“My God is not stupid. He is almighty, all-wise and all-loving. To him be the glory, now and forever,” Bishop Alberto Uy of Tagbilaran said on his Facebook page on Saturday.

Some stories in the Bible, the prelate said, call for a deeper interpretation as they have religious truths in them that tells humanity of God’s plans and how people should live their lives.

“Not all (stories) in the Bible are to be interpreted literally. Some stories, though not historical, have religious truths, which can inform us about God and His plan for the world and humanity,” Bishop Uy said.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that original sin stemmed from Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Original sin means the absence of sanctifying grace, and explains the fallen or sinful nature of man.

God, however, promised the coming of a savior, Jesus Christ or God the Son, who was crucified on the cross, as only the sacrifice of God himself could satisfy for man’s sinfulness.

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Duterte took potshots at the Church and the creation story in the Bible in his speech in Davao City on Friday.

“Adam ate [the forbidden fruit], then malice was born. Who is this stupid God? Estupido talaga itong p******a kung ganun (That son of a b***h is really stupid if that is the case). You created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work,” he said.

The President said he merely recalled what he learned in catechism class in Ateneo de Davao University and San Beda College about the creation story.

“God was lonely, then He created paradise and that’s planet earth, okay? And He saw that the paradise, the product of His industry was beautiful. Birds, fish, everything. Then—and so God said, ‘I will create man’,” he said.

The President also said he found it absurd that infants are born with original sin.

“So all of us are born with an original sin. What was the sin? Why original? You already have a sin even if you are still in somebody’s womb,” he said.

“What kind of religion is that? That is something I cannot accept. What sin?”

‘Let’s do better’
Duterte’s rant prompted Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan diocese, a biblical scholar, to call on religion instructors to do better in explaining the Bible to the next generation.

“Note that he (Duterte) claims to have learned this in his catechism class. Attention, catechists and religious educators, maybe we can do a little better with the next generation?” David posted on his Facebook account.

Duterte maintained that he believes in God, but not in religion.

“I believe that is a universal mind. But to what extent is the influence of that… You know, I cannot picture him as a human being in the image of God. I have this faith and abiding thing about… Pero ‘yang relihiyon? Sus maniwala kayo diyan. (But religion? Really? You believe in that) /BY CATHERINE A. MODESTO ON