Christian group incensed by Duterte’s ‘blasphemous’ rant vs God

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte committed the “ultimate sin that only Satan can do” when he called God “stupid,” a Christian group said.

Intercessors for the Philippines, an inter-denominational national prayer movement, strongly condemned Duterte’s “blasphemous words” against God.

“IFP believes that President Duterte has reached the highest limit of his arrogance and pride thinking that he can curse God, blaspheme Him and get away with it,” Bishop Daniel Balais, IFP national chairman, said in a strongly-worded statement Tuesday. 

He said that it is time to denounce Duterte’s “defiance of God and his mockery of the Bible.”

“His pride in his ‘iron hand’ way of rule; his utter disregard for the dignity of life that resulted in the shedding of tens of thousands of innocent blood in two short years of terror; the proud and unrestrained mouth that spewed cusses, curses and abominations has finally brought him to commit the ultimate sin that only Satan can do: blaspheme and defy the very name and character of God,” Balais said.

He added: “Our nation stands to be judged by God severely if we do not act with decisiveness and condemn this voice of the devil using President Duterte’s mouth to insult God.”

In an interview on ANC's “Headstart,” Bro. Eddie Villanueva, founder of the Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, disclosed that religious leaders demand Duterte to apologize to God.

READ: Evangelical churches 'immensely offended' by Duterte rants

On Tuesday, The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches said it was “immensely offended” by Duterte’s pronouncements.

“PCEC finds it completely inappropriate for our nation’s president to derisively curse the God of the Christian faith, who is deeply worshipped not only by a majority of Filipinos but also by a vast number of people from all over the world,” the group said.

There were an estimated 86.79 million Christians in the Philippines in 2010. Of those, 75.94 million were Catholic, around 10 million were Protestant and around 820,000 were classified as “other Christian.”

In a televised speech Friday, the Philippine leader questioned the Genesis creation story and why God would tempt Adam and Eve, whom he created. Duterte, however, clarified on Monday that he was not talking about his God and was instead insulting the God of his critics.

In an effort to defend his rants, Duterte’s mouthpiece, Harry Roque Jr., said that the chief executive’s outburst stemmed from his alleged bad experience with priests when he was younger.

To ease the rift between the Church and Duterte, the government formed a committee that will hold dialogue with leaders of religious denominations.

READ: Gov’t forms committee to reach out to Church leadership