An announcement from Lexham Press regarding EEC James
Lexham Press has withdrawn from publication Dr. William Varner’s Evangelical Exegetical Commentary volume on James. We discovered that the volume contains a number of uncited and improperly cited passages from other works, blurring the distinction between quoted and original material.
Lexham Press, and the editors of the EEC, are committed to the highest scholarly standards of accuracy and ethical standards of integrity. We regret that these problems were not discovered before publication, and are further strengthening our editorial review process. We will contract a replacement James volume for the EEC from another author. Logos customers who wish to return their copy of James should contact Lexham at customerservice@lexhampress.com to be reimbursed for the amount of their purchase. Customers who bought the print edition may contact us at the same address for return and reimbursement instructions.
We presented our findings and our plans to Dr. Varner; here is his response, which he wishes to make public:
“In assuming too many writing projects, I was not careful enough in this commentary to adequately cite some of my sources. I also was not always diligent to clearly express in my own words material that I gleaned from others. Although I did not deliberately misuse the work of other writers, I sincerely apologize for my lack of care in reporting my research. I ask forgiveness from all who trusted me to be an accurate handler of the Word (2 Tim 2:15), a responsibility that I take seriously.”
We apologize for any problems this may cause for our readers, endorsers, and other partners; we are dedicated to doing whatever we can to put this right and to ensure all Lexham Press publications uphold our commitment to quality and truthfulness.
Brannon Ellis, Publisher, Lexham Press
H. Wayne House, EEC General Editor
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Lexham Press has withdrawn from publication Dr. William Varner’s Evangelical Exegetical Commentary volume on James.
How does this affect those of us who have already paid for the entire series? I have some other thoughts, but will keep my question basic until I hear your response.
Hi Jack, we are not revoking licenses, so you are free to keep the current EEC James. You will also receive the replacement EEC James when it is complete (we are currently working on acquiring a new author).
You also answered my followup question. That is very good news for me [<:o)].
One of the promotional codes for purchasing a Logos 7 base package was for a free copy of EEC James (https://community.logos.com/forums/p/129593/843088.aspx). I was planning on taking advantage of this, but was waiting to purchase a base package until the new topical bundles are released (https://community.logos.com/forums/p/130735/850124.aspx) so I could make a more informed decision. I was looking forward to that particular freebie and now it appears I have missed my chance. Would Faithlife consider offering a coupon code for a different EEC volume instead, possibly a volume other than the Johannine Epistles or Esther, which were previously the free book of the month and accompanying plus one? I had almost pulled the trigger on a base package early this morning, and now I am wishing I had. [:'(]
Hi Jack, we are not revoking licenses, so you are free to keep the current EEC James. You will also receive the replacement EEC James when it is complete (we are currently working on acquiring a new author).
Jesse sir,
I apologize for resurrecting an old thread but I came across this today and didn't notice it before. If we own the original Varner volume, when a new James volume comes out we will get that one as well (and can keep our old volume too)? I just want to make sure I'm reading that correctly. I went to the EEC page on Logos today but James isn't listed at the bottom of the page (where you can see the things you own w/o astericks).
Mattilo,
Yes, your understanding is correct: we will unlock the new commentary to owners of the current James volume when it is complete. We've not yet announced a new author for the volume, but we are in the midst of that process. These are significant volumes so it will be some time yet before the final product is shipped.
Thank you,
Jesse
This is sad. I have found Dr. Varner's commentary very helpful. It would have been more helpful if references were cited thoroughly.
Thank you for making us aware of this. I really hope that there is a way that the commentary could be cited appropriately and released as it is helpful.
Thank you, Lexham, for your integrity here.
Jacob Hantla
Pastor/Elder, Grace Bible Church
gbcaz.org
After the Peter O'Brien/Eerdman's incident in August
And Don Carson wrote glowing words about two of these commentaries. I don't expect Carson to do a detailed check for citations, but if the commentaries are as good as he thinks, it is extra sad that this is somehow based on the transfer of information that Eerdman's now finds sufficient to destroy all its existing copies. With a bit more work and editorial oversight perhaps this could have been avoided.
I believe both Varner and O'Brien when they say that what happened was unintentional. They are both respected scholars. Perhaps it is the pressure of writing so much that authors don't have the time to properly cite sources and to give credit for strong influences on their final text (and/or whatever else was wrong). It's a sad situation for them, for the publishers, and for us.
Pastor, North Park Baptist Church
Bridgeport, CT USA
After the Peter O'Brien/Eerdman's incident in August, it seems that a lot of publishers will be reviewing their catalogs for plagiarism. I hope that this doesn't become an epidemic...
Now that everything is electronically produced, it is much easier to do. On the flip side, it is much easier to catch. Many universities now put all student papers into common folders and run text-matching software against them to detect plagiarism. It is very simple to do. I shudder to think what would pop out if Logos did that with all of their e-books...
I hope that this doesn't become an epidemic...
I fear this too.
I should have clarified my question. Since you are pulling the EEC volume by Varner. If someone buys the course and sees a locked symbol by the Varner title and goes to look for it in the Faithlife/Logos store. will you be putting a statement into the mobile ed course why that volume is no longer for sale.
Hi, This is Su Han, a Ph.D student of New Testament in Chicago theological Seminary. I would like to let you know that this incident actually has been ignited by a Facebook group of Koreans named, Anti-Plagiarism for Theological Books (신학서적 표절반대; https://www.facebook.com/groups/1602665126689416/).
Since Spring 2015 there were numerous theological books, mostly biblical commentaries, found (doubtfully) plagiarized through this FB group and one of the professors sued the FB group for defamation and damage. As the case was held in the court there were evidences by this professor showing that American commentaries are also full of plagiarism and O'Brien's Hebrew commentary was one of the exhibit submitted to the court. The news was submitted to Eerdmans and so you have witnessed what happened at Eerdmans and now this. Now, we are witnessing painful but fruitful outcomes.
I hope this helps in your understanding the background of the recent developments.
We discovered that the volume contains a number of uncited and improperly cited passages from other works, blurring the distinction between quoted and original material.
I was just working on James 1:18, and I was truly surprised by what I saw comparing the (pulled) EEC volume by W. Varner and the Anchor Yale Bible commentary by L.T. Johnson. I only purchased the AYBC last month, so I wasn't fully aware of the seriousness of the issue in Varner's volume, but this is quite something. Even though the whole paragraph in the EEC seems taken from Johnson's commentary, there is no reference to it at all.
I now understand that the issue was not just forgetting to cite another author, but presenting someone else's research and wording as his own.
I do not own AYBC (yet) so I probably would have missed this. I do have the James commentary. If I quote something from the James volume, giving credit to Varner, something like the example above, without knowing it actually came from someone else, am I in error? Would that harm my research credibility? Would I be better off never quoting the volume? Could Faithlife update the EEC volume to somehow show them (like strike them out with a footnote pointing to the original source)? Perhaps I would be better off not relying on it at all?
Maybe I am overthinking it but this popped into my head when I saw the post. I know just buy AYBC.
I do not own AYBC (yet) so I probably would have missed this. I do have the James commentary. If I quote something from the James volume, giving credit to Varner, something like the example above, without knowing it actually came from someone else, am I in error? Would that harm my research credibility? Would I be better off never quoting the volume? Could Faithlife update the EEC volume to somehow show them (like strike them out with a footnote pointing to the original source)? Perhaps I would be better off not relying on it at all?
Maybe I am overthinking it but this popped into my head when I saw the post. I know just buy AYBC.
As an English teacher, I would say that you should not use the work at all in an academic paper. Someone reading the paper would assume that you are unaware of the fact that the work has been discredited. It would be like using spoiled milk in a recipe. The end result is going to be tainted.
With that said, you should be able to use it for other nonacademic purposes, such as sermon prep, etc...
Disclaimer: I hate using messaging, texting, and email for real communication. If anything that I type to you seems like anything other than humble and respectful, then I have not done a good job typing my thoughts.
It's been a year, and I still don't understand this. I'd like to think, it's like walking out of the Walmart, forgetting to pay. I've done that. Have to scurry back in.
I can see having a chapter-draft, dumping big chunks of earlier commentators in, with the intent, to comment, and then erase the chunks. I do that a lot. It's very efficient.I could even see an assistant erroneously 'smoothing' the chunks, not knowing they're temporary pastes. Trying to understand, here.
I guess, my trouble, is that in commentaries, you remember phrasing. I do. Then I search, as to why I remember that phrasing. Often, it's just a favorite point, that subject writers hang on to.
I just can't see 'fraud'. ECC? Intensional? After a long caree?. Maybe there's no answer.
"If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.
Thanks for your words Jesse.
I plan on keeping this volume since I find great help in it.