Chapter 14 - The Path of Progress

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The Dorian Principle. A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity.
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By Conley Owens. Chapter 14. The Path of Progress.
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Problem vs. Solution. A friend of mine named
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Brian runs a website that displays images of ancient New Testament manuscripts. One day, he received an email from a museum demanding he pay $100 or take down his image of P66, a fragment of John generally regarded as the oldest surviving
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New Testament manuscript. The museum possessed this particular relic, and in sending the message to Brian, claimed that they owned the copyright to the photographic copy featured on his site.
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It's not merely hobbyist activities that are stymied by such approaches to copyright. For example, it has even had an impact on the
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Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, CSNTM, the foremost institution in the digitization and archival of New Testament manuscripts.
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At a presentation from its executive director, Daniel B. Wallace, I once asked why so many of the organization's archived digitizations were inaccessible through the
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CSNTM website. Dr. Wallace responded by appealing to copyright and contractual agreements with the institutions that own the physical manuscripts.
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The notion that copyright protects mechanical reproductions of public domain works is dubious at best, and substantial court precedent indicates otherwise.
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Regardless, in either of these examples, we see that the spirit of Finian continues today.
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The 6th century dispute over a copied psalter has resurfaced in our own digital era. But as discussed in the preceding chapter, this issue goes far beyond manuscripts of scripture.
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All ministry must conform to the Dorian principle. In this final chapter, I'd like to begin with the production of Bible versions, and continue on to address a few other areas where I believe the biblical ethic of ministry fundraising has been compromised.
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At each stop, I'd also like to offer some steps the church may take to restore that ethic.
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Bibles. A surprising number of restrictions limit the distribution and use of scripture.
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To begin, the ancient handwritten manuscripts that preserve our Old and New Testaments are largely inaccessible to the public.
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Many of these manuscripts hide behind physical walls because they have not been digitized, but others hide behind paywalls designed to direct revenue toward museums and other institutions.
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Because manuscripts each have their own scribal peculiarities, prior to translation,
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Bible societies typically rescind these collected writings into a single document, known as a critical edition.
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While legal ambiguity clouds the matter, courts outside the United States have upheld copyright protection for critical editions.
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Likewise, copyright protections apply to translations of scripture. Fair use doctrine dictates that creative works may reproduce portions of other creative works for certain purposes and to limited degrees, but at least in the
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United States, no law concretely codifies these limits. Due to this ambiguity,
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Bible version copyright holders typically provide their own guidelines, offering consumers some guarantee on what usage they will not litigate.
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Almost all English versions of the Bible offer roughly the same guidelines for works that incorporate them. 1.
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The work must not be sold or used commercially. Note that the notion of commercial use typically includes practices such as featuring verses on a website that displays ads to gain revenue.
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2. No more than 500 verses may be reproduced. 3. No book of the
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Bible may be reproduced in its entirety. 4. The reproduced text may not compose more than 25 % of the work that contains it.
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5. The reproduced text may not be modified from the original text of the version. 6.
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The version must be cited. A. Non -saleable media such as church bulletins may simply use the appropriate version acronym, e .g.
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NIV. 2. Saleable media must include a full copyright notice.
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Typically this is roughly 25 words long. Note that items such as bookmarks, t -shirts, etc.
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are considered saleable, even if they are not sold. As just one example, the
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King James Version of the Bible, KJV, is governed by most of these guidelines.
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Contrary to popular belief, the KJV does not exist in the public domain, but is actually protected by the
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Crown's perpetual copyright, although none have attempted to enforce these restrictions outside of the
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United Kingdom. Of course, public domain translations do exist, but these represent only a small minority of those in circulation.
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Any restriction on the distribution and use of the Bible potentially harms the Church. It is not merely that ministries may be inhibited from printing and distributing
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Bibles, but that all sorts of uses of the Bible are unduly encumbered. To publish a tract with heavy
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Bible usage typically requires special authorization. To fashion multi -version
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Bible reading software comparable to the popular options that currently exist, developers must secure rights from dozens of institutions.
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Other potential applications share a similar overhead. Moreover, for those confused or discouraged by the proliferation of Bible versions, it is worth noting this undoubtedly exists in part because of restrictions imposed by copyright.
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Rather than pay out to other publishing houses, each publishing house with sufficient resources fashions its own version that it may use royalty -free.
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Beyond these pragmatic concerns, we must ask whether a biblical principle has been violated.
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If the local church must minister without reciprocity, then it must have the capacity to offer the
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Bible without restriction. If Jesus demanded the gospel be proclaimed freely, then the gospel as recorded by his apostles should be offered without cost.
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Granted, the various institutions that collect manuscripts, create critical editions, and produce translations may operate only as academic enterprises having no interest in sincere ministry.
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However, many of these institutions publicly state their intent to further the gospel, and in as much as they aim to advance the kingdom of God, they violate the
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Dorian principle when they employ copyright protections to restrict the use of the Bible. Books.
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While Bibles remain fundamental to Christian religious instruction, other books are perhaps more germane to our investigation.
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That is, as we have noted, one may archive biblical manuscripts, engage in textual criticism, and translate the
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Bible without any interest in the edification of the church. However, apart from purely academic studies, other biblical resources are almost always created with the express intent of edifying the church or reaching the lost.
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As such, the Dorian principle especially regulates them. Exact details on Christian publishing are difficult to come by, but in 2015
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Nielsen reported that adult non -fiction Christian book sales had topped 30 million units sold in 2014, rising steadily from 18 million units in 2009.
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Even with a conservative estimate, that represents hundreds of millions of dollars a year in sales.
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With such large numbers, we should be concerned about the ethical implications for this industry.
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If one sells a religious book at a price above the cost of printing, he exchanges teaching for a fee.
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Rather than follow the commercial publishing model of the world, ministers, i .e. Christian authors penning religious instruction, ought to give without pay because they have received without pay.
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Moreover, they ought not place any restriction on those who receive their teaching. While most popular publishers require contractual agreements that would prohibit offering books freely, the present era has witnessed the rise of self -publishing.
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Self -publishing comes with its own drawbacks and challenges, but churches should make use of such tools if they are necessary to conform to a biblical ethic of ministry fundraising.
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Similarly, academic theological publications frequently require copyright reassignment so that institutions may control access to research and to maintain streams of revenue.
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While the presence of open -access publications have grown in some academic communities, these offerings lag behind in theological disciplines.
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Established journals have cultivated communities in academic integrity, but certainly new institutions could do the same.
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In the meantime, Christians who want to pursue this ethic will have to pursue publishing in less highly regarded journals or through alternative channels.
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It bears repeating the insufficiency of offering such literature without financial cost.
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Non -financial restrictions also transgress the Dorian principle. For example, a book that is offered without a fee but not licensed for modification leaves distributors unable to adapt the book to their needs.
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Different digital outlets might have different ways of packaging, encoding, or tagging documents, and these may be encumbered by copyright law apart from an explicit waiver.
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Authors seeking to minister freely should not inhibit any creative uses of their work. The most substantial barrier to improvement in this area is that of establishment.
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The Christian publishing industry offers a standard, time -tested method for distributing works and recovering incurred costs.
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Moreover, as nearly all respectable authors of the last century have followed suit, this method has the tacit imprimatur of a host of saints.
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However, any who wish to sincerely honor God must not confuse a generational homogeneity with reason judgment.
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The sacred work of ministry must be distinguished from any sacred cow of method. Music. Hymns and worship songs, while sung to the
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Lord, are also written for the instructional benefit of men. As such, the
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Dorian principle must govern them. At the moment, interested parties heavily regulate
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Christian worship music. Many hymn lyrics are in the public domain, but typical publications of these hymns offer updated renditions subject to copyright protection.
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The same phenomenon occurs when published arrangements pair ancient lyrics with modern tunes.
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Performance of a musical work of a religious nature in the course of a service in a religious assembly does not constitute copyright infringement in the
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United States, but most jurisdictions forbid reproduction or other public performance of these hymns without express permission.
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Frequently, the purchase of a hymnal grants a limited license for those activities. For churches whose singing repertoire exceeds traditional hymnody,
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Christian Copyright Licensing International, CCLI, manages the rights to the largest brunt of Christian worship music and issues licenses to churches and other entities.
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However, even using these avenues to secure the necessary rights for congregational worship, one might be surprised at how many restrictions remain.
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For example, many hymnals disallow print reproduction of any kind. Additionally, licenses rarely give broad rights to record music.
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Furthermore, they typically prohibit changes to the musical arrangement. For example, the
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CCLI does not give rights to alter or change the lyrics, melody, or fundamental character of any song.
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While many violate these terms in ignorance and suffer no consequences, copyright holders have prosecuted such cases against churches in court, even to the tune of millions of dollars in damages, and even for activities as seemingly innocuous as arranging a hymn for a choir.
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While churches could simply restrict their musical worship to songs and tunes that exist in the public domain, many regard familiarity as essential to congregational singing and would not consider such limitations a viable option.
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Additionally, at least in the United States, churches could rely on those provisions for religious assemblies which exempt them from the typical restrictions of the law.
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However, in order to remain legally compliant, they would have to be circumspect regarding the music they copy and the context in which they sing protected worship songs.
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For the song author, the apparent solution follows those previously given. A public domain dedication removes any concerns about copyright protection, and in general, the copyright holder should not seek to take advantage of this legal protection.
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To use the power of the civil government to enforce copyright protection on religious music is to fundamentally impose a worship tax on churches.
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Software Insofar as software marries itself to gospel ministry, the
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Dorian Principle must govern it as well. In some cases, this is more easily discerned than others.
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Bible study software, since it exists solely for the purpose of religious education, ought to conform to our ethic.
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Of course, there are many applications that do not. For example, the
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Bible study software Logos does not include all features with anything lower than the gold package, which currently retails for $1 ,549 .99.
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On one hand, the landscape has changed so that it has become standard for the of software packages to be offered at no cost.
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On the other hand, these software producers often make money by upselling digital packages of licensed material specifically tailored for their application.
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Even public domain works retail at substantial prices. As just one example,
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Logos has set the list price for their edition of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion at $69 .99.
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Other tools do not specifically exist for the sake of religious instruction, but still attempt to provide assistance in the
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Christian life. Mobile app Prayer Companions help Christians keep track of prayer requests, accountability software helps
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Christians resist temptation on the internet, and church management systems help churches to keep track of their resources.
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While the development of such applications may not be an activity that proclaims the gospel or directly attends to its proclamation,
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Christians should think twice before charging for such tools. Recall that the disciples were forbidden from charging for healing
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Matthew 10 8, and many of those tools aim to affect a sort of healing in the life of the user that they might better know the grace of Christ.
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Anything governed by the Dorian principle should be offered freely, without restriction. In the context of software, this not only implies access to an application, but the permission to modify it.
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Developers designing applications in an attempt to further the gospel should take this into account and write such adaptable software, typically styled open source.
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Conclusion In the modern age, copyright presents the greatest threat to the
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Dorian principle. However, there is hope. We do not have to be stuck in the age of Colm Cole and his fettered
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Psalter. In each of the categories presented in this chapter, the church has the opportunity to move forward by embracing support models that revolve around co -labor and abandon attempts to secure reciprocity.