The following two screen shots (highlighted in red) were taken from Janet Mefferd’s website and are photocopies from Mark Driscoll’s book “Trial: 8 Witnesses from 1 & 2 Peter” published in 2009. The book itself references a link where you can download a PDF copy for free, but as of this writing the link doesn’t seem to work, (www.8witnesses.com). Not to worry, if you would like your own copy of this before it is pulled from the market you can go to the Mars Hill website and obtain a copy there. I would suggest you don’t delay because I have a feeling this may not be available for long.
The following screen shot (highlighted in green) was taken from Janet Mefferd’s website and is a photocopy from “New Bible Commentary 21st Century Addition,” edited by D.A. Carson, R.T. France, J.A. Motyer and G.J. Wenham and published in 1994.
The screen shots above can be viewed in their entirety at Janet Mefferds web site.
Janet Mefferd has been on the receiving end of much criticism because of her interview of Mark Driscoll. In my opinion this criticism has been unwarranted. In the interview she raised legimate concerns about plagiarism by Mark Driscoll. You can listen to that interview here.
On November 26, 2013 Janet Mefferd aired another broadcast in which she revealed additional acts of plagiarism by Mark Driscoll. This can be listened to at Mefferd’s website or at the recording I made below:
In this latest Mefferd program she shares how she unsuccessfully attempted to get in contact with the head of Tyndale Publishing. Justin Taylor of Crossway Books tweeted, after Mefferd’s initial interview of Driscoll, that no Christian authors should go on Mefferd’s show after what she did to Mark Driscoll. (In my opinion this is simply outrageous behavior by Justin Taylor. Janet Mefferd reveals an author has plagiarized material therefore don’t go on her show? Is this not an indirect defense of plagiarism?) So Janet Mefferd wrote a long letter to the man in charge of Crossway Books but, predictably, received no response. Mefferd then goes on to tie all this ill-treatment to the fact that she is disrupting the good old boy network of Christian book writers. She notes there is a lot of money to be made in this industry. The firestorm unleashed against Mefferd reminds me a bit of Acts 16:19-24:
“But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
An interesting development to this story is the fact that two days after the initial interview of Driscoll, Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church announced on their web site they have added Dr. Paul Tripp to their Board of Advisors and Accountability.
One must wonder whether Dr. Tripp is aware of the mess he is getting into? The skeptic in me thinks this could be similar to the move C.J. Mahaney, one of Driscoll’s mentors, made when his blackmailing and covering up of sexual abuse came to light – that is, enlist the support of some Christian heavy-weights in an effort to right the listing ship. It should also be noted that Dr. Paul Tripp has at least one book published by Crossway and the subject matter of the book appears like it would qualify him to help Mark Driscoll.
If Mark Driscoll steps down from the ministry immediately or is fired, as D.A. Carson says anyone who plagiarizes should, he will have other careers open to him. He may wish to consider politics, specifically the office of Vice President, where prior precedent has established that plagiarism is no hindrance to holding the office!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIaALKHVrAA&w=640&h=480]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAOGaGFztM&w=640&h=480]
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