Episode Details

“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” In Colossians 2, the apostle Paul says these regulations made up by man won’t keep you from sin’s infection! But similar rules might protect you from viral infections. So what do we think of these rules when a vaccine comes along? How do we respond to changing views on wearing masks? And how does this whole mask and vaccine situation map pretty much perfectly onto Christian debates about “infections” in fiction?

Episode sponsor

Next weekend, Lorehaven arrives in Orlando for renewed questing with our Realm Makers Bookstore allies.

Realm Makers Bookstore will share its worlds of novels by Christian authors—fantasy, sci-fi, and beyond—at Florida Parent Educators Association, May 27–29 in Orlando. The bookstore will host several award-winning creators of Christian-made fantastical tales.

Guests include Phil Lollar and Katie Leigh with Adventures in Odyssey, fantasy authors James Hannibal and Matt Mikalatos, sci-fi author Steve Rzasa as well as fantasy novelist and Realm Makers co-founder Rebecca P. Minor with co-founder Scott Minor. Stephen will join them to sign books and share a panel discussion. In two sessions, he will explore Why Do Your Kids Need Fantastic Stories for Christ’s Glory? and What’s the Point of Popular Culture and Why Should Parents Care? Learn more at Lorehaven.com.

Episode summary

1. What’s our recent experience with plagues, masks, and vaccines?
2. How do viruses, masks, and vaccines “rhyme” with sin, the law, and grace?
3. How do we apply these real-life parables to “viruses” in fantastic fiction?

Concession stand

• Needless to say, we’re not doing vaccine theories/conspiracies/debates here.
• We’ll also avoid rants about useless quarantines. Others cover that stuff.
• Zack and Stephen have varying personalities/needs about all this. So do you!
• Comparing sin to illness is risky. The Bible says “dead.” Analogies have limits.
• Another limit: sin-viruses comes from within ourselves, not a corrupt world.

1. What’s our recent experience with plagues, masks, and vaccines?

• Everyone has a different story in this tale. We may like to pretend otherwise.
• We are both vaccinated and ready to move on, often foregoing masks.
• We’ve already encountered contexts in which masks seem necessary.

2. How do plagues/masks/vaccines ‘rhyme’ with sin/the law/grace?

• Note that this isn’t about just trying to avoid legalism, e.g. legaliception!
• It’s always about trying to be biblical and follow Jesus our Savior.
• The virus is real. Sin is real. Both are dangerous. Both could kill you. (Sin will.)
• So far as we know, masks are effective. They’re like the origi