Stolen Goods: Tempted to Plagiarize

Understanding the necessity of citation and the damage of deceit

Thomas G. Long, well-known for his own books on preaching, has written an excellent article on the problems inherent in 'borrowing' other people's sermons from the Internet, or other sources, in order to use them as our own in our own churches. He looks at the pros and cons, at the ethics, and whether there's a difference in plagiarising someone's sermon compared to plagiarising someone's other writings.

His conclusions are mostly against the practice, but it's plain from the comments that follow the article that some people regard it as normal to preach someone else's sermon on a Sunday.