“Stealing sermons is utterly indefensible. A preacher ought to be an honest man throughout. Sincerity, godly sincerity, should characterize him intellectually, as well as morally. His plans ought to be the genuine work of his own brain” (Shedd, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, p. 121)
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What about re-using with permission? How about open-source sermons? It strikes me as very inefficient to not use good work by your colleagues.
That makes it legal, but then, honesty still requires attribution. And I would assert that faithfulness would drive one to give attribution with joy? Seems to be a pretty clear-cut case of “outdo[ing] one another in showing honor”.
That is a very good point. The honor cuts both ways (and I mean that in a positive sense, bear with me..) in that the author of the work is honored that it has been put to further good use.
So the user of the sermon honors the author who is personally honored by the user and the author is further honored (by God) as his work is being disseminated (? what’s the right word here…?) in furtherance of His work. Its honors all the way up!
So Doug, godly people are supposed to preach God’s Word, their own word, not so much. In that sense, a good “sermon” can’t be stolen, because it was not the “preachers” in the first place per Mat. 23:9 below On the other hand, sermons that are “stolen” per Jeremiah 23:30, would be a case of ilicit trade in worthless ideas! Jeremiah 23 25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who… Read more »
Plagiarism isn’t a good thing. But then, judging preachers by the rules of modern copyright laws may not be all that good either. In Titus, Paul quoted a poet without “proper” attribution, for example. If I learned something from Author X, I try to remember to say that I got it from him. If I happen not to be looking at my notes and forget who said it, or if it came from so far back that I don’t remember, I honestly don’t consider that some great sin has been committed. This strikes me as one of those areas where… Read more »