Felix Manalo - Biography

Biography

Felix Y. Manalo was born in Barrio Calzada, Taguig, in Rizal province, southern Luzon, in the Philippines on May 10, 1886—at a time when the country was yet in the clutches of Spanish colonialism and when Roman Catholicism was still considered the state religion. He was raised in the catholic faith by his parents, Mariano Ysagun and Bonifacio Manalo. (It was sometime after his mother’s death that he decided on his mother’s name over his father’s name. He grieved over the death of his mother for whom he had a great affection. Thus for sentimental reasons and for expressing his reverence, he adopted her name, Manalo.) He began acquiring his education from barrio school under the tutelage of a “maestrong Cario” (a teacher called Cario).

He worked as a herd boy, and was later apprenticed to his uncle in the latter’s photography studio and sometime in 1904, opened a hat shop in Paranaque, Rizal.

Felix Manalo began to entertain his first doubt in the Catholic teachings when, sometime in 1904, he witnessed a public debate between a Catholic priest and a Protestant pastor in Paranaque, Rizal. The Protestant pastor evidently prevailed and gained Manalo’s profound interest.

That year, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and attended classes given by that sect in the Methodist Theological Seminary wherein he eventually became an evangelist.

Thus began a seemingly endless search for the true religion—a search that led Manalo to join one Protestant sect after another—scrutinizing every doctrine and comparing them with the biblical percepts.In 1907, he joined the Presbyterian Church wherein he became a pastor after attending the Union Theological Seminary. In 1908, he joined the Disciples of Christ and served as an evangelist for a year before leaving, having been accused of domestic violence.

The manner of baptizing by immersion by the Christian Mission attracted Manalo’s attention and, in 1910, he joined the missionaries and later became an evangelist. He married Tomasa Sereneo of Paco, Manila who died soon after giving birth to their son, Gerardo.

In 1911, he joined the Seventh day Adventists wherein he also became a pastor. Then Bro. Manalo remarried. His second wife was Honorata de Guzman of Sta. Cruz, Manila. The couple were both active in the Church’s activities, Felix Manalo as a minister and Honorata, a deaconess. But then, after pondering on the Adventist’s persistent observance of Sabbath, Manalo found it unscriptural. He abandoned the Adventist Church and returned to his hat shop. According to some source, Manalo was suspended by the Seventh Day Adventist for alleged adultery.

Dissatisfied with the doctrines and practices of the then existing religions, Manalo severed himself from all of them. Then he transferred his business and domicile to Pasay City and also opened a barber shop. Although he was frequently visited by his former colleagues in the Adventist Church who tried to bring him back to the fold, Manalo did not waver.

He totally lost faith in the established religions. He began to associate himself with atheist and free-thinkers to examine their conviction which he found false and irrational, as well. He discovered that wrong interpretations of the bible caused both the atheist’s disbelief and the diversity of the doctrines of different religions.

In search for the truth, Manalo resolved to undertake a thorough examination of the doctrines of the different religions.