Selling Jesus

Read the article.If selling Jesus is a sin, is buying Jesus a sin? Often, people are convinced by the biblical arguments that Christian teaching should not be sold but then want to know whether Christian teaching may be bought. How does this apply to a Christian who wants to go to a seminary that charges tuition, read an e-book that costs money, etc.?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Allow me to introduce you to an article by Karl Fogel titled The Surprising History of Copyright and The Promise of a Post-Copyright World. Although the author is not concerned with the monetization of ministry, the arguments are compelling, setting an example for all Christians on how to think critically and historically about intellectual property. Although the author does not argue his points from Scripture, the article serves as a reminder of how much of the secular world is deeply concerned with the injustice, deceit, intimidation, and other negative practical results of the copyright cartel; while Christians by and large have failed to address these issues in any significant way–either through the lens of God’s Word or out of pragmatism and a zeal for justice. As I’ve said before, even if you disagree with everything Selling Jesus stands for, or with everything in this article, the fact remains that the Church is guilty of no small neglect in the critical and biblical assessment of copyright and intellectual property law and use, particularly as it relates to ministry content and the Word of God itself. Most people believe copyright exists to protect artists, but its history reveals a different story: it originated as a tool for government censorship in 16th-century England, later evolving into a distributor-controlled system via the Statute of Anne. Publishers, not authors, drove the creation and strengthening of copyright laws to maintain control over distribution and profit, a history often obscured by the industry's narrative of artist protection.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Read the article.One of the common misconceptions about the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is that it is a universally public domain work—something many tout as a feature of its superiority to modern copyrighted translations. But most don’t realize that it is still under a special perpetual copyright of the Crown in the United Kingdom.Unlike the KJV, some modern translations such as the Berean Standard Bible are public domain worldwide. So while it’s important for a Bible translation to be in the public domain, there are modern translations that fulfill that better than the KJV does.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

We love to highlight ministries that are freely giving, not only so that others can see that it’s possible, but also to encourage them and help you know how to pray for them. So in this episode we’re putting the spotlight on Lingua Deo Gloria. Learn more at linguadeogloria.com.Learn more about communicative language teaching.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Read the article. When someone needs a blood transfusion, should you sell your blood to them, or give it freely? How much is blood worth? What is the price of human life? These are questions most haven’t thought much about, but the landmark 1970 book The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy explores them deeply. The author, British sociologist Richard Titmuss, carefully considers the moral, ethical, and practical implications of turning human blood into merchandise. Through his comparative study of the blood donation systems in the United States and Britain, he exposes the troubling consequences of commercializing blood. And he’s not alone. Many others have been wrestling with the issue of whether or not parts of the human body can be turned into products. So the main question I want to raise in this article is: if even unbelievers are questioning the propriety of selling the sacred, why aren’t Christians questioning the propriety of selling parts of the body of Christ (i.e. ministry)? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

In this episode (which is the audio of the video version) we will see that while Christians should glorify God in all aspects of life, not all work can be classified as ministry. We’ll look at how misinterpretations of biblical passages often lead to the misconception that “everything is ministry.” From a careful examination of Scripture we’ll show that Christian ministry should be understood as Spirit-empowered service specifically and directly for the edification of the Body of Christ. Read the full article with the Affirmations and Denials Simony article Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 02:56 The Challenge of Balance 07:32 Challenging Passages 17:24 A Confusing Semantic Range 24:31 The Confusion within English 27:14 The Biblical Concept of Ministry 30:59 A Key Passage: Ephesians 4:11-16 42:11 A Working Definition 43:24 Testing the Definition 53:22 Christian Ministry as Stewardship 01:01:05 No Easy Formulas 01:03:18 Application 01:14:27 Looking for Loopholes 01:17:54 Conclusion ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Read the article. For those interested in disseminating ministry materials at no cost, Creative Commons licenses have provided a standard alternative to full copyright. Any license in this suite of licenses ensures that material may be distributed to anyone without royalties. In particular, the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA) has been a favorite among many. Unlike many other Creative Commons licenses, which require explicit permission from the copyright holder to make derivatives or use them in potentially commercial settings, works under CC BY-SA may be used without friction between the copyright holder and the user of the copyrighted work. The two features of CC BY-SA are the Attribution feature and the ShareAlike feature. The Attribution feature requires that any redistribution of the work or any derivative must include credit to the copyright holder. The ShareAlike feature requires that any derivative work must be licensed under the same license. This license propagation is often known as “copyleft” and prevents a creative work from being repackaged or distributed under more restrictive terms. In the context of ministry, the ShareAlike feature has a natural appeal. For one who cares about the no-cost distribution of ministry materials, CC BY-SA ensures that derivative ministry materials are also distributed at no cost. One who writes a book and offers it gratis would certainly be disappointed to see another translate the book only to sell it. Yet, there are several reasons why applying this feature is problematic. This episode discusses these reasons at length. While the ShareAlike feature of Creative Commons licenses seems to promote free access and sharing of ministry materials, it prohibits truly free access. Ministries should abandon this feature of the Creative Commons license as well as any other restriction. Instead, they should use alternatives like Creative Commons Zero, which dedicates the work into the public domain. It is only through waiving every claim to works of ministry that the gospel may be freely given as it was freely received. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

This episode discusses how the sin of Judas has a modern-day parallel in the practice of selling Christian teaching for profit. Those who trade the things of God for material gain are committing a sin akin to Judas's betrayal. Despite the good intentions behind selling Christian teaching, Conley warns that it is a serious sin with grave spiritual consequences, urging repentance and a return to freely sharing truth as the Giver intended. Read the article. ⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Eric is the leader of a prominent publisher of valuable resources in the field of biblical studies. He loves God with all his heart, and wants to see the Church edified and grow in the knowledge of Christ through the amazing things he publishes. In spite of knowing the Bible better than just about anyone, he still has not considered whether commercializing the truth of Scripture is something God condones or condemns. If he were to be honest, the question has never crossed his mind. One day a prominent Bible translation ministry called Lingua Divina Translators came to him with a proposition. They encouraged him to consider how much more impact his resources could have if he were to free them up under open licenses, especially so that the Bible translation movement could use them without any legal or financial hindrance. At first Eric thought they were absolutely crazy, and dismissed the idea. Then he read something they sent him that explained the philosophy more thoroughly, and it slowly began to dawn on him that perhaps they were right. Maybe it would be more strategic for the Kingdom if he released his catalog under open licenses.... Read the full profile. The second part of this podcast comes from A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1853) at the end of the second section. ⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

Here at Selling Jesus, we advocate that ministries release their content into the public domain. Among other reasons, we believe this to be the most consistent approach to Jesus’s command to “freely give” in Matthew 10:8. However, a question occasionally arises at this point: Couldn’t another party republish that content and claim it as their own? Further, couldn’t they then take legal action against the original creator who hadn’t claimed copyright? For lack of a more official term, I’ll refer to this as “copyright hijacking.” In this episode Conley Owens answers this common doubt and concludes that ministries should never hesitate to give freely by dedicating their content to the public domain. Read the article. ⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church