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

MANILA — 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 interdenominational 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, also said that Duterte should apologize to God.

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.”