Southern Baptist president, Ed Litton, has been embroiled in a plagiarism scandal since we uncovered in June multiple examples spanning multiple years of him stealing the words, personal stories, illustrations, and outlines of other pastors, including JD Greear, his predecessor, as well as Tim Keller. Litton has been on a self-apologetic tour for the last several months making excuses for his behavior while being given cover from Southern Baptist academic institution leaders like Danny Akin and Adam Greenway.
While the vast majority of Southern Baptists believe Litton’s plagiarism to be clearly sinful, and most people believe he should resign, the elite circuit leadership of the denomination–which operates almost identically to the secular deep state, without accountability–have failed to address the issue on a formal level.
Despite SBC leadership’s failure to act, smaller local institutions are acting. The Conservative Baptist Network (CSB) has called on Ed Litton to resign as well as others, like Founders.
Earlier this week, the Tennessee Baptist Convention passed a resolution condemning plagiarism after a debate directly implicating Ed Litton’s unrepentant sin.
While the resolution itself does not name Ed Litton, the resolution sponsor, Lane Self, agreed that the resolution arose out of the Litton controversy. Don Edwards, a messenger from Sunbright, directly slammed Litton during the discussion, stating that “one who is openly unrepentant of the sin of documented plagiarism serves as our national Southern Baptist Convention president,” Edwards said during Wednesday’s session.
Edwards went on to defend the watchdog groups–like Reformation Charlotte–who have been exposing and pointing out Litton’s plagiarism. Edwards stated that those groups are treated like outcasts and noted that it is unrepentant sin and false doctrine that cause division, not those who point it out.
Of course, there are always going to be those who twist Matthew 18 in an effort to try to provide cover for those who are acting out in public, unrepentant sin. Sam Nichols, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Collierville, asked, “Yes, we all condemn plagiarism, but do we have to be in the headlines to say it?” adding that if we see someone in sin, we should go to them privately.
The resolution condemning plagiarism passed with a simple majority–but it should be noted that there were some who objected. Why anyone who calls themselves a Christian would object to a resolution condemning pastoral plagiarism is beyond rational thinking. Nonetheless, there were a few.
