Who can forget that memorable line from M. Night Shyamalan's best movie, The Sixth Sense? In the film, an emotionally disturbed child confesses to his psychologist that he sees ghosts. The movie turns dramatically at this shocking moment. Here, the film gives its strongest hint yet that the lead character, played by Bruce Willis, is not what he seems. He is actually dead.
Perhaps we are now at such a
juncture in the world of Christian publishing.
In the last few weeks, the
evangelical and Reformed world was given an inside glimpse of the process of “ghostwriting”
when a massive plagiarism scandal broke out in full public view.
For the sake of Christian
charity, I will omit the names of the key players and the publishing house(s)
involved. Astute readers will already be aware of the circumstances, and they
need not be repeated here.
In full disclosure, I am
personally acquainted with one of the men in the center of the controversy.
This makes what I am about to say even harder.
This article is not about
the errant citations that fell through the cracks somewhere in the editing
process. I regard the term "plagiarism" to be unnecessarily hyperbolic
and even inflammatory.
The books attributed to this
well known author are generally footnoted extensively. I have several of them on my
shelf. In some, literally hundreds of academic citations are provided. But there is
a far more significant problem lurking below. We must now say "the books attributed
to..." the writer.
Perhaps I should define the
term. 'Ghostwriters' are usually relatively unknown writers, researchers, and
scholars who write substantial portions--or even all--of the books that are actually
credited to better known leaders.
So far as I can tell ghostwriting, which has been called "the standard practice of the industry" by the
publishers, might possibly be supported by any of five possible reasons.
However, none of them seems
morally justifiable to me. They are:
1. The person to whom the
book is attributed is not a competent writer. Response: All writers need substantial editing. Unfortunately, none of
us can see all of our own errors in print. But no one pretends that writing and
editing are actually the same thing. Hiring another person to do the actual work
of writing and composing while taking the credit oneself on the cover
seems to me to be the moral equivalent of singing a solo with the vocal track
of another performer playing on the sound system. In both cases, the clear intent
is to deceive the audience. If one cannot write well, he ought not pretend that
he can.
2. The person to whom the
book is attributed does not have the time to write the work himself. Response: Writing requires a great amount of time
and work; far more than most realize. However, when a known leader employs
others do this work--and yet signs his own name to one or more books every
year--he creates an illusion of his own superhuman abilities. He is putting on
a show and expects others to buy tickets. When a Christian leader gets to this
point, he is actually just selling his own fame. If one has not the time to
write, he ought not pretend that he has.
3. The person to whom the
book is attributed is not thoroughly knowledgeable about the subject matter on
which he writes. Response: None of
us are omniscient. All who aspire to write well must do a significant amount of
research. Often experts must be consulted. However, having a team of
researchers (or a research assistant) do the bulk of the study creates
the illusion that the named author is far more knowledgeable about the subject
matter than he really is. As with 1 & 2 above, he is creating an illusion
about himself that he hopes (and expects) his audience will believe. If one has
not the expertise to write, he ought not pretend that he does.
4. Publishers, seeking
greater sales revenue, prefer better known leaders to lesser known writers for
obvious marketing reasons. Response:
Doing business with a view towards making money is not intrinsically wrong in
itself. Certainly Christian ethics does not require a business to lose
money in order to be considered moral. On the other hand, selling a
product--any product--that purports to be something it is not is deceiving to
the consumer at best and morally fraudulent at worst.
5. The ghostwriter is not
well known and cannot garner an audience of his own at this time; he needs to
"get his foot in the door" somehow. Response: Everyone must begin somewhere. Many
careers must begin in the "mailroom." Nevertheless,
allowing one's own work to be usurped by a more popular Christian celebrity
seems to compromise the very integrity of the craft of writing. For this
reason, it would seem better not to write at all than to participate in
someone else's self-promotion or a corporation’s greed.
Since none of the above
rationale seems morally persuasive to me, I am inclined to see a spiritual "deadness"
in the entire enterprise of ghostwriting.
I see dead people.
The fact that most Christians
(myself included) simply don't know how widespread this practice really is seems more frightening than a horror flick.
My guess is that there are
dozens of well-known pastors and Christian celebrities who have availed
themselves to ghostwriters that now dread the possibility that they too may be exposed
as frauds. Likely, their audiences would be horrified to learn that they
write little to nothing of the books that they hawk under their own names.
When I wrote Hold Fast the Faith, my devotional commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith,
it took me nearly five years to bring it to completion. As an unknown author,
almost half of that time was spent convincing a reputable publisher to take on
the project. Finally, one did.
I wrote every word, often
late at night after my kids went to bed, or very early morning before the
coffee pot even finished brewing. I was working full-time in the ministry,
pastoring a church of 400 people, while trying to be a responsible father to my
children and husband to my wife.
I know what it takes to
write a book and pastor a church at the same time. Believe me, I can
imagine how great the temptation would be to cut corners if I was ever offered
the opportunity to cheat. It would be so easy!
But writing is an arduous
task. One pours out his soul with his words. He shapes his sentences as a
sculptor shapes marble. Slowly. Arduously. Good books are not stamped out in a
plastic mold by "research teams," they are handcrafted.
Can anyone really imagine
C.S. Lewis using a ghostwriter? Or Augustine? Or Calvin?
In other words, I would
rather grind out even one book that contained my own spiritual DNA—my blood,
sweat, and tears--than publish volumes by passing off some other writer's work under
my own name.
One’s conscience would have
to die before he would be able to participate in such a sham.
--Matthew Everhard is the
Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.
He is the author of Hold Fast the Faith: A Devotional Commentary on the Westminster Confession of
1647.
