COVID-19 vaccine is not the mark of the beast - Religious scholar

Tamara Bailey/Gleaner Writer

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Romans 14:1-5

AS CALLS are made for churches to actively push pro-vaccination efforts, associate professor of New Testament Studies, Biblical and Applied Theology at Northern Caribbean University, Dr Michael Oluikpe said, according to the Bible, each individual has the choice of seeking knowledge and making morally sound decisions for his/her well-being.

He believes that though the church is an authoritative body in society with the power of influence, every individual has to make up his/her own mind about vaccination.

“True biblical Christianity allows for diversity in views and conviction, that’s why we have a lot of denominations among other things…Roman 14: 1-5 addresses subjects that are not immoral in themselves.”

With the public expecting the church to be more vocal in the pandemic, Oluikpe believes the church should be more vocal in other matters.

“The Christian church in general should be emphasising Christ like character. The church should stand up for the values and virtues for the kingdom of God, like caring for people, not being judgemental, speaking out against crime and violence and being advocates for those who have no voice. I think those are the things that we should be vocal about.”

He added that churches should also encourage members who continue to flaunt COVID protocols, to act in accordance with the law of the land, in so far as it is necessary, and be their brothers’ keeper.

“I think that the pandemic spread because of a lot of disobedient Christians who could not comply with very simple rules; wear a mask, sanitise, stay at home, be patient and social distance. I believe the church should be vocal in encouraging Christians-who represent God well, to be obedient to the laws of the land, as long as those laws are not against the law of God.”

He continued: “Greed is the major disease that has affected even Christians. We have Christians who have enough but have not done enough to help others. There are a lot of people who have been badly hit during this pandemic. Some have lost jobs and have no food. What God has called us to do is to use our means to help those who don’t have…support and help where you can. These are the things that the Church should be vocal about and not fighting about who is vaccinated or not.”

While a number of persons also continue to build a correlation between the mark of the beast and vaccination, Oluikpe said that thinking is as a result of lack of knowledge and understanding of the biblical context of Revelation.

He said occurrences as far back as the implementation of the United States national security number was identified by members of the public as the mark of the beast, and so it remains today.

“The context of Revelation 13:16 -18 presents an anti-Christ power that is seeking to control the world and turn the world against God and forcing everyone to receive this mark. This is a recurring theme, whenever there is an institution trying to enforce something that people are not familiar with, they become wary and tag it as antichrist or the mark of the beast.”

He continued: “There has been a lot of end-time teaching that has pushed the idea that the mark of the beast is going to be something that everybody is going to be asked to receive as a way to control the world.”

However, Oluikpe maintained that vaccination is not the mark of the beast and believes that all persons should come to an understanding of what is important for their health.