What Is Iglesia Ni Cristo?

The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) is the church Felix Y. Manalo preached and registered in the Philippines on July 27, 1914. It teaches that the Father alone is God, that there is no trinity of persons in God, and that Jesus Christ is man and not God.

This page is the church’s account, from its own site, beside the Christian confession that Jesus is God. The Trinity and Is Jesus God? are that confession.

Key Points

• The church’s history page says the Iglesia Ni Cristo was preached by Felix Y. Manalo, “God’s Messenger in these last days,” and was registered in the Philippines on July 27, 1914. (1)
• The first local congregation was in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila. Felix Manalo died on April 12, 1963. The present Executive Minister is Eduardo V. Manalo. (1)
• “One God, the Father” says the one and only true God is the Father, and “There is no trinity of persons in God.” (2)
• “The Lord Jesus Christ” says Christ is the only Savior and the sole mediator, and that he is not God but a man. (3)
• The messengers page says Felix Y. Manalo is God’s messenger in these last days. (4) John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God. John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source records Thomas calling the risen Jesus Lord and God.

Who Founded Iglesia Ni Cristo?

The history page names Felix Y. Manalo as the preacher and gives the registration date. On that page:

The Iglesia Ni Cristo was preached by Brother Felix Y. Manalo, God’s Messenger in these last days, and was registered in the Philippines on July 27, 1914.

that page

The same page says the first local congregation was in Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila, and that the church then spread through Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Felix Manalo died on April 12, 1963. By then the church had ecclesiastical districts in more than half of the provinces of the country. In 1968, under Eraño G. Manalo, the first congregations outside the Philippines were Honolulu and San Francisco. Eraño G. Manalo died on August 31, 2009. The page names Eduardo V. Manalo as the present Executive Minister. The Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria, Bocaue, Bulacan, was the venue of the centennial on July 27, 2014. (1)

The messengers page says the task of teaching the Bible without adding or diminishing is given exclusively to the messengers of God, and that Felix Y. Manalo is God’s messenger in these last days, the fulfillment of prophecies of a messenger from the Far East. The page cites Revelation 7:2–3 and Isaiah 43:5–6, 46:11, and 41:9–11 for that claim. (4) Revelation 7:2Revelation 7:2 · King James VersionAnd I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,Revelation 7:2 · King James VersionOpen source is an angel ascending from the east with the seal of the living God. The verse does not name Felix Manalo. Isaiah 46:11Isaiah 46:11 · King James VersionCalling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.Isaiah 46:11 · King James VersionOpen source is the Lord’s word about calling a ravenous bird from the east to perform his counsel. The verse does not name a twentieth-century church in Manila.

What Do Iglesia Ni Cristo Believe?

The page “One God, the Father” states the church’s confession of God. On that page:

We believe that the one and only true God is the Father, the Creator. We hold this belief because this is the doctrine taught by our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles (John 17:3, 1; I Cor. 8:6). God is a spirit (John 4:24), and, therefore, He has no flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). There is no trinity of persons in God.

that page

The same page says the Bible speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and does not refer to all of them as gods or as three persons in one God. It says the Father alone is the true God, and it cites John 17:3 and John 8:40. (2) John 17:3John 17:3 · King James VersionAnd this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.John 17:3 · King James VersionOpen source says that knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he sent, is life eternal. The same Gospel says the Word was God, and it records Thomas’s confession to the risen Jesus. The church’s reading takes John 17:3 as a denial that the Son is God. The Gospel that contains that verse does not stop there.

Matthew 28:19Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionGo ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James VersionOpen source says to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 8:61 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionBut to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.1 Corinthians 8:6 · King James VersionOpen source, which the church cites, says there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things. John 1:3John 1:3 · King James VersionAll things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.John 1:3 · King James VersionOpen source says all things were made by the Word. The Trinity is the confession that those lines name one God, not a creature beside God.

Do Iglesia Ni Cristo Believe Jesus Is God?

No. The church’s page on the Lord Jesus Christ says he is the Son of God, the only Savior, the sole mediator, and the only way to God. It then denies that he is God. On that page:

But we do not subscribe to the belief that Christ is a God-Man or both God and man. He is man in nature according to His own testimony (John 8:40) and the teachings of His Apostles (I Tim. 2:5; Matt. 1:18).

that page

The same page says Christ hungered, thirsted, grew weary, slept, and died, that he alone among men did not sin, and that God has exalted him. It says he introduced himself as the Son of God and never took the title “God” or “God the Son,” “because He is not God but a man.” (3)

John 8:40John 8:40 · King James VersionBut now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.John 8:40 · King James VersionOpen source is Jesus’ word that they seek to kill him, a man who has told them the truth he heard from God. The sentence says he is a man. It does not say he is only a man. 1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5 · King James VersionFor there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;1 Timothy 2:5 · King James VersionOpen source says there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. The mediator is a man. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God, and John 1:14John 1:14 · King James VersionAnd the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.John 1:14 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was made flesh. The Christian confession is that he is truly God and truly man. The Iglesia Ni Cristo page rejects that. What Is the Incarnation? and What Is the Deity of Christ? stay on that claim.

Is Iglesia Ni Cristo a Cult?

The word is used in two ways, and they should not be mixed. In a sociological sense it often means a small, closed group gathered around a living leader who controls ordinary life. The Iglesia Ni Cristo is a large public church, with a published website, congregational worship, and congregations named on several continents. In a theological sense, some Christians use the word for a group that speaks of Jesus while teaching that he is not God. That disagreement is real. It is the one the pages above document in the church’s own sentences. This page does not use the insult as its own name for members. Is Mormonism a Cult? makes the same distinction for another church.

The history page calls the body a church and records a public registration, public worship houses, and a succession of executive ministers after Felix Manalo’s death. (1) The doctrinal difference is the one the church prints: the Father alone is God, and Christ is not God but a man. (2) (3)

Does Iglesia Ni Cristo Celebrate Christmas?

The doctrine pages quoted above do not contain a sentence forbidding Christmas. A church news report of an evangelical mission in the Ecclesiastical District of Quezon City, on December 5, 2025, says the minister answered queries about Christmas, including “Why don’t members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) celebrate Christmas?” The report then quotes a guest, Rochelle Pastrana: “I learned that the reason members don’t celebrate it is it’s not in the Bible.” (6) That is the church’s news report of a guest’s summary. It is not a sentence on the doctrine pages fetched for this article. Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Celebrate Birthdays and Christmas? is a different church, which publishes its own refusal of Christmas.

The Gospels date Jesus’ birth by a census and by shepherds in the field. They do not name December 25. A date the Gospels do not give is not the same claim as the church’s claim that Christ is not God.

What Is Not Allowed in the Iglesia Ni Cristo?

The worship page says congregational worship is of extreme importance, and it states the rule in its own words. On that page:

Congregational worship service is of extreme importance in the Church Of Christ that is why members are strictly forbidden to forsake it. To willfully forsake it is a grave sin (Heb. 10:25-27).

that page

The same page says the worship service is characterized by psalms and hymn singing, prayers, studying the words of God, and offerings, and that every member should give according to the dictates of the heart. (5) Hebrews 10:25Hebrews 10:25 · King James VersionNot forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.Hebrews 10:25 · King James VersionOpen source says not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. The verse does not list a set of eight responsibilities, and this page does not invent one. What the church’s own page forbids in that sentence is willfully forsaking the congregational worship.

This page does not record whether a public figure is a member. Membership is not a sentence on the doctrine pages quoted here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Iglesia Ni Cristo Believe in Jesus?

Yes, as the only Savior, the sole mediator, and a man who is not God. The page “The Lord Jesus Christ” says that in those words. (3) John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen source is Thomas calling him Lord and God.

Is Iglesia Ni Cristo Christian?

The church uses the name Church Of Christ and preaches Jesus as Savior. It also says there is no trinity of persons in God and that Christ is not God but a man. (2) (3) On this site, Christianity is the Nicene confession that Jesus is God. Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Christians? and Are Mormons Christians? answer the same kind of question for two other churches that deny that confession.

What Is the Iglesia Ni Cristo Religion?

It is the church Felix Y. Manalo registered on July 27, 1914, which teaches that the Father alone is the true God and that Jesus is the human Savior. (1) (2)

Keep Reading

• The Trinity
• Is Jesus God?
• What Is the Deity of Christ?
• What Is the Incarnation?
• What Is Oneness Pentecostalism?
• What Do Unitarians Believe?
• What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?