Jump to content

Q&A:Plagiarism: Difference between revisions

Line 15: Line 15:
=The Biblical Sin of Plagiarism=
=The Biblical Sin of Plagiarism=


The Bible records what the Lord thinks of prophets who plagiarize from each other, and say it is a word from the Lord.
Today, plagiarism is considered to be intellectual theft or intellectual dishonesty.  It is specifically defined as taking "the work or an idea of someone else and pass it off as one’s own."<ref>Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).</ref>


'''Jeremiah 23:30'''
In Jeremiah 23:30 we understand that God also does not condone plagiarism:  
:KJV: ''Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.'' 
:NET: ''So I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.''
:GNT: ''I am against those prophets who take each other’s words and proclaim them as my message.'' 
:NLT: ''“Therefore,” says the LORD, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me.''
:NIV: ''“Therefore,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.''


It is clear that God is against plagiarism when a person says they received their inspiration from God, when in fact they received it from another person.
:''Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.''<ref>The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Je 23:30.</ref>
 
Here is the same passage in a modern English:
 
:''“Therefore,” says the LORD, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me.<ref>Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), Je 23:30.</ref>
 
It is clear that God is against plagiarism when a person says they received their inspiration from God, when in fact they received it from another person.  And this is exactly what William Branham did:
 
:''Now, then, when we got finished with the book of the revelation of the church, what God did to those seven churches, which were then in their infancy, or their shadow, in Asia Minor. Then the Holy Spirit revealed and opened to us all the mysteries in There, of how He has brought His Church through history. And if you don’t have The Seven Church Ages on tape, it would be good if you listened to them. And soon they’ll be in book form.<ref>William Branham, 64-0719M - The Feast Of The Trumpets, para. 38</ref>
 
William Branham said that the Holy Spirit was the source of his teaching on the seven church ages, yet he never mentions Clarence Larkin as the source of most of his teaching.  In fact, in many places, he actually [[Plagiarism#Plagiarism in the Church Ages|quotes Larkin word for word]].


=Email #1=
=Email #1=