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

Dr. Gilbert Meilaender joins the show to discuss bioethics, expertise and authority, and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Gilbert Meilaender

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.

The Book of the Month is Evil and Creation: Historical and Constructive Essays in Christian Dogmatics, edited by David J. Luy, Matthew Levering, and George Kalantzis. This volume collects essays investigating how the doctrine of creation relates to moral and physical evil. For the month of January 2021, Mere Fidelity listeners will get a 40% discount on their purchase of this volume with the code MEREFIDELITYJAN21 at checkout.

Timestamps

1:00
The Dean of Lutheran Ethics
2:36
What can bioethics contribute to the conversation about masks & vaccines?
6:52
To Whom Then Shall We Go?
11:18
Rule by Experts
15:08
The Virtues Needed to Persuade
17:39
Do churches have the authority to require masks or vaccines?
22:18
A Potential Plan for Returning to Normal Worship Services
25:57
The Moment When It All Went Wrong
30:48
Rawlsian Minimalist Liberalism?
36:38
UK Cult of Experts vs. US Distrust of Experts
39:20
How much should pastors be asked to do?
47:04
Vaccine selfies (wait for it…)

Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special 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.

Bioethics Public Policy COVID-19 Worship
Vaccines Mini-Series
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