Many of you have been hearing about recent measles outbreaks across the country. What is so sad about this situation is that vaccination is probably the most effective means of preventing the spread of measles. But when we learn that many of the “anti-vaccination” people are evangelical Christians, the story gets even more distressing.
Folks, many Christians are divided over many things, including how we should be thinking biblically about science. But this is one issue where Christians should be united, if not for the sake of our own families, but also for the sake of our witness to our non-believing neighbors.
Consider this, of the three primary creationist positions, regarding faith/science issues facing the church today (Young Earth Creation, Old Earth Creation, and Evolutionary Creation), all three have leading ministries endorsing the use of vaccines, such as Creation Ministries International, Reasons to Believe, and Biologos, respectively. The fact that all three of these groups, which differ in so many other respects, speak of one mind regarding the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, is a remarkable testimony.
Unfortunately, too many people make the step of drawing from statements, by evangelists like Gloria Copeland (below), that you do not need vaccines (flu, in Copeland’s case), and that we can simply trust in Jesus. Yes, we should trust in Jesus, but this does not mean that we should not take prudent steps to protect our health and the health of others around us. Nothing in life is risk free, but Christians should stop passing on debunked stories as to the supposed link between autism and vaccines. The benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks.
In an era when so many non-Christians have such suspicions towards evangelical Christians, it would greatly speak for the Gospel if Christians can take the step of making sure we approve of vaccinations, in word and deed, as an expression of love towards our non-believing neighbor.
Veracity 
February 4th, 2019 at 8:32 am
Regarding the supposed claim that links vaccines to aborted fetuses, you should read the following article by Dr Jay Wile, a recognized Young Earth Creationist scientist:
http://www.drwile.com/lnkpages/render.asp?vac_abortion
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February 7th, 2019 at 2:17 pm
Here is a most bizarre proof text used by some “anti-vaccine” people. I will not link to the site, as I do not want to encourage this type of stuff. Apparently, these “anti-vaccine” people think that since God created everything good, there is no need for humans to try to improve things. I wonder what type of theology of sin and evil these people have?
Anyway, here you go:
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God doesn’t make mistakes
“And God saw that it was good.” [Not one but four times] Genesis 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:25
Let’s start at the beginning, when God created the Heavens and the earth, and then he created Adam and Eve.
Did God create Adam and then realize He made a mistake? Did He miss something in the immune system? Do we really think we can improve on His creation?
That sounds more like pride rather than wisdom to me. God stated that His creation was “good” four times, not just one.
His good is just that – entirely good, without blemish.
Human nature is to want to improve on things. We think that we can make things easier and better for ourselves (remember how the tower of Babel turned out?). But the Bible is clear that God has it down – and doesn’t need our help.
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…. back to Clarke now…. here are some more proof texts from the same website. Talk about taking things out of context. Here you go again:
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Vaccines contain ingredients that assault the body God created
“Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” 1 Corinthians 6:19
These ingredients include carcinogens, neurotoxins, animal viruses, animal blood, allergens, and heavy metals. These ingredients can cause serious harm and even death to the body.
But the vaccine industry gets a free pass to include them in vaccines in the name of “health.”
Vaccines are man-made
“Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?” Isaiah 2:22
We all know and have our own stories about how hard it is to trust in God in difficult times.
But, we have to trust Him. As Christians, we believe He is sovereign. He knows all. He sees all.
We have to believe that He has our best in mind (Jeremiah 29:11) because He does. We are called to be in this world, but not of it. And that often means going against the grain, walking the narrow path, and seeking His will alone. This applies to our relationships, our words, our work, our actions, and yes, our health decisions.
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…….. back to Clarke once again. Here is the kicker. Looking over the comments on this website, it is apparent that these anti-vaccine Christians have a lot of fear about vaccines, which is ironic, in that they cite “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7, as a proof text for saying that a Christian should NOT take vaccines, suggesting that the promotion of vaccines is meant to scare people. Here are some of the comments:
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“Vaccines actually are designed to make you sick.”
and finally this….
“I turn to the Book of Esther as my example that God gives us the right to self-preservation. The Jews were given the right to fight back against extermination, and this priciple still stands today. We are not required to be martyrs, especially to the pagan practices that surround us. Vaccinations are clearly practicing paganism, as it is not putting our faith in God our healer, nor in our belief that it is by and through Christ’s stripes that we are healed. Vaccinations furthermore attack our bodies’ natural immune system and weaken and/or destroy our health, “the temple of our holy spirit.” Ergo, vaccinations attack us at both a spiritual and physical level! It weakens our bodies AND our relationship with Father in heaven. We have a RIGHT to self preservation, aka self-defense, and that includes attacks from our employers. Fight back, even as the ancient Israelites did. We have the God-given right!”
WOW. JUST WOW.
One more time, back to Clarke. It is one thing to make a calculated risk decision, and decide against vaccination. But you owe to your neighbor not to let your children go near other children, for the safety of their children, as well as your own. We need to pray for these people that they may see the Truth, and not live in fear of vaccinations.
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February 12th, 2019 at 3:16 pm
Another story of a Christian home schooled kid, who learned the truth about vaccines, and got vaccinated himself at age 18, against his parents’ wishes. Good for him:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/02/10/unvaccinated-teens-are-fact-checking-their-parents-trying-get-shots-their-own/?utm_term=.7832a1c4b03f
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