Rizal on the Trinity

Jose RizalDid you know that Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero, was non-Trinitarian? If you read the following arguments, you would think you’re reading an Iglesia ni Cristo tract. However, these are in fact from the letters of Rizal to the Catholic priest Pablo Pastells.

"Who died on the cross? Was it God or was it man? If it was God, I cannot understand how a God can die, how a God, conscious of His mission can exclaim in his bitter melancholy: Pater, si possibile est, transeat a me calix iste! [“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass… (cf. Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42 / also see John 18:11) - rly] and on the cross the sorrowful, “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” This cry is absolutely human; it is the cry of a man who trusted in the justness of God and in the goodness of his cause and then saw himself a captive of every kind of injustice, without hope of salvation. Except the Hodie mecum eris, [i.e. Christ’s reply to the good thief, “Today you shall be with me” (Luke 23:43) - rly] all the cries of Christ on Calvary reveal a man in torment and in agony, though, what a man! For me Christ Man is greater than Christ God. If it were a God who said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing, those who laid hands on him ought to have been forgiven unless we say that God resembles certain men who say one thing and then do another. All these subtleties of theology in explaining the union of God with man is for me an effort of fantasy. What fragile mould of human clay contains all the weight of God, Creator of the worlds? [1]

REFERENCES:

[1] The Life and Writings of Dr. José Rizal, Dr. Robert L. Yoder

English

Comments

John 1
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood[a] it.

If you do not believe in this passage, i don't know what to call you... Members should also read the Bible, Book by Book, Chapter by Chapter and Verse by Verse... Just like Bereans in the Bible, they are prepared, excited to hear the word of God, and still, they read it by themselves daily...

Why concentrate with Rizal? Why not read the Bible? READ IT

IM NOT AGAINST WITH ANY BELIEVERS, ACTUALLY IM HAPPY KNOWING THEY SHARE THE GOOD NEWS TO OTHERS... SOMEWHAT AND SOMEHOW, JESUS IS PREACH TO MANY PEOPLE, THAT'S WHAT CHRISTIANS WANT TO HAPPEN... PREACH THE GOOD NEWS!!!

Renjun, I do believe in that passage (John 1:1ff). What I don't believe are interpretations of that passage that are inconsistent with the clear pronouncements of Christ and of the apostles that the Father is the ONLY true God (John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:6, etc.).

Interpreting the passage as teaching a word that is also god in the true sense of the word god would require one to believe in two gods - the god who was in the beginning and the god who was with him.

The anarthrous theos in the Greek version of the clause "the word was god" reveals a lot about the true meaning of the passage. I would like to invite you to attend our bible studies should you be interested in an interpretation that doesn't contradict what Christ and the apostles taught.

By the way, I and many INC members read the bible. It is saddening that there are people who propagate wrong information about the INC. Please stop posting such kind of misinformation.

Sorry if you are not a Rizal fan. But I can't see any good reason for not considering his views, especially if his arguments are valid like the ones presented above. Do you find Rizal's arguments unsound? I hope you can explain why you think the arguments of the brilliant Rizal are invalid.

RIZAL IS RIGHT THAT THERE IS NO TRINITY FOUND IN THE BIBLE...

It was so clear that Jesus Christ teaches only true God>> the Father. in Jn.17:3
And according to the Bible, Duet. 4:39 that the lord is God in heaven and upon earth and beneath; there is none else.

I Cor. 8:6 there is but one God, the Father...

And God himself declared: Is. 44:8 that there is no God besides Him nor he know any....

If Christ is God the same as the Father ( can we say God the Father Jesus Christ and God the Son Jesus Christ? impossible!) And why Christ don't know the exact day he will return...If he also the Father.

Jn. 1:1 does not show(emphasize) Christ is God> John did not say Christ is God.. it says the WORD was God...
'cuz in every phrase has different thoughts..
1. In the beginning was a Word, (John never say the pre-existence of Christ and never states that the word was God.)
2. and the Word was with God, (John said the WORD was with God, never said God was with God. because if we consider here the word is God there is two god's.
3. and the Word was God, (it does not support that Christ is God but it is the words of God.)

Remember that John described what was in God the Father in the beginning of His PLANS.. that there is no one at that time, but only God the Father> that the first thing with God was Knowledge.. the knowledge about Christ...
(and the Word was God..it is God's word which is powerful)John can not pinpoint to any body, but alone, God the father.. the owner of the WORD.)

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