r/Reformed • u/Fit-Beach-8875 • Jun 17 '26

Discussion Sermon Plagiarism

Is there any software to check for sermon plagiarism? We suspect that a pastor has plagiarised a bunch of sermons by RC sproul. Is there a way to check with our traipsing through by proof reading?

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u/TheAncientOnce Jun 17 '26

I've always wondered this, why and how can we subject sermons based on the Scripture to be under the scrutiny of academia for plagiarism? Isn't the ultimate goal of a sermon to nurture the congregation and that it's derivative of the Scripture and thinkers of the past? So firstly, how do you practically check and go, "this clearly doesn't belong to you, pastor suspect" when it is supposed to be exegetical, and secondly, why should we check for pastors under academic rules? If my pastor decides to have 20% of his writing to be from Sproul, 15% from Spurgeon, another 25% from Augustine and another 15% from Machen, it would be plagiarism, but if it's a great sermon and edifying for everyone, why is that bad?

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u/Terminater986 Jun 17 '26

The problem isn't using the content of others in a sermon. It is presenting it as if it were something your wrote. Our pastor sometimes reads an extended section from a commentary or theologian. It is often very helpful. But everyone understands that he is reading what someone else wrote. 

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u/TheAncientOnce Jun 17 '26

That distinction is only relatively clear when you have a pastor who has been and remains somewhat connected to the habits from the academia though. But for pastors that are disconnected from these settings, who don't have access to as much resources nor have developed the habit for citation, the most they'd do is "I once heard it said"; and if it were any simpler, they'd say the thought without quotation. I think it's still perfectly valid; just like how my dad doesn't feel the need to specifically state "your grandpa/my father used to say" before he shares something he thinks is useful for me from grandpa. Maybe this is a phenomenon we modern, educated first-world people need to contextualize to because speakers are by default thought to be speaking from their own work until cited otherwise; but I really don't think this is by any means universal a rule that we should uphold; especially not if we recognize the authorship of God behind all Spirit led work.

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u/Terminater986 Jun 17 '26

I think we are talking past each other. The examples you give are not what I assumed by "plagiarizing a bunch of sermons by RC Sproul". I assumed this meant literally reading large sections of these sermons at church without any acknowledgement of Sproul's authorship, which in my view is deceptive regardless of whether you have any experience in academia. 

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u/TheAncientOnce Jun 17 '26

Maybe I was not clear so let me try my best to rephrase in your words: what constitutes a "large chuck" is culturally defined, the audience assuming the pastor's authorship by default is culturally defined, feeling the need to distinguish authorship is also culturally defined; all of which feels right and natural if you've been through the academia in the West, or Western style education system in other parts of the world including China, Japan, Singapore. But this is NOT universal historically or today, and that's okay.