PLAGIARISM OR ATTRIBUTION

I Was Just Thinking About - - -

Have you sat in a Church Worship Service and while listening to the sermon thought to yourself, “Hmmm, this sounds familiar”? The same might be true while reading a Christian Publication and you came to the obvious conclusion, “I’ve seen (or heard) this somewhere else.” In World Magazine, a column dated April 15, 2016 written by Emily Belz is titled: “Consider The Source.” Some of her written thoughts include: “The reason may be that the giver of the sermon or the writer of the book has taken the material produced by someone else and is conveying it as his own work product. When this occurs, it is determined to be a form of plagiarism. Tyndale House Publishers defines Plagiarism as: 'presenting another’s ideas or writing as one’s own. That can appear either as word-for-word copying without attribution or inadequate citations for the source of an idea…Plagiarism remains a danger for authors who become careless in writing or research…Andy LePeau, the retired head of Inter-Varsity Press after a 40-year career stated: It’s just easier to pull stuff off the internet and use it or rework it…There’s this misimpression that because it’s on the web it’s public domain." You can read the entire column by going to:

http://www.worldmag.com/2016/04/consider_the_source

In a general discussion with some Pastor-friends, I have heard them defend the practice of using someone else’s outline and/or developed material. Their defense is without merit. The honest approach would be to identify the source of the material being presented. It could be done by stating: “In my studies for the sermon/lesson today, I was personally enriched by the thoughts expressed by – (name the source - Attribution) – and I thought you would be enriched also by hearing his presentation. My own conclusion is that plagiarism is due to: (1) laziness, (2) an inability to think logically, (3) failure to have read the Bible frequently to glean the lessons God was teaching through his servants in varying real-life situations, (4) an inner desire to be received by people as an articulate speaker-scholar, or a host of other possible reasons. Generally, in many smaller churches, a Pastor may be able to go undetected if/when he has plagiarized material. 

It might be worth the time and money spent to either read a book on or take an extension course from a reputable institution on Basic Hermeneutics ("the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures; the branch of theology that deals with the principles of Biblical exegesis"). There is an interesting narrative in Isaiah 28: 9-13 where the pronouncement of God’s judgment upon Ephraim and Jerusalem is stated. It contains a basic lesson in Hermeneutics as well.  The prophet declared: “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people, to whom he has said: This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose; yet they would not hear. And the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” The Hermeneutical lesson is: “precept upon precept… line upon line…here a little, there a little. It is taking the truths of God and using them as building blocks for those to whom one is ministering.

How, Where, From Whom does one develop the ability to be Hermeneutically correct (being free from plagiarism) when proclaiming or writing about God’s Word and establishing the foundational principles and core values in a person’s or people’s lives? In Psalm 25:5 (NIV), the Psalmist prayed: “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” And, John 16:13 (NIV), “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” Those who minister the Word in any capacity must ask themselves: Am I Spirit-filled and Spirit-guided in what I am preparing to share with God’s people? Consider these things with me.