Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

ECONOMIC SECTION

35

cerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you,
that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which
today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious saying, What shall we be clothed? * * * But seek
ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you." (MATTHEW, 6:19-33.)
It is important to remember that the Christian missionaries
who came in contact with the Filipinos were of the type that
took the Christian teaching regarding wealth literally. In his
"Indolence of the Filipinos," Rizal traced the causes of our
industrial decadence, and emphasized the religious teaching as
one of them. He said: "Moreover, why work, asked many
natives. The curate says the rich man will not go to Heaven."
For centuries the danger of not going to heaven because of
wealth confronted our people. Being deeply religious, they
preferred heaven to earthly accumulations.
Thus the Filipinos developed in a Christian ethical environment that placed less importance upon thrift and industry, but
more upon charity and alms giving. It is interesting to note
that recent studies made reveal the development of other types
of Christianity that favored business pursuits by the doctrine
of the sanctity of all work, and the respectability of profitseeking. (REINHOLD NIEBUHR, in the Atlantic Monthly,
1926; and the Christian Century, 1926, July; R. H. TAWNEY,
Religion and the Rise of Capitalism).
Not only a more literal interpretation of the Christian teachings, but the abuses on the part of officials forced the people
to find comfort and solace in a religion of wordly abnegation.
After describing these abuses, Rizal wrote: "We are not saying this: it was said by Gaspar de San Agustin, the preeminently
anti-Filipino Augustinian, and he confirms it throughout the
rest of his work by speaking every moment of the state of
neglect in which lay the farms and fields once so flourishing and
so well cultivated, the towns thinned that had formerly been
inhabited by many leading families."