Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC™) Magazine PASUGO Boasted Ventilacion over Mr. Jesse Romero in a Debate

[Watch: Jesse Romero vs Jose Ventilacion. Visit the official website of Mr. Jesse Romero; as of March 2015, no official website for Jose Ventilacion]

‘Church Of Christ’ Reaffirmed in Debate as the True Church
By Gene N. Abella

An audience estimated to 2,000 filled to standing-room-only capacity the Fox Theatre in the City of Visalia in Northern California during a public debate held on January 20, 2012 between a group representing the Roman Catholic Church and the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ).

The topic of the debate was “Which is the True Church?” Taking up the cudgels for the Catholic Church was Mr. Jesse Romero, a lay Catholic evangelist and retired Los Angeles deputy sheriff who was brought in by the Lumen Christi, a Catholic men’s Bible Study group in Visalia, with two associates helping him. Representing the Iglesia Ni Cristo ws Brother Jose J. Ventilacion, a minister of the gospel and an instructor at the College of Evanglical Ministry in the Philippines, with fellow-ministers Rolando Dizon and Rommel San Pedro assisting him.

Mr. Jesse Romero, anchored his stand that “the Catholic Church is the true church” in the Catholic doctrine that Apostle Peter is the foundation stone of the church and was the first pope of the Catholic Church, thereby establishing the papacy which continues up to this day. He asserted that Apostle Peter was appointed as, what he called, “Prime Minister” when our Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 16:19, thus: And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven”.

Mr. Romero asserted that Apostle Peter alone was given the figurative key, which he said was a badge of authority given to him by Christ. With this authority, the concluded, Apostle Peter had primacy over the other apostles, as purportedly evidenced by our Lord Jesus Christ always calling on him first, and on one occasion saying to him “Feed my sheep” three times. All these, he assumed, support his statement that Apostle Peter was the Prime Minister of Christ’s kingdom on earth which, he said, is permanent and extends to this day, with the popes as Peter’s successors.

When cross-examined about who presided over the Council of Jerusalem in 50 A.D., Romero said it was Apostle James. However, when shown a Catholic reference which claims that it as Apostle Peter who presided over that council, he later claimed, in order to avoid embarrassment, that “all the apostles” presided. Brother Jose Ventilacion refuted that position by citing Acts 15:19 in which Apostle James said, “it is my judgment” which proves that only one made the final judgment. Thus, Apostle James is the leader of the Church, not Apostle Peter. In other instances, Apostle Peter, himself, recognized James s the leader when he said “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren” (Acts 12:16-17, New King James Version) when the people in the house of Mary were surprised to see him out of prison where he was kept by King Herod, but was released by an angel sent by the Lord. Apostle Paul, also recognized the leadership of James as can be read in Galatians 2:9.

Brother Ventilacion countered Mr. Romero’s stand by reading verses directly from the Holy Scriptures such as Acts 20:28 (Lamsa Translation), which show that it is by the name “Church Of Christ”—not Roman Catholic Church—that the apostles called the Church built or established by Christ (Matt. 16:18).

Brother Ventilacion emphasized that to regard Apostle Peter as the foundation stone of the true Church is contrary to biblical truth and a usurpation of the authority and supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. This he proved by reading Ephesians 2:20 which shows that Jesus Himself is the chief cornerstone and I Corinthian 3:11 which says, “For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid” (Today’s English Version).

To cap his presentation, Brother Ventilacion went on to explain that the reestablishment of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) in the Philippines in 1914 is the fulfillment of prophecies in the Bible. It is the third group referred to in the prophesy in Acts 2:39, New King James Version, thus: “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” “You” in the verse refers to the Jews (first group), and “your children” to the Gentiles (second group) who joined the Church during the time of the apostles (Rom. 9:24). “Afar off” refers to the Far East (Isa. 43:5, Moffat Translation), in the islands of the sea (Isa. 24:15, NIV), particularly the Philippines (Asia and the Philippines, p. 169).

With the promise of Almighty God when he said “Fear not for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west” (Isa. 43:5, NKJV), the Iglesia Ni Cristo has grown and spread dramatically and is now firmly established in more than 90 countries and territories around the world, teaching the pure gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing “only one God, the Father, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” who is the foundation stone of the Church.

Brother Ventilacion ended his discourse with an open invitation to the nonmembers present to join the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the true Church established and owned by our Lord Jesus Christ, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, Ibid.)

Source: PASUGO: God's Message, pp. 19-20