{"id":32292,"date":"2022-09-10T16:03:49","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/2-questions-to-ask-before-you-quote-someone\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:03:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:03:49","slug":"2-questions-to-ask-before-you-quote-someone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/2-questions-to-ask-before-you-quote-someone\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Questions to Ask Before You Quote Someone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n

By Chris Hulshof<\/em><\/p>\n

We live in a sound bite society. Breaking news pushes to our digital devices with attention-grabbing headlines designed to be read in five seconds or less.<\/p>\n

Last night\u2019s game is reduced to three minutes highlights as hosts discuss plays that shaped the course of the contest.<\/p>\n

Content that is both attention-grabbing and quotable becomes a gateway that leads viewers or readers into information.<\/p>\n

One of the best examples of quotable and prepackaged content in our culture is the meme. It\u2019s a form of visual communication that\u2019s high on impact but low on source accuracy.<\/p>\n

The prevalence of this kind of attention-grabbing content requires discernment before we repost, hit retweet, use the material on the church blog, or add it to an upcoming sermon.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Before you pass along a quote, ask these two questions about it first:<\/p>\n

1. Who said that?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I sat in the first staff meeting of the semester with my fellow academics. Our pastor was delivering the opening address to all the teachers and staff.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d chosen to speak about apologetics and how to engage the current generation of students. More specifically, he wanted to address how apologetics speaks to the person and work of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

Halfway through his lecture, he said, \u201cAs Josh McDowell once noted, Jesus Christ is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group of people around me all looked at each other with expressions that asked, \u201cDid he really just say that? Did he just misattribute one of C.S. Lewis\u2019 most noted apologetic summaries of Jesus?\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality is you\u2019ll find this concept in McDowell\u2019s apologetic book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict<\/em>. But even there, the author is careful to reference the origination of this idea to Lewis.<\/p>\n

This kind of quotation misattribution is an error of scholarship. It\u2019s evidence that not enough study went into what\u2019s being presented. Sloppy scholarship tells your congregation you\u2019re at best ill-prepared or at worst too lazy to get the information correct.<\/p>\n

However, this error is easy to correct. If you check the footnotes of the books or articles you\u2019re reading, you\u2019ll often find the proper source work for the material in question. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the original work and avoid errors of misquotation.<\/p>\n

2. Where did he or she say that?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I frequently see two highly quotable, thought-provoking memes on social media. The first is a supposed quote from C.S. Lewis, and the second is a quote attributed to Charles Spurgeon.<\/p>\n

In the former, Lewis is quoted as saying, \u201cWe read to know we are not alone.\u201d In the latter, Spurgeon is credited with, \u201cA time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem with both of these quotes; no record exists of either Lewis or Spurgeon saying them.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Lewis quote comes from the movie Shadowlands<\/em>. In this movie, Lewis\u2019 character (played by Anthony Hopkins) does eventually say, \u201cWe read to know we are not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there are two issues here. First, the quote originates from William Nicholson, the screenwriter of Through the Shadowlands<\/em>. He\u2019s the true author of this quote. He wrote these words for a dialogue between Lewis and one of his students.<\/p>\n

Second, there\u2019s no direct correlation between this quote and anything in Lewis\u2019 works. In other words, we have no record of C.S. Lewis ever making a statement like this.<\/p>\n

Similar issues plague the Spurgeon quote. As best we can tell, this isn\u2019t something he ever said or wrote. The quote is probably the work of Archibald Brown, one of Spurgeon\u2019s students.<\/p>\n

In 1889, Brown delivered a sermon addressing \u201cfeeding sheep or amusing goats.\u201d The excerpt from this sermon demonstrates how such a misattribution can occur. While it may sound like Spurgeon, it is, in all likelihood, the product of one of his students.<\/p>\n

This kind of misattribution is an error of presumption. It\u2019s an error often predicated by frequency of use. People assume it must be correct because it\u2019s widely circulated.<\/p>\n

Avoiding this error requires you to pay attention to the attribution of a particular quote. The Spurgeon quote, for example, shows up in numerous books but lacks a proper citation.<\/p>\n

When you spot this kind of shoddy referencing, you should be skeptical of the validity of the quote. If you feel the need to use a quote that has sketchy source support, note it in your sermon.<\/p>\n

Consider introducing the quote with something like, \u201cLegend has it that so-and-so once said…\u201d Doing this will help your congregation understand there\u2019s some uncertainty as to the actual authorship of the quote, which helps stop the spread of misinformation.<\/p>\n

Getting the supporting material correct in your sermon is a matter of credibility. Mishandling quotes may cause your congregation to question if you\u2019re mishandling the biblical text as well.<\/p>\n

However, applying these two simple and discerning questions will prevent the unforced error of getting your quotes wrong.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Chris Hulshof<\/h2>\n

@US_EH<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Chris is an associate professor and department chair for Liberty University\u2019s School of Divinity where he teaches courses in Old Testament survey, inductive Bible study, and theology of suffering and disability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n