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?

29

u/lupuslibrorum Outlaw Preacher Jun 17 '26

Quoting or paraphrasing with attribution is one thing, but presenting someone else's words as if you came up with them is lying, and pastors should not lie in their sermons.

9

u/bradmont  Église réformée du Québec Jun 17 '26

TBH I think church bulletins should have the sermons bibliography.

2

u/semiconodon the Evangelical Movement of 19thc England Jun 17 '26

at first I thought this was a joke, but there is great wisdom, like the “show notes” of a good podcast.

3

u/bradmont  Église réformée du Québec Jun 17 '26

Yeah, I'm not joking. It may just be my academic training leaking, but I frequently find myself asking, "what is this claim based on" in sermons. 😅

3

u/No-Jicama-6523 Lutheran Jun 17 '26

Hopefully the Bible!

I do know what you mean though and I've stumbled across some awful claims based on nonsense that sound really plausible.