Jerry Vines On Pulpit Plagiarism

Jerry Vines has published countless resources over the years to help pastors study and write sermons. He along with Jim Shaddix, who formerly taught homiletics at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary but is now at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, authored a book on how to write and deliver expository sermons.

That book is called Power In The Pulpit, and is available HERE.

On page 206 of the 1999 edition of this book, Drs. Vines and Shaddix make the following statement:

“Read the sermons that other men have preached on the passage under consideration. Be careful how you borrow material, however. Plagiarism is rampant in almost every aspect of our society. Via the Internet, students and preachers alike now have access to complete research papers and entire sermons with the click of a mouse. Remember that the lifting of material word for word is improper. Be sure to give proper credit whenever you quote another preacher or writer. Jay Adams asserted that borrowing is permissible when you give new organization, new integration, and new expressing to the materials you have read. He suggested that you mix the materials through your own mind, add them to your own experiences, then present them in your own way.”