Beliefs and Practices

The basis of our faith is the BIBLE. This is where God's words are written. We do not
follow any creeds.

We believe in only true God, the Father. We do not believe in Trinity.

We do not believe that Jesus is God. We believe he is a human, but not an ordinary
human. He is worshiped as what God commanded.

We believe that membership in the Church is necessary for salvation. We do not

We believe that baptism by means of immersion is necessary for salvation. The

We believe that Jesus established only one church. We do not believe that all
churches belongs to God.

We believe that the true Church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century is the
Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ). It is the name of his church. It is the Church that
he will save. Everyone is needed to enter Christ's church in order to be saved.

We believe that the Church of Christ in the 1st century had fallen to apostasy. It
became as it is now known, the Roman Catholic Church.

We believe that Bro. Felix Manalo is a messenger of God in these last days. He is
the instrument on restoring the true Church that was apostatized. We do not
recognize him to be the founder of the church.

We believe that the fulfillment on where and when the Church re-emerged, in the
Philippines, in 1914.

We believe that being a member of the church is not enough to be saved. One
should lead a new life, and should obey all the teachings of God until the end.

We believe in the Day of Judgment which will take place in the second coming of
Christ. We also believe in resurrection.

We believe in the second death which is the Lake of fire.

We believe that attending worship services are our obligation as well as giving
offerings.

We do not practice tithing. We give our offerings on our heart's desire.

We believe that it is the will of God for us to love one another as true brothers and
sisters. We treat each other equal.

We believe that unity is God's teaching that should be practiced and there should
be no division in the church. We practice unity in voting in elections.
We believe in the separation of Church and State. One should respect and observe
the rules of the government.

We always practice discipline and orderliness.

We believe that God is against eating blood as food, live-in relationships, inter-faith
marriage, homosexual unions, same-sex marriage, divorce, annulment, legal
separation, extra-marital affairs, excessive drinking of liquors, and taking of drugs.

We do not believe in Catholic Saints and we do not keep images or statues of them
in our homes and chapels.

We do not believe that Mary is the mother of God.

We do not believe in purgatory and we do not pray for the dead.

We believe that a dead should not be cremated.

We do not believe in ghosts, Feng shuis, magics and superstitions.

We do not celebrate or observe Christmas, Halloween, All saints day, All souls day,
Valentines day, Lenten Season and Fiestas that are associated on honoring
saints/patrons.

It is not true that we are discouraged by the ministers to read the bible. We do not
practice private interpretation of the bible.

We believe that ministers are the ones who have the authority to preach the gospel
through the guidance of the holy spirit. We members do not preach.

One of our duty is to do missionary works and to learn how to pray. We do not use
rosary and we do not pray in repetition.

We believe that we should obey the Church administration and church officers.

The church supports use of family planning and artificial contraceptives.

EXPLANATION: There are no mystery in the Iglesia ni Cristo seal (official logo). The following
are the explanation of each of the onjects in the seal:
Dove (Kalapati) - the Holy Spit that guides the Church (ang Espiritu na pumapatnubay sa
Iglesia)
Torch (sulo) - light of salvation (ang ilaw ng kaligtasan)
Crown (Korona) - God that must reign in all (ang Diyos na dapat makapaghari sa lahat)
Scales (Timbangan) - God's righteousness in salvation (ang katuwiran ng Diyos sa pagliligtas)
Note: This is not a compass, take note of the two weights on each side.
Lamb (Kordero) - The Lord Jesus Christ, the owner of the Church (Ang Panginoong Jesucristo
na Siyang may ari ng Iglesia)
Book and Scrolls (Aklat at mga balumbon) - the Bible or the Holy Scriptures (ang Biblia o ang
Banal na Kasulatan)
The Triangle (tatsulok) - the three corners (ang tatlong sulok ng lupa): the Far East; the North
(that Protestantism was the fulfillment); and the South (that Catholicism was the fulfillment)
Rays at Clouds - glory (kaluwalhatian)
The Colors: Green (faith), White (hope) and Red (love), the three great things written in I Cor.
13:13.
NOTE: (1) Not because there are similarities with the others, it follows that we copied from
them. Just like the Temple of Solomon. Before the building of this temple, the neighboring
pagan countries of Israel already have their temple for their gods, but it doesn't follows that
Solomon copied from them. (2) a certain symbol have different meaning, depending on the
interpretation of those who use it. For example, both the American flag and the Philippine flag
used the stars, however, it has different meaning: for the American flag, the stars symbolized
the 50 states of the United States. However, the Philippine flag used the stars to symbolized the
three major islands of the country - Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Thus, the real meaning of
the Iglesia ni Cristo logo (seal) is what the Iglesia ni Cristo interpret it.