Transcript of Rizal's

Religious Views
Module 7 Rizal's Religious Views Rizal's
Religious Upbringing Rizal grew up nurtured by a
closely-knit Catholic family.

He was educated in the foremost Catholic

schools in the period in the elementary,
secondary and college levels.
ON RIZAL'S VIEW:
"He must not be held responsible for everything
spoken by his character but only for what he
said in his own name."
A philosophy of a different Catholic practice
intertwined with the use of TRUTH and
REASON. However, he developed a life of
philosophy of a different nature.
Why the change?

1. Ideas of Modernism
2. Enlightenment Ideas
3. Principles of Deism, Rationalism and Masonry Deism:
"natural selection" - the acceptance of a certain by religious
knowledge that is inborn to every person or that can be
acquired by the use of reason with rejection of supernatural
revelation. Rationalism "there are truths that the intellect can
grasp directly."
Masonry Three core principles of Brotherly love, relief and truth... With these
principles, Rizal became more hostile to the friars in the Philippines who:

1. Misuse the name of religion for a few pesos.

2. cry religion to enrich their haciendas

3. use religion to seduce simple young women

4. use religion to free themselves from an enemy

5. Use religion to disturb the peace of a married couple and of a family.

Deistic Theology Roman Catholic Theology Rizal - Pastel's
Correspondence

1. Religious belief is reduced to God's existence and the immortality of the soul.
2. Religious practice is reduced to mere ethical behavior
3. The role of the church and her ministers is reduced to mere moral guides in
matters pertaining to private life.
4. Supernatural revelation is not possible.
5. Scripture is a mere classical writing.
6. Miracles are mere figments of the imagination
-Religious practice is an important dimension of man's belief in God.
- Religious practice is not merely an ethical behavior but God's way of guiding his people
The Church and her ministers are true instruments of God in guiding his people
-. Supernatural revelation is true.
- Scripture is not just like any other classical literary work but a book written according to the inspiration
of God.
- Miracles are truly God's work. "The judgment of conscience is the supreme and final authority in the
decision regarding moral conduct and religious belief. God himself has equipped each one with the
'lamp' of intelligence as personal guide.
The person may or must have recourse to the opinion and judgment of others, to extrinsic authority; but,
in the end, the decision rests on judgment made in the light of one's own God-given conscience."
Rizal concluded two things:

1.An idea sincerely conceived and practiced, no matter how opposite it is to

one's own convictions deserves a deep respect.

2. Religions, whatever they may be ought to make men not enemies of one
another but brothers. On the Problem of God Rizal's view on Religion:

was based on pure intelligence and he preferred to see God in a more practical
and realistic view rather than believing for the sake of faith. Basically, he
derived his belief through Reason and Necessity, not through Faith. Pastells -

"God is the unchangeable spiritual substance, infinite, and subsisting by itself in

a most simple act." The Roman Catholic View:
They argued that man can know God both by Reason and by Faith at the same
time, for faith and reason are but two paths leading to the same truth that is God.
Rizal - "How can I doubt God's existence when I am so convinced of my own?
Whoever recognizes the effect recognizes the cause. To doubt God's existence
would be to doubt one's own self-awareness (consientia) and consequently
everything." Rizals view Roman Catholic view Rizal believed in revelation, but for
him it means “revelation of nature,” not the revelation according to Christian
theology.

Rizal denied the Roman Catholic notion of divine positive revelation for four
reasons:

Pastels depended on the teaching of Vatican I concerning divine revelation.

Revelation is defined as a body of truths and moral doctrines tradition, which god
had tradition, which god had promulgated through the prophets and Christ, and
entrusted to the infallible teaching office of the church.
On Revelation
1. It fails to satisfy the rationalists criterion of clarity.
2. It is not universal because language is of the scriptures is not understood by all.
3.The bible, which is the record of the insights of men and women, is unreliable because it
contains, errors, inconsistencies, and contradictions, and it admits of conflicting
interpretations.
4.Miracles cannot be taken as true to authenticate revelation, since they contradict nature
and are therefore impossible. Rizal rather believed in the kind of revelation through the
mediation of nature, or natural revelation and conscience Rizal spoke of natural revelation
as something that “speaks to us and penetrates our being from the day we are born to the
day we die.” Rizal further asserted that “the best religions are those that are simplest,
most in conformity with nature, most in harmony with the aspiration and needs of men
here les the excellence of Christ’s doctrine.”
Religious views of José Rizal

During his exile in Dapitan in 1892, the National

Hero of the Philippines Dr. Jose Rizal, who was
also a Mason, had the opportunity to engage Fr.
Pastells through correspondence. They argued
about many things including the concept of God.
Dr. Jose Rizal

Friedrich Nietzsche
Based on the letters Dr. Rizal wrote,it can be said that
his concept of God could be summarized into three
(3) notions. First, he believed that God existed.
Second, he believed that God was Plus Supra. Lastly,
he believed that God was the origin of nature; that is,
nature was the expression of God.
As regards the first notion, Dr. Rizal made explicit that he believed that
God existed. He was convinced that a supernatural power behind all of
creation had to exist. He says to Fr. Pastells, "We are entirely in
accord in admitting the existence of God: how can I doubt it when I am
convinced of my own existence? Who recognizes the effect recognizes
the cause." It was clear that Dr. Rizal subscribed to the idea of
"necessary-contingent beings"where the contingent being needed
other beings for it to exist while the necessary being existed on its
own. As such, the necessary being becomes the origin of contingent
beings. This necessary being has been labelled by many as "God."
Dr. Rizal was clearly not convinced that a sufficient understanding of God that was as
powerful and metaphysical as the Supreme Being could be contained in the
consciousness of little mortals who have no capacity to understand beyond what was in
the words of Nietzsche "divined" to them. Mortals who were so limited could not have
possibly comprehended a limitless being. As such, Dr. Rizal articulated that the only
genuine faith was "blind faith." In short, the more people tried to
explain to him what and who God was, the more he got convinced that they did
not know what they were talking about.
What Dr. Rizal meant by "blind faith" was, since it was
impossible to comprehend God as He was Plus Supra, he
could have only hinged his belief on the fact that "God was
God." As such, he did not deny nor did he accept the religious
explanations of the mortals around him. Blind faith was more
of a disposition of philosophy than of religion. It was a
disposition where one did not accept and deny despite having
a personal conviction.
Mi Último Adiós

Mi Último Adiós (English; “My Last Farewell”) is a poem

written by Philippine national hero Dr. José Rizal on the
eve of his execution by firing squad on 30 December
1896. The piece was one of the last notes he wrote
before his death; another that he had written was found
in his shoe but because the text was illegible, its contents
today remain a mystery.