Given the talk about plagiarism in the #SBC, before we cast stones at anyone, perhaps we would benefit from some historical perspective. In what follows I’m not arguing for a position per se. I’m offering views & accounts from prominent figures/eras on this that might surprise u.
For instance, Augustine of Hippo, the giant of the Latinate tradition allowed the use of another’s sermon content. He argued, “There are indeed some men who have good delivery but cannot compose anything to deliver…
Now if such men take what has been written w/ wisdom & eloquence by others, & commits it to memory, & delivers it to people, they cannot be blamed, supposing them to do it w/o deception. For in this way many become preachers of truth (which is certainly desirable)…
& yet not many teachers; for all deliver the discourse which one teacher has composed, & there are no divisions among them.” (“On Christian Doctrine”)…
Augustine’s reasoning was simple… “For those who steal take what does not belong to them, but the Word of God belongs to all who obey it; & it is the man who speaks well, but lives badly, who really takes the words that belong to another.” (“On Christian Doctrine”)…
Yet, this view wasn’t normative. The golden-tongued John Chrysostom decried sermon plagiarism, arguing “If it has occurred to any preacher to weave into his sermons any part of other men’s works, he is exposed to greater disgrace than those who steal money.” (“On the Priesthood”)
So where Augustine allowed the recitation of another’s words/ideas based on the common nature of divine revelatory truth for God’s people, Chrysostom wouldn’t even allow one word to be stolen from another…
What about the Prince of the Preachers, CH Spurgeon? In Martyn-Loyd Jones’ “Preaching and Preachers” he conveys a story about Spurgeon that would horrify anyone who preaches another’s prepared message…
Jones recounts one Sunday when Spurgeon slipped into the back pew of a country church at Essex when he was too depressed to preach at the Met Tab. There he heard a layman preach one of his sermons. When the preacher saw Spurgeon following the service he was horrified…
Yet, Spurgeon declared to him, “I don’t care who’s sermon it was. All I know is that your preaching this morning has convinced me that I am a child of God, that I’m saved by grace, that my sins are forgiven, that I’m called to ministry, & I’m ready to go back & preach.” …
Of course Spurgeon himself stole sermons from others. Jones also recounts when Spurgeon confronted a student at Pastors’ College who was gaining notoriety specifically for preaching from Spurgeon’s sermon outlines…
When confronted by Spurgeon & asked who’s sermon it was (assuming that it his) the student said “William J Bath’s.” So, Spurgeon forgot that he had preached Bath’s outline. Even worse, he included that sermon in a printed book as his own. Oratory plagiarism & print plagiarism??!?
In truth, Spurgeon scholars attest that the British preacher lifted sermons from men like George Whitefield, John Bunyan, John Gill, Richard Baxter, & a host of others. So this wasn’t some one off instance for him…
Between Augustine & Spurgeon the medieval era was replete w/ examples of sermons that were used & reused by ministers. One reason for this was quite simple. Many priest had little to no education/theo training. So they relied on preaching manuals & sermon collections…
Pressing forward to the Reformation it is assumed by some scholars that Martin Luther used the work of earlier German Bibles without citation in his haste to produce his famous September testament of 1522. So he likely preached from a text that he partially plagiarized to produce
Moreover, in 16th century England, two Books of Homilies, which included sermons crafted by trained biblical exegetes were frequently read aloud in Anglican Churches on certain occasions. Most Reformation sermons were original to be clear, but by no means were they all…
For sure, in our modern western culture where we emphasize individuality & where intellectual copyrights are championed our sensibilities are highly attuned to instances of plagiarism. Accordingly, this can be scandalous for us in our context…
Yet, even here we might remember that in certain non-Western cultures verbatim recitation of another’s ideas or words, even without citation, is not deemed anathema but a sign of deep respect & high honor…
Again, it is not my place to make a pronouncement about the current controversy in support of or against. My opinion on this is just that, it’s my opinion & as a historian it ain’t in this thread. Rather, my goal here is to situate this discussion in a larger historical frame…
Yes, there needs to be discussions on what is wise & prudent, about permissibility, & perhaps asking why some of our preachers feel compelled to rely on other’s words. But these are convos that pastors should be able to have in good faith without the fear of being cancelled…
So before we cancel anyone on this matter perhaps we should pump the breaks a bit & avoid being captive to the moment & our culture. Of course I can’t remember where I got that line “pump the breaks.” Probably my dad. He’s a car guy. Pls forgive me as I honestly can’t remember.
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