Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

We’ve Got to Talk About Vaccines, with Dr. Gilbert Meilaender

Written by Matthew Lee Anderson | Jan 26, 2021 8:32:40 AM

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.

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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]

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Follow DerekAndrew, 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.