Felix Manalo an Angel and Jesus Christ a Human, How Come?

Most of our detractors such as Catholic Defenders, anti-INC Blogs and websites, etc. have a means of leading non-INC member’s minds into the wrong direction.  Most of them will attack the INC’s doctrines based upon their wrong understanding and wrong interpretations of the Bible.  One of the most popular and most favorite of these people were the INC’s doctrine regarding the fulfillment of the “another angel” mentioned in Revelations 7:2, which we believed was fulfilled in the person of Brother Felix Y. Manalo, and since we also believed that Jesus Christ is not God but human, they have devised a means of deceiving those people who do not have a single knowledge of the INC’s teachings and thereby convince them to hate us, because they said we are placing Bro. Felix Y. Manalo in a stature higher than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

How they do it?

At first they will use this passage:

Hebrews 2:9  “But we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, so that through God's grace he should die for everyone. We see him now crowned with glory and honor because of the death he suffered.” [Good News Bible]

Then they would exclaim: 

“See my dear friends? The Bible is clearly saying that Jesus was made lower than the angels, and since they believe that Felix Manalo is an angel, therefore the Iglesia ni Cristo is teaching their members that Felix Manalo is higher than our Lord Jesus Christ, such a Blasphemy!!!”

Of course the innocent minds that would listen to this or read this will be convinced, since the argument that is being brought upon is quite convincing and sounds real, with a supporting verse that will add more as a plus factor.

But only if those people will give us the chance to explain, they would be able to discern that this is just a product of misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the INC’s teachings.

How do we counter this wrong notion? Let us start by answering this question:

Is the angel mentioned in Hebrews 2:9  that is said to be higher than Jesus, is the same type of angel mentioned in Revelations 7:2?

Let us first find out what type of angels are being referred to in Hebrews 2:9 which are said to be higher than Jesus.

Hebrews 1:14  “What are the angels, then? They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation.” [GNB]

The angels being referred to by the book of Hebrews which are considered higher than Jesus are spirits in nature.

By this point we can already understood that it is just their wrong interpretation, because never the INC taught that Bro. Felix Manalo is spirit in nature, because he is a human being, and a human is different from a spirit as Jesus explained:

Luke 24:39  “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”  [King James Version]

So it’s quite clear then that the only reason why Jesus is lower than the angels as mentioned in Hebrews 2:9 is because Jesus’ nature is human, he had flesh and bones, and angels are spirits. And since Bro. Felix Y. Manalo is just an ordinary human and not a spirit in nature, it is quite clear also that the truth that the INC never teached and never ever regarded him or considered him as higher than Jesus Christ. Because no other human being could be higher than Jesus. The truth is, it’s only the nature of Jesus that is considered lower than the angels, but the glory and power given to him by God, and the position that he holds in heaven made him higher than the angels.

That is proven by the scriptures:

1 Peter 3:22  “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; ANGELS and authorities and powers BEING MADE SUBJECT UNTO HIM.” [KJV]

See my dear friends, Jesus is higher than the angels by the GLORY, RIGHTS and POWER, given to him by God the Father, and because of this the angels were commanded to worship him:

Hebrews 1:6  “But when God was about to send his first-born Son into the world, he said, "All of God's angels must worship him." [GNB]

So if we’re going to go back with their argument, since Bro. Felix Y. Manalo is an angel as the way they understood it, and from this verse it is clearly stated that God commanded the angels to worship Jesus, that would appear then that Jesus is indeed higher than Bro. Felix after all, isn’t it?

But what kind of an angel is Bro. Felix Y. Manalo?  It is quite clear to everyone that he is only a human being and not spirit in nature.  Can a human being be called an angel?

The Meaning of the word “Angel”

This is what our detractors seem to have overlooked, the meaning of the word “angel”, from which they would avoid saying, try to ask them, “what is the meaning of this word”? And look at the reactions in their faces.  Because if they would tell you it’s true meaning, you will be able to caught them that what they’re saying is just an act of prejudice against the INC. That’s why even you squeeze them they will never tell you.

What is the meaning of the word “angel” then?

Angel - A word signifying, both in the Hebrew and Greek, a “messenger,” and hence employed to denote any agent God sends forth to execute his purposes. It is used of an ordinary messenger (Job_1:14; 1Sa_11:3; Luk_7:24; Luk_9:52), of prophets (Isa_42:19; Hag_1:13), of priests (Mal_2:7), and ministers of the New Testament (Rev_1:20)… The name does not denote their nature but their office as messengers. [Easton’s Bible Dictionary]

The word “angel” simply means either in Hebrew and in Greek a “messenger”, and the dictionary clearly emphasized that: “The name does not denote their nature but their office as messengers”, so it is not wrong then to call a human being an angel, since that name got nothing to do with their nature, but their office or positions as messengers sent by God.  The dictionary had given the ministers as one of the example that can be called an angel.

Our detractors again would say:

 “Why are you basing your interpretation in a Dictionary”?

So we need a Biblical proof  to support this, and so we must find one…

And here it is:

Mark 1:2-3  “As it is written in Isaias the prophet: Behold I send my ANGEL before thy face, who shall prepare the way before thee.  A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight his paths.” [Douay Rhimes Version]

This passage clearly called someone here an “Angel”, which is mentioned in the prophecy of Prophet Isaiah which says: “A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight his paths” , and who was this angel?  Was this fellow a spirit in nature?

Read these for yourself:

John 1:19, 23  “And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to him, to ask him: Who art thou?...He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.” [DRV]

It was John the Baptist, my dear friends was the angel mentioned in Mark 1:2-3.  A very clear example of the Bible, that indeed what is mentioned by the dictionary is Biblically true and accurate: that the word “angel” does not denotes the nature of being but the office or positions as messenger of God.

That’s why also we can find a Bible Translation that used the word “messenger” instead of “angel” in Revelations 7:2:

Revelations 7:2  “and I saw another MESSENGER going up from the rising of the sun, having a seal of the living God, and he did cry with a great voice to the four messengers, to whom it was given to injure the land and the sea, saying,” [Young’s Literal Translation]

This will prove once again the Biblical accurateness of the INC’s teachings on this issue, and will placed our detractors again and as usual, in grave humiliation and shame.

So the next time an anti-INC fellow opens you this argument, ask him right away “What is the meaning of the word angel?”, believe me you’re at a great advantage…because this would surely cut the argument short…