CNN reported Monday that Hillary Clinton’s pastor Rev. Bill Shillady of the United Methodist Church plagiarized the work of another minister in part of his book "Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions of Hillary Rodham Clinton." Clinton wrote the foreward to the book and is featured on the cover.
CNN initially published a portion of the book which was a November 9th email Shillady had sent to Clinton with the title, "Sunday is Coming."
Rev. Matthew Deuel, an executive director of Mission Point Community Church in Winona Lake, Indiana, contacted CNN pointing out similarities to a blog post he had written.
“For example,” CNN points out, “Deuel wrote: ‘For the disciples and Christ followers in the first century, Good Friday represented the day that everything fell apart. All was lost. The momentum and hope of a man, claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah who was supposed to change everything, had been executed.’”
“Shillady's email to Clinton, published in his book, says: ‘For the disciples and Christ's followers in the first century, Good Friday represented the day that everything fell apart. All was lost. The momentum and hope of a man claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah who was supposed to change everything, had been executed.’”
In another passage Deuel wrote: "Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. Redemption is coming. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday."
Shillady's email to Clinton says: "Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday."
“Shillady echoes other ideas and phrases from Deuel's column as well, such as the notion that ‘life is filled with a lot of Fridays,’ times of trouble marked by jobs lost, friendships betrayed and bad medical diagnoses received,” CNN adds.
"I do not remember cutting and pasting from a particular column so much as bits and pieces from a variety of places on the Internet," Shillady told CNN Monday.
He later apologized to Deuel.
"In preparing the devotional on the morning of November 9, I was determined to provide comfort with the familiar adage that 'It's Friday But Sunday is Coming.'" Shillady wrote. “I searched for passages that offered perspective of this theme. I am now stunned to realize the similarity between Matt Deuel's blog sermon and my own. Clearly, portions of my devotional that day incorporate his exact words. I apologize to Matt for not giving him the credit he deserves."
Deuel said he was "shocked" when he read the email on CNN but is "not interested in publicly pursuing anything."
"The last thing the world needs right now is two pastors having a public dispute over a blog,” Deuel said. “The reality is, there's nothing new under the sun."
Shillady reportedly wrote the book at Clinton’s suggestion. Clinton is scheduled to appear at an event promoting the book later this month according to CNN.
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