Church of God in Christ (Philippines)

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In response to Bro. Naylor's request, I'm forwarding Bro. Ben-Aijalon's
detailed information on the Church of God in Christ from the Philippines.
Although he hasn't gotten back to me yet, I'm assuming it's ok with him to
post this. I thought it was quite interesting.

Charles

>Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 16:39:40 -0600 (MDT)
>From: Benny Santos <bacsanto@acs.ucalgary.ca>
>To: Charles Ormsbee <ormsbee@MIT.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Non-Pentecostal Oneness?
>
>
>Actually, here's a little more accurate info written by a brother of mine.
>This message is being sent to you personally.
>
>
>AS REQUESTED: INFORMATION ON THE CHURCH OF GOD.  The history of the Church
>of God in Christ Jesus has never been documented.  The information that I
>have is second hand -- as far as I know, none of the founding members are
>alive today.  And obviously, my personal beliefs will colour how I
>perceive the history and roots of our Church. Within these limitations I
>have tried to piece together the history of the Church as accurately as
>possible.
>The Church of God was founded in 1922, within the predominantly Catholic
>country of the Philippines.  A number of people from various religious
>roots came together (e.g. Catholic, Mennonite, Methodist, Presbyterian,
>Seventh Day Adventist) to form the Church.  A majority of these
>individuals were originally part of a doctrinally arian-type church (i.e.
>Christ is merely a man, and the Father alone is God).
>
>I personally believe that it was the Lord our God that brought these
>people of diverse christian traditions together.  This diversity forced a
>total re-examination of previously held beliefs (this was inevitable
>considering the variety of beliefs and traditions represented).
>
>One result of this re-examination was the God-given revelation and
>rediscovery of who He is.  Our faith is that there is only one God who is
>spirit - one essence, one nature, one person.  This is the God of Abraham,
>Isaac, and Jacob.  This is God our Father, who also revealed Himself as
>Son (the incarnate Word) and Holy Spirit.  In old testament times the Lord
>was known by his personal name Yahweh, which was held sacred and holy by
>his people.  In new testament times we were given a new name, the name of
>God with us, the name of Jesus, a sacred and holy name.
>
>In summary, we believe in one true and only God, whose personal name is
>Jesus.  He has revealed himself as Father (transcendence), Word
>(immanence), and Spirit (presence) - each of which points to a particular
>relationship of God with believer.  We accept a trinity of relations
>(transcendence, immanence, and presence) only, not a trinity of persons -
>but even this is a human attempt at understanding a God given revelation
>of oneness.
>
>This is why we call ourselves the Church of God in Christ Jesus.  The
>Church is the Fathers family (the Church of God), which is called by his
>name (in Christ Jesus).  Our Church name is a a profession of faith.  This
>is also why we baptize in the name of Jesus, which is the name of the
>Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
>
>Until recently, we believed that we were the only christian group that
>accepted the unequivocal unity of our Lord.  we have since discovered that
>the Church of the New Jerusalem (followers of the teachings and writings
>of Emmanuel Swedenborg) has a similar belief regarding the Lord (they have
>been around for at least 300 years) -- but they accept scriptures in
>addition to the Bible, and as a result have extra-biblical teachings;
>whereas we accept the Bible, and the Bible only as Scripture.  More
>recently (last year to be exact) we have discovered the existence of the
>oneness movement and its recent development within the Pentecostal
>tradition.  The existence of another Bible based, Christ centered
>religious movement is an occasion for great joy.  I personally look
>forward to further dialogue with our brethren in Christ.
>
>Brother Minister Ezra Santos
>
>
>
>