Why this video from the ERB community in Frankfurt is not "assistance".

Two preachers from the "Evangelical-Reformed Baptists Frankfurt" (ERB) want to give Christians ethical guidelines for dealing with corona and corona vaccinations. To do this, they posted a YouTube video that has been viewed more than 120,000 times. Even after the first few sentences, it becomes clear that they are not trying to present a reasonably neutral presentation, but have rather one-sidedly collected all the objections that Christians often hear against an official view of Corona and Corona vaccinations. This impression is reinforced throughout the entire 44-minute presentation.

The allegations made by the pastors are not really convincing either biblically or medically.

Again and again, radical and aggressive expressions are used to create a mood against the state, against vaccination advocates and against all doctors who support corona measures. These groups of people, according to the pastors, do "propaganda" and are responsible for "tyrannical measures." In general, the state stands for a political "tyranny", operates a "robbery of freedoms" and practices far-reaching "censorship"; despite thousands of anti-corona videos on all channels.

The current conditions are similar to those in dictatorships, such as National Socialism. The state allegedly wants to “dehumanize” the citizens with corona vaccinations. Supporters of the corona measures would spread “lies” and “panic”, they would promote a “corona cult” and “make dissidents docile”. According to the pastors, many Christians are faced with the “hardest test of faith they have ever experienced” when asked whether they should be vaccinated against Corona.

No biblical or factual evidence

Without further justification, all previous health measures in connection with Corona are described as a "pretext", whereby, again without any valid justification, a large conspiracy is assumed that does not want to protect against Corona, but pursues another, dark purpose that is not specified.

Without biblical or factual supplements, public reports are presented directly or in rhetorical questions as generally wrong. Perhaps the vehemence of negative remarks and defamation by dissenters is intended to support the incoherent arguments presented below.

1st argument: In the opinion of the two pastors, a vaccination that does not protect for all time and against all corona mutations should be rejected for Christians. This is undoubtedly a strangely unrealistic argument. Countless people take their medicines every day because they don't work permanently. Some previously known vaccinations only work for a limited time; Influenza vaccinations, for example, usually only last for one season. Taking the length of time that a drug has been effective as an argument for its legitimacy is a very bad argument in the context of a Christian-Biblical rejection of corona vaccinations.

Not a single child was killed for the vaccine

2nd argument: The two pastors then deal, somewhat polemically, with the role of embryonic cell lines in connection with the development of corona vaccinations. On the basis of speculation, reference is then made to the allegedly "cruel conditions" under which the corresponding cells are said to have been removed, although today no one can say exactly under what conditions the corresponding cells were removed from the deceased embryos more than 40 years ago .

"It is not known how many children were killed for the experiments," the pastors rightly say, referring to the development of the various corona vaccinations. But if it is not known whether and how many embryos were killed for corona vaccinations, how can one judge corona vaccinations based on ignorance, as the two pastors do? Because we don't know if and how many embryos may have been killed as part of the research, we must ethically reject them, the pastors claim. That's pretty illogical.

The question posed by the two pastors is actually not that open. For the vaccine from Biontech, for example, this can be clearly researched. Not a single child was killed for this vaccination. The single embryo from which the corresponding finish line was grown died more than 40 years ago. The child was not aborted in order to be able to do medical research; which is also strictly forbidden by law in Europe. Only the parents of the aborted child donated individual cells for medical research after their death. The cells developed from this tissue are now generally used in biology and medicine. But they only have a very remote connection to the deceased child.

Because cells were said to have been taken from 70 dead embryos during research into the rubella vaccine, the Frankfurt pastors reject the corona vaccinations. And that although the rubella vaccination has absolutely nothing to do with corona vaccinations. That's not very convincing.

Consequently, do without cell phones and computers

"God commands not to kill," the two pastors then recall. This is undoubtedly a true statement. But no child was killed to develop the Biontech vaccine. Christians should not “participate in the sins of other people”, is demanded in a stern voice. So because a vaccine was tested with cells whose progenitors come from the tissue of a fetus killed 40 years ago, the substance tested with it must be ethically rejected, it is claimed here.

The embryo on which this cell line is based was not killed for research. The cell removal has nothing to do with the presumed cause of death. Today's cells are not even identical to those that were removed in the past. After all, the ethical judgment of an object, in this case vaccination, is not influenced by how it is tested.

However, if the pastors really take their own statements seriously, they should definitely refrain from their cell phones and their computers. Every year, numerous children die in illegal child labor in poorly supported tunnels to extract the cobalt it contains. You should also do without electricity, because the American government carried out sometimes fatal radiation tests on hundreds of people in the 20th century to research nuclear power, without the knowledge of those involved.

So anyone who consumes electricity today, which in Germany often comes from French nuclear power plants, or who has their doctor take an X-ray, benefits, according to this argument, from the killing of people in the development phase of this technology. Here the two pastors obviously do not think their argumentation structures through to the end.

There is also talk of the "murder of a number of children" and the "robbery of their organs". This has nothing to do with vaccine development at Biontech, for example, or with the way human cell lines are used in medicine. Incidentally, the two pastors should not forget in their argument that most of the drugs of the past 15 years have been tested on the cell lines discussed here during their research. The pastors should then clearly state that they are asking their followers to stop using many of the newer drugs with this reasoning.

They should also make it clear that in Germany and throughout Europe, killing an embryo for the purpose of medical research is strictly forbidden. The cell lines mentioned here are no longer directly related to the embryo that died more than 40 years ago. Today, not one atom of the cell lines comes from the original embryo, from which only individual cells were removed after its death.

The body should not be put at risk

3rd argument: Then the two pastors reject corona vaccinations simply because it is a “new technology”. Accordingly, any medical research would have to be judged skeptically because it is new, one would have to conclude accordingly. However, the pastors forget to mention that the relevant medical technology has been in the works for more than 20 years and is only being used for the first time in a widely used product.

4th argument: The two pastors are also skeptical about corona vaccinations because the body of the Christian is referred to in the Bible as the "temple of God", i.e. it should not be exposed to any risk of possible side effects of a corona vaccination. The fact that there are of course also serious side effects of corona infections is not discussed in detail, although of course this also damages the “temple of the Holy Spirit” in the same way.

However, if the two pastors were really concerned with the health of Christians, they would promote healthy eating, less stress, regular medical check-ups, avoiding stimulants or more sport, because these behaviors are responsible for significantly more illnesses and deaths than they are speculatively claimed side effects of corona vaccinations. Incidentally, the pastors are already leaving their actual field of theology here and suddenly appearing as medical experts, whose judgment Christians should then bow to.

Her arguments regarding the alleged side effects of corona vaccinations are also difficult to understand. On the one hand, the pastors correctly point out that we do not yet know whether and what long-term effects there may be. This means consequences that only appear years later. Experts exclude this, however, since the immune reaction is complete after a few weeks. The actual "long-term consequences" occur during this period - but they have been very well researched. Nevertheless, the pastors assume, as a matter of course, but without any deeper justification, that there is a high but speculative number of unreported cases, which should lead to skepticism about corona vaccinations.

It is then also claimed that those who have recovered should have natural immunity to corona. However, it is forgotten to point out that this immunity is limited in time and of course does not generally help against new mutations, just like the corresponding vaccinations. In contrast to presumed late effects of vaccination, the pastors do not mention late effects of corona diseases, although these are fairly widespread.

Biblically not well founded

Christians should “love the truth”, the two pastors then reminded them in this context. According to this, the state is lying and Corona critics are telling the truth. Such comparisons are quite obviously a misuse of the Bible, because of course the truth stated in the Holy Scriptures has nothing to do with the medical assessment of Corona or vaccination.

According to the two pastors, the state should be criticized because it allegedly spreads fear and terror. You can of course see it that way, even if the crucial question is whether this fear is justified or not. But the two pastors also generate fear and spread panic with their contributions, possibly even more so because they include a divine authority and the endangerment of eternal life. It is precisely their drastic judgments that arouse fears in many Christians, although their statements in this regard are not really well founded in the Bible.

Referring very heavily to “the integrity of the human body” in the context of the Corona vaccine is a bit of an odd line of reasoning. Slavery is not even clearly forbidden in the New Testament, although it restricts personal, physical freedom much more than a supposed vaccination requirement. According to the pastors, however, the "inviolability of the body" mentioned in the Bible generally does not allow involuntary vaccination because the body belongs to God. However, it is not clear where there is supposed to be a connection. Above all, because God does not speak out against vaccination, but the individual human being. Thus, according to this line of reasoning, the body would belong to man and yet not to God.

Suddenly the two pastors then somehow refer to the Basic Law as God-given. Because the Basic Law guarantees the “free will of the citizen”, it is also regulated by God, they suggest. According to this, most people living today and in the past are in a state that is not in accordance with God because they cannot enjoy the rights of the German Basic Law. Here, however, politics and the Bible are mixed up rather haphazardly.

Consent to Vaccination Signs of the Antichrist?

5th argument: The two pastors state that the “mark of the beast” does not have to be visible on the outside. However, anyone who follows the alleged “lies” of the state today, i.e. is not a determined opponent of corona and vaccination, somehow already belongs to the kingdom of the Antichrist, it is suggested. Finally, in this context, the two pastors also come to speak of the biblical indication that no one can buy or sell without the "mark of the beast". It is claimed that this will soon be the situation of the unvaccinated. That is why one could at least partially regard the consent to vaccination as a sign of the Antichrist.

However, if it is really about the possibility of being able to shop, then the arguments of the two pastors are not very convincing. On the one hand, it would be much easier to call for people to do without bank accounts, credit cards or mobile phones, because these will be far more relevant and monitorable for shopping in the future than corona vaccinations.

On the other hand, even with the worst fears, unvaccinated people can still shop in supermarkets, shopping malls, pharmacies, on the Internet and so on. In the near future, however, you may not be able to shop anywhere without an account or mobile phone. So if the two preachers were any consistent, they should persuade their listeners to close their checking accounts and – again – to get rid of their cell phones. Otherwise, the reference to limited shopping sounds pretty one-sided and somehow far-fetched.

Being made in the image of God does not depend on state regulations

Then the two pastors refer to a rather artificial comparison of the Roman sacrificial command during the early persecution of Christians. At the moment I have not yet met anyone who was asked by a doctor to worship the Chancellor as God or to offer him a sacrifice during the corona vaccination. There is a pretty striking difference between a state obligation to go to school, to pay taxes, to obey traffic rules or to be vaccinated, and the request to worship a ruler as god.

The two pastors also see the mandatory corona vaccination as a question of man's image in God's image. It's quite a strange idea that anyone could rob or reduce man's likeness to God. According to biblical information at least, this being made in the image of God does not depend on any state regulation or a law perceived as unjust, but solely on God. Therefore, of course, no one can rob or belittle man's image in God's image.

The two pastors do not really address the quite relevant problem of reverse discrimination: I have observed that in some Christian circles, believers are increasingly being discriminated against who are not sufficiently critical of a corona vaccination, as the two pastors do in their contribution do. Anyone who gets vaccinated is therefore possibly sinful or at least weak in faith. Similar Corona sermons announce to every Christian willing to be vaccinated that they have accepted the "mark of the beast", are guilty of the deaths of numerous children, have committed a mortal sin, are subject to the state or disobey God, damage the salvation of souls or for one To promote cadaveric obedience to the state.

Better to point to God and his deliverance

Ultimately, the classification of Corona, the political protective measures and the corresponding vaccination must be answered primarily medically and politically. One-sided statements like those of the two pastors are in danger of misusing the Bible, fomenting unnecessary fear and further deepening the gaps in opinion and understanding between Christians.

Therefore, it is now important to leave the decision for or against a corona vaccination to the political and medical considerations of the individual Christian, to promote the spiritual community and to devote oneself to the really important tasks, namely to point out God and his liberation, as well as in all situations to spread hope and the peace of God.

This article first appeared as a video podcast on Michael Kotsch's YouTube channel. The theologian is chairman of the Bible Federation. He also teaches at the Brake Bible School. Reprinted with permission.

more on the subject

» Lawyer on compulsory vaccination: "Significant encroachments on fundamental rights"

» Pastor on vaccination campaign: "We had to send many people back home"

» What corona vaccines have to do with aborted embryos - and what not