Controversially, it illustrated how greedy Jesuit priests schemed, manipulated, and took advantage of Carmen,[1] a young, naive, pious, and affluent heiress.

[1] According to literary critic Soledad Reyes, Sa Ngalan ng Diyos is a "passionate polemic" against Jesuit priests, an influential religious order representing the Roman Catholic Church, a powerful and authoritative institution in the Philippines.

Reyes further explained that Aguilar's Sa Ngalan ng Diyos is unlike the "polemical writing" or "literature of caricatures and parodies" during the 19th century because the novel scrutinized the Jesuits, not the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Augustinians who are categorically known as "friars who owned vast wealth and property" during the period.

[1] Aguilar's novel scrutinized the "insidious hold" that religion, in general, may have over people, in this case the Catholic Church over Carmen, the heiress.

In the introduction, Añonuevo discussed an additional topic that Aguilar tackled in Sa Ngalan ng Diyos, namely the Katipunan of Philippine heroes Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto.