The wife of charismatic preacher Kenneth Copeland did not tell people specifically to not take the flu jab but heavily implied that it was unnecessary because Christ has 'healed' us. She added that Christians could avoid the flu by telling themselves "I'll never have the flu".
"It's not particularly wise advice," said Steve Fouch, a nurse from the Christian Medical Fellowship.
"The flu vaccine is one of the few things that could reduce your risks of getting flu or it being a serious illness."
He told Premier about how Christians balance the power of God and the fact that we live in a fallen world: "We do believe that God heals and it's quite clear from scripture that prayer for the sick is part of the ministry of the church but at no point does it say anywhere in the Bible that we shouldn't seek medical help and support."
Fouch reinforced the point that Copeland's views seem to have no Biblical backing: "To assume we can just pray and we won't get the flu has no real basis in scripture and no real basis in evidence or fact."
Describing how doing both is not wrong, he explained: "By all means pray and trust in the Lord but equally we're to use sensible means to care for ourselves and our families.
"Most Christians working in healthcare and medicine today would say that the gifts of wisdom and insight and learning, that have enabled us to develop the medicine that we have today, come from God... God has given us the capacity to us to do that.
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