Is there a “67th book” of the Bible? The Ang Dating Daan people are in awe of the wisdom of their founder because he allegedly “discovered” the “67th book” of the Bible which is found written in the book of Acts. 

Marahil ay napakinggan niyo na ang sinabi ni Mr. Soriano patungkol dito. Ito ba ay totoo? Ito ba ay tamang pag-uunawa patungkol sa mga aklat ng Bibliya? Tama bang isipin na may “67 books” ang Bbliya kung saan originally ay may 39 books sa Old Testament, 27 books naman sa New Testament, at isa pang libro diumano na na-discover ni Mr. Soriano na kaniyang ipanahayag din naman sa kanilang religious event na The Bible Exposition of the Members of the Church of God International noong January 20, 2021 (1:50pm). 

Ano ba itong ipinangangalandakan nila na “67th book” diumano ng Bibliya? Sinasabi din nila na “unheard truths” daw ito na una lamang mapapakinggan sa kanilang religious group. At walang sinumang pastor or religious leader diumano ang nagturo tungkol dito. Mr. Soriano claimed that the apostles and elders wrote a particular “book” with the approval of the active members, as if libro talaga ang tinutukoy dito sa Acts 15:30. The fact of the matter is that when we say “books” based in the New Testament, we are actually referring to epistles which are basically letters originally written by the apostles mostly to the churches or individuals.

So saan ba nanggaling itong paliwanag na ito ni Mr. Eliseo Soriano? We can hear the voice of an Ang Dating Daan reader citing the passage found in Acts 15:19-25,

¹⁹ Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: ²⁰ But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. ²² Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:

²³ And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: ²⁴ Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: ²⁵ It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. ²⁷ We have therefore sent Judas and Silas to tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸ For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place on you any burden but these essential requirements: ²⁹ to keep away from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you avoid these things, you will do well. Goodbye.”

Ayun, dito pala nanggaling ang kaniyang paliwanag. Dahil sa kaniyang nabasa dito na nagsulat lamang ang mga apostol, mga elders, at mga brethren ng epistles (letters), mga bagay na hindi dapat gawin ng mga Gentile believers sa pagitan ng mga Jewish believers. Ang hindi naiintindihan ni Mr. Soriano ay hindi ito matatawag na 67th book of the Bible sapagka’t hindi naman ito nadiskubreng nakahiwalay. Kung ito marahil ay nakahiwalay na nadiskubre ng mga bible researchers ay malamang ma-consider nga itong 67th book. Nguni’t hanggang 66th book lamang ang meron tayo at wala nang lugar sa isa na namang libro (or epistle or letter). Sa katunayan ang sulat na tinutukoy dito ni Mr. Soriano ay nagsimula lamang sa Acts 15:23-29 na ina-address sa mga Gentile believers sa Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Ito ay isang napakaikling sulat na tinukoy ni Luke sa kaniyang historical church account sa book of Acts. Kumbaga ay ginawang big-deal lamang ito ni Mr. Soriano para lamang masabing may nadiskubre siya. Kasi nga naman ay sinulat ito ng mga apostol, elders, and brethren. Well, hindi naman talaga ito sinulat in a sense na literal dahil kung magkagayon ay absurd naman itong isipin na sabay-sabay nilang sinulat ito. But there is another church secretary na kumuha ng dictation para isulat ito in behalf of all the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Now, this letter is not meant primarily for the modern-day believers but for the Gentile believers during that time kaya mali na isipin nina Mr. Soriano na ang apat na essential requirements dito: to keep away from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality, ay para sa mga believers outside of their context. Dito pa lang ay sasabit na agad siya.

Wala namang problema sapagka’t tinatanggap nating ito ay isang letter or epistle na nanggaling sa mga apostol, elders, and mga kapatiran sa Jerusalem. Pero, inuulit ko na hindi ito nakahiwalay na tulad ng mga ibang “books” or epistles na tinutukoy sa Bible, tulad ng Romans, Philippians, Galatians, Titus, at iba pa na pawang nakahiwalay na sulat. At para lamang masabing may nadiskubreng “67th book” diumano ay ipagpipilitin talaga na hindi daw talaga 66 ang libro ng Bibliya kundi 67 books daw. Sadyang nakakatawa pero may kaseryusuhan na ipinapaliwanag ito ni Mr. Soriano at ng mga iba pang mga Ang Dating Daan na speakers.  

Sa katunayan, Mr Soriano even said, “There is no scholar and there is no religion that revealed this truth within the Bible. Bro. Daniel what do you say about that?” And Mr. Daniel Razon concurs with Mr. Soriano saying 

“Bro. Eli, they can try Googling it but they would not find that one. And then it is really something that we have heard from you and we have understood all the details of this epistle that was written by the apostles, the elders, and the brethren. And the manner by which it was written was describe in the book of Acts, Bro. Eli. And this is really something that would give us the idea as to how many men wrote the Bible. It is far different from the usual understanding, and the usual things that you can find in the informations that are being given in the internet or any other information source where you can find the authors of the Bible they say is about 40. And as you said Bro. Eli that is not going to be the case if we are going to consider that there is another book that was not (that) found, and that is the reason why it was not incorporated into the compilation of the Bible. And it is the 67th book that can be considered written by the apostles, the elders, and the brethren. And if you are to count them all, there is no specific or particular number because the elders and the brethren don’t have the exact number where you can count them to add to the writers of the Bible. But this is a fact that cannot be denied, that it is part of the books that were written. It so happen they were not able to find a copy of it.” ¹ 

Totoo naman talaga na walang papanig na mga iskolar at dalubhasa sa paliwanag ni Mr. Soriano dahil siya ay may maling pag-uunawa sa kung bakit nilatag ang mga libro ng Bibliya na 66 books lamang.² At ang isa pa ay ipinangangalandakan din nilang hindi lamang daw 40 ang authors ng Bible but “more than” 40 authors daw dahil si Tertius ay isa din daw na manunulat ng Bibliya na dapat ikonsider na author. Again, this is wrong, dahil sa may mga tinatawag na amanuensis, scribe, secretary, or tagapagsulat si Paul kaniyang mga epistles. Itong book of Romans ay alam nating sinuklat ni Paul dahil sa Romans 1:1 pero normally ay ipinapasok ng writer ang kanilang mga pangalan sa huli para malamang sila ang nagsulat nito (see also 1 Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17). Kung talagang si Tertius ang author ng sulat na ito ay sa una pa man ay dapat isinama na ang kaniyang pangalan sa Romans 1:1. Pero hindi naman niya sinama ang kaniyang sarili at ang kaniyang isinulat lamang ay “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1). Para sa information ng marami ay malalaman nating si Tertius ay isang manunulat ni Paul sa book of Romans 16:22 while Silvanus is that of Peter in 1 Peter 5:12 kung ikaw lamang ay masusing mag-aaral.

Hindi na bago ang ganitong pagpapaliwanag ni Mr. Soriano sapagka’t kahit nga yung mga definitions ng omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence ay mali din ang kaniyang understanding at hindi niya naiiintindihan kung bakit ganito ang paliwanag ng mga theologians sa nature ng Diyos. Again, just to end this article, it is my conclusion therefore to say that there is no such thing as a “67th book” of the Bible because this letter was incorporated in the book of Acts. Since hindi naman ito nakahiwalay ay bakit ipagpipilitan ni Mr. Soriano ang kaniyang naging maling obserbasyon? 

Maraming beses ang mga leader ng mga kulto ng Kristiyanismo ay nagpipilit na may ipakitang kakaiba para lang masabing sila ay iba sa mga iba pang religious movements. Nguni’t ang nakakalungkot, sa kanilang kakaganito ay lalo lamang silang napapariwara sa maling katuruan at nagiging katawa-tawa sa kanilang mga pinaggaga-gawa. Huwag nating papaniwalaan ang mga turong ito ni Mr. Soriano sapagka’t wala naman talagang Bible scholar ang mag-a-agree sa kaniyang paliwanag na ito. Ang totoo ay meron lang talagang accepted na 39 books sa Old Testament at 27 books sa New Testament or 66 books in totality na tanggap ng sangka-Kristiyanuhan. Huwag tayong magpapadaya sa mga lider kulto ng Kristiyanismo.

Footnote:

¹ The 67th Book of the Bible | The Old Path. Accessed February 4, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xBZwhKAftY

² Sa katunayan, ang number of Jewish books of the Old Testament ay 36 lamang sapagka’t pinag-isa nila ang 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Samuel, at 1 & 2 Chronicles. Pero pareho pa din naman ang laman nito sa Kristiyanong Bibliya.