the Ministry (formerly called

as Assistants to the Administration, Ministers-in-Charge, abbreviated as "MIC" and Officers-in-

Charge, abbreviated as "OIC") and Church Workers all the doctrines of Christ and oversee rightful

execution of duties and responsibilities assigned to them, including other officials in various

church ministries and organizations. The Overall Servant prepares the outline of Biblical topics

(Tagalog: paksa) and preach sermons. A part of it will be delivered and discussed by his deputy.

Preaching of Biblical topic is done by the Overall Servants, either live or recorded, which is being

aired in all MCGI local congregations. They also personally take time to resolve spiritual and

personal problems of members every Thanksgiving gathering, during the consultation period.

Propagation and evangelism

They believe that an important duty and obligation of the members of the church is to

propagate the gospel on earth until the consummation of the ages. Eliseo Soriano began his nightly

town-to-town preaching in the 1970s but eventually realized that his lifetime is not enough to reach

the entire Philippines. In the 1980s he decided to use emerging media such as radio and television.

Method of Evangelization
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Mr. Eliseo F. Soriano, founder of Dating Daan, spreads his teachings through the radio

waves and lately used the television and internet facilities. He is fond of vehemently opposing

various religious groups by attacking their non-essential doctrines like tithing and church

appellations, as well as, personalities of a number of religious leaders.

One effective methodology of Soriano in captivating many gullible individuals into his

fold by means of philosophical debates where he normally sets it up in their home turf (i.e. locale).

It can be observed that majority of the live audiences are from the Ang Dating Daangroup capable

of yelling instead of listening intently to what the opponent speaker is saying. Soriano on the other

hand is a skilled heckler who tends to annoy and harass his opponent. As a result, this poor fellow

who has really no idea totally whatsoever about Soriano‘s tactics will be prompted to either

abandon the subject that he started or just leave the spiritual arena. Many Elisarians will

immediately assume that their self-styled messenger ―won‖ the religious debate not knowing that

it was just his being a skilled heckler that made him triumph. A Christian apologist needs to be

wary with every statement he utters because Soriano has a reputation of focusing on minor word

details propelling him to neglect the whole subject of the debate. This is done by playing back a

particular videotaped segment recorded by an accomplice ADD camera man so the whole audience

would know how the speaker allegedly―contradicts himself.

Beliefs and fundamental doctrines

God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

Members Church of God International believes in the Almighty God, the Father, the

begotten Son, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit but it adopts a nontrinitarianism orientation. The
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church rejects the traditional doctrine of trinity mainly on its concept that there is "one God in

three co-equal persons", which for them, is against the Bible. The church believes that the Father,

the Son and the Holy Spirit are not perfectly equal with each other. Adherents believe that the

Father and Christ are greater than the Holy Spirit which is being sent by the Father and Christ.

They also consider the Father is greater than Jesus Christ, the head of Christ and greater than all.

The Almighty God is also called as "God of Israel" citing Exod 5:1, the creator of the universe

(Acts 14:15), with his Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14). God cannot lie. God is not omniscient (he

does not know ahead of time all future human actions and choices), and God is not omnipresent

(he created hell but is not there).

Jesus Christ is the Father's only Begotten Son (in Romanized Greek: Monogenēs theos) as

mentioned in John 1:18. For them, Christ is the Wonderful, Counselor, a true and Mighty God,

Prince of Peace referred in Isa 9:6. He is the only savior of mankind and the only way to the

kingdom of God in heaven (Acts 14:15, 1 Cor 8:5-7, John 14:6; 14:1). He is recognized as the

Apostle, High Priest (Heb 3:1) and Mediator (1 Tim 2:5) of the church. They believe that Christ

descended on earth from the bosom of the Father, suffered for the redemption of sin, died on the

cross, resurrected after three days, ascended to heaven and sat on the right side of God. Christ is

talking and acting according to the instruction of the Father (John 12:49; 5:19; 14:10). The church

believes in the pre-existence of Jesus Christ in spirit before he was born and manifest in flesh and

already teaching the prophets by his spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the "comforter" citing John 14:26, sent by the Father and Christ, to give spiritual

happiness and to help the brethren in his or her weaknesses, and to console a believer in times of

persecution and trials (Rom 8:26).

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Prayer

Prayer is a basic doctrine in MCGI. All church gatherings, either spiritual or socio-civic,

begin and end with prayers. The church believes that it is a commandment of God to live a

prayerful life based on 1 Thes 5:17. Praying repetitiously is prohibited.[39] To encourage its

members to pray, MCGI launched an exclusive 24/7 prayer service website on March 6, 2011,

enabling access to continuous singing of praises and hourly community prayer to God. They

believe that it is prohibited to pray in public just to be seen (Matt 6:5). As a discipline, they refrain

from showing the act of praying on their television broadcasts, either live or recorded, in public.

In November 2013, MCGI launched a community prayer service on UNTV and Radyo La Verdad

1350 AM. However, only the audio of the community prayer is being aired, to encourage non-

brethren to join and participate in praying to God, without necessarily being seen publicly.

Bible

MCGI believes that only the Bible or the Holy Scriptures, composed of 66 inspired books,

teaches the full wisdom of God for the salvation of man and that no other books should be used as

basis for serving God and Jesus Christ.

Relevance of the church

Members of the Church of God International believe that the church built by the Father

through Jesus Christ is relevant to salvation. They also believe that the church has a vital influence

in a person's thinking, character, priorities and beliefs.

The Church of God in the Bible

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Jesus Christ established the church (Matt 16:18), the "Church of God" (2 Cor 1:1, 1 Tim

3:15), not his own but of the Father (Heb 3:4). It is the congregation of the apostles, prophets,

teachers and others, and was first planted in the city of Jerusalem, where the preaching of salvation

started (Luke 24:47),[36] which was later on scattered and preached by the apostles in different

parts of Asia Minor (Acts 8:1, Gal 1:22).

They believe that God is "calling" those people with determination to serve him, bringing them in

his fold (1 Pet 1:15-16, 1 Cor 1:9; 1:2), teaching them righteousness after baptism, for their sins to

be covered by the priceless blood of Christ poured in Mount Calvary, for the redemption of sin, to

make them qualify for life eternal in heaven (Phil 1:27, Eph 2:10; 4:1; 4:10; 4:14).

MCGI teaches that Jesus Christ loved the church, sacrificed and gave himself for it, and he

will save the church (Eph 5:23). Christ is the "head" of the "body" or the church (Col 1:18). Inside

the Church of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles teach the pure and undefiled religion,

written as thrēskeia in the Greek Bible (pronounced as thrace-ki’-ah) which means "worshipping"

or the observance of something related to worship. It is where the true religion and worship is

being practiced.

People of God in the last days

Members of the Church of God International believe that prophecies written in the Bible

are being fulfilled in our days, and the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (Rev 19:10).[45]

They believe that there will be God's people at the time of the end or in the "last days", citing a

prophecy written in Dan 12:4; 12:9-10. For the MCGI, the advent of the preaching of the "true

church" among the Gentiles, referring to all nations outside of Israel (Eph 2:11-12), including the
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Philippines, is a fulfillment of a Biblical prophecy in Mal 1:11 which states that the name of the

Lord God of Israel shall be great among the Gentiles, and will start "from the rising of the sun even

unto the going down of the same". The people of God will offer incense, not a literal incense, but

"prayers" (Rev 5:8) to the God of Israel.

They also believe that the prophecies written in Isa 24:15 and Jer 30:19-24 were fulfilled

in the Philippines and the Church of God International. Prophet Isaiah mentioned about people

giving glory to the Lord God of Israel in the "coastlands of the sea in the east" (Revised Standard

Version) and "isles of the sea in the east" (King James Version). The MCGI says that the

Philippines is a nation with 7,107 islands, geographically located in the Far East direction in the

Pacific Ocean, formerly called as "Las Islas Filipinas" (English: Philippine Islands) in honor of

King Philip II of Spain. According to MCGI, it is the only country in Asia that believes in the

Bible and that takes the Bible as the authority of their faith. Meanwhile, Jeremiah mentioned about

people of God in the last days, who will come out with praises and thanksgiving unto the God of

Israel, "their nobles shall be of themselves", and "their governor shall proceed from the midst of

them". They "will start from few", but God promised that "I will multiply them" and "they shall

not be small". They believe that prophet Jeremiah was ordained by the Lord as "prophet unto the

nations" based on Jer 1:5. The MCGI says that aside from starting as a small group in the "east"

direction, it is the only congregation in the "last days" that offers a weekly sacrifice of thanksgiving

unto the "God of Israel". Further, their overall servant came from among the group he leads and

did not came from any other religious group and currently in the "west" to preach the gospel.

Members of the Church of God in Bible

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They believe that Gentile nations including the Philippines, are partakers of the promise of

eternal life (1 John 2:25), through belief in Jesus Christ and the gospel, but are not authorized by

God to establish their own church, but mere members associated with the same body or church

(Eph 3:6, Col 1:18, 1 Cor 12:27) written in the gospel, by accepting and executing the doctrines

written by the apostles (1 John 1:3-4). The MCGI teaches that we are commanded by God to cleave

with the right group (Rom 12:9), to have fellowship (1 John 1:3-4) with God and Jesus Christ, and

to disassociate ourselves with false preachers or groups, especially to idol worshippers, as

mentioned in Rom 16:17-18 and 2 Cor 6:17.

Manner of Bible Teaching

To build an impression with his members and audience, Soriano parades himself as a self-

styled Bible teacher who ―knew the Hebrew and Greek words of the Scripture. One instance

while attempting to answer a question from a caller about the belief in ―many gods, he reached

out an old version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible possibly to show off to the

listeners and viewers that the Hebrew word Elohim is a ―proof in itself of ―many gods. Bible

scholars like James Strong will not validate Soriano‘s doctrine of polytheism just because of the

word ―elohim. Indeed, a careful study will reveal that even when the plural Hebrew word

―elohim is used only one God is meant (e.g. Dt. 6:4). What's more, he does not subscribe to

proper Bible hermeneutics by studying the original Hebrew & Greek languages of the Scripture

including its geographical, historical, cultural and religious background but condemns it. Mainly

he is fond of building his doctrine out of Ang Biblia (a local translation of ASV) and some English

translation rather than consulting the original languages.

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The church missions

The MCGI believes that Jesus Christ delegated the task of preaching the Word of God, on

a global scale, to his apostles based on Matt 28:19-20 and fulfilling this commandment is their

primary objective. MCGI aims to propagate the gospel on earth until the consummation of the

ages. They believe that only the church can teach the wisdom of God for the salvation of mankind

citing Luke 8:1-3, Eph 3:10 and 2 Tim 3:14-17. They believe that this effort is geared towards

converting sinners to believe and glorify God (Acts 2:38).

Eschatology and resurrection

MCGI believes that Jesus Christ "will come again" or "will return" (Tagalog: "muling

paririto"), rather than using the terminology "second coming" (Tagalog: "ikalawang pagparito")

which they consider a mistake by other religious denominations. They strongly believe that Christ

came to the earth in many occasions already and his return will not be the "second" citing 1 Cor

10:4-5. They believe that certain and specific "signs" written in the book of Matthew will happen

before the return of Christ. Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and those righteous, those saints

who died in Christ mentioned in Rev 20:4 will be resurrected first. Those righteous who are still

alive will be caught up together with the resurrected saints in the clouds, to meet Jesus Christ in

the air citing 2 Thes 4:16-17. The church believes that Jesus Christ will reign with his saints for

another one thousand (1,000) years citing Rev 20:4. Satan will be imprisoned during this period.

The remaining people on earth who are still alive, those who were not caught up in the air to meet

Christ, will be given a chance to salvation. After the 1,000-year period, another resurrection will

occur. God will then judge all people, the living and the dead, according to what they have done.

This will happen on God's appointed "day", the "judgment day" or the "last day" citing Acts 17:31.
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Those who will not merit salvation will be thrown into the "lake of fire" (Tagalog: dagát-dagatang

apóy), the "second death", the eternal punishment. After the judgment day will be the earth's

destruction.

Membership

Baptism is a key part in their doctrines. Membership is conferred through immersion

baptism of adults. Indoctrination classes are required prior to joining the organization. The classes

are composed of nine lessons concerning church doctrines prepared by the Overall Servant, Eliseo

Soriano. Indoctrinees must fully accept the doctrines taught during the indoctrination before they

can be baptized. The church rejects infant baptism. Members not living in accordance with the

church's teachings may be excommunicated, or expelled, from the Church. Members are required

to be modest in dress and grooming. Women are prohibited from cutting their hair and wearing

expensive jewelry and denim pants, and men are prohibited from having long hair. They are strictly

prohibited from drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, using drugs, and gambling.

Worship and church gatherings

The congregation meets at least three sessions each week. Meetings are held at MCGI

convention centers and monitoring centers, which are typically functional in character, and do not

contain religious symbols except for the church logo and reminders for non-members that are

prominently displayed. Gatherings are opened and closed with congregational singing of hymns

led by the choir and brief prayers. The subject matter for most meetings is the same worldwide.

Brethren kneel in prayer while guests are free to stay in their seats. They believe that Christian

believers should always attend religious gatherings.

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Personal Reflection

Most of the religion wanted its follower to have spirituality uplifted. Religion has the power

to manipulate humans to believe unrealistic doctrine and engage in destructive behavior. Religious

cults are groups of people involved with unorthodox practices that are disguised as Christianity.

Many people were committed to their religions as a way to find peaceful within their self.

‘Ang Dating Daan’ (ADD) or known in international as ‘Members Church of God

International’ is a good religion because it also used the word of God which is the bible and another

commonality is having faith. But in the Philippines, the ADD was having many issues because of

its founder who is Mr. Soreano. He claims that he is a descendant of Jesus. He preached through

using the modern technology, mostly in television. It has many dedicated followers as shown in

their program.

This religion aims to share the word of God to its follower showing how good God is. It

promotes peace as a commonality between other religion. But what makes this religion seems a

bad religion because of its founder. Yes, he preached about the bible but with falsehood. Through

using lies and twisted scriptural language, Soriano is misleading multitudes of people into hell.

Sadly, his followers remain blind as Soriano excites you with Scriptures mixed with falsehoods.

He apparently points out other religion that his religion is a better religion than the others which

lead him to many controversies and debates. Because of Soriano way of preaching, the members

believe in the superiority of their “religion” over all other religions. The MCGI has crossed the

line, by stating “a Christian must hate the person”. The point is made not just to hate the badness,

but to actually hate the person, which is not the so-called Christian love add followers claim to

show.
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Many of their belief oppose to what the bible says. They believe that the only way to

salvation is to join ADD through baptizing and doing good works. Because Soriano said that they

were chosen by God to do good works. But the Bible teaches that salvation is only God's grace

through faith in Christ not because of good works. Good works may follow after having faith to

God. They also believe that God is only in the same place which, again, oppose to the bible that

God is everywhere because He is omnipresence. Soriano also teaches that Jesus is not a person but

God and his spirit that dwells in the human body is not a human spirit but the Spirit of God which

is a big wrong because Jesus became a man and that’s the fact. Those people who does not believe

that Jesus is did not became a man was one of the men teaching anti-christ.

This religion may have faced some controversies because of their founder, Eliseo F.

Soriano, and making their member believe about God has body parts like human, one thing is for

sure: the members of this religion only wanted only to strengthen their faith toward the divine just

like any other religion. They are also human who just wanted to be save from suffering but their

beliefs greatly oppose from the word of God.