Bioethicist Dr. Gilbert Meilaender published a short article in the Hastings Report questioning whether bioethicists should be making expert pronouncements about public policy. But if we can’t turn to bioethicists for answers, where do we turn? Our local pastors? Dr. Meilaender helps Matt, Alastair, and Derek think through the hard questions about masks, vaccines, and church. You will be interested to hear where they end up.
Mere Fidelity is sponsored by Lexham Press, and features the Lexham Press Book of the Month.
For the month of January, our merry band of listeners will get a 40% discount on their purchase of Evil and Creation: Historical and Constructive Essays in Christian Dogmatics using the promo code MEREFIDELITYJAN21. In Evil and Creation, David J. Luy, Matthew Levering, and George Kalantzis collect essays investigating how the doctrine of creation relates to moral and physical evil.
Timestamps:
The Dean of Lutheran Ethics [1:00]
What can bioethics contribute to the conversation about masks & vaccines? | [2:36]
To Whom Then Shall We Go? [6:52]
Rule by Experts [11:18]
The Virtues Needed to Persuade [15:08]
Do churches have the authority to require masks or vaccines? [17:39]
A Potential Plan for Returning to Normal Worship Services [22:18]
The Moment When It All Went Wrong [25:57]
Rawlsian Minimalist Liberalism? [30:48]
UK Cult of Experts vs. US Distrust of Experts [36:38]
How much should pastors be asked to do? [39:20]
Vaccine selfies (wait for it…) [47:04]
To support Mere Fidelity financially, visit our Patreon here.
Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.