In the Sept. 30 issue of The Eagle, an opinion piece by Joshua Wu titled "Accuracy of the Bible is unrivaled as a text" was printed on Page 6 in the Editorial-Opinion section. The Eagle has since learned that the column's arguments are taken from those in the book "The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell, and were not attributed. Also, several sentences in Wu's piece are very similar to those in McDowell's book.
Upon investigation, The Eagle has found that in his second paragraph, Wu wrote, "C. Sanders, in the Introduction to Research in English Literary History, explains tests that determine a book's historical reliability. The three tests are the bibliographical test ... the internal evidence test ... and the external evidence test." On Page 33, McDowell wrote, "C. Sanders, in Introduction to Research in English Literary History, lists and explains the three basic principles of historiography. These are the bibliographical test, the internal evidence test, and the external evidence test."
In his third paragraph, Wu wrote, "Therefore, if the Bible is to be rejected based on the bibliographical test, then one must also discard every book of antiquity as well." On Page 68, McDowell wrote, "If one discards the Bible as being unreliable, then one must discard almost all literature of antiquity."
Additionally, Wu quotes Bible scholar John W. Montgomery in his piece, and declares the numbers of known manuscripts of the Bible and Homer's "Iliad." Both the Montgomery quote and the manuscript statistics were also found in McDowell's book.
The Eagle has spoken with Wu about the incident.
"When I was writing my column, I did not refer to Mr. McDowell's book, nor did I intend to take his work and claim it to be my own," Wu said. "However, having read his book and thought at length about the arguments he presents, it seems that I have adopted similar lines of reasoning and arguments when I write about it, thus the striking similarity between my column and chapters 2 and 3 of his book. ... I apologize to The Eagle, to the editors and the readers of The Eagle for my mistake." The Eagle has removed Wu's guest column from www.The-EagleOnline.com archives. The Eagle will not print any materials from Wu in the future and is investigating past articles that he has submitted. If The Eagle finds further evidence of inaccuracy or unoriginality, we will publish our findings.
Had The Eagle discovered this information sooner, Wu's guest column certainly would not have been published. The Eagle strives to maintain high standards of originality, accuracy and fairness - standards that are explained in detail in The Eagle's Code of Conduct and Ethics, which is available to all Eagle writers and editors. Currently, top Eagle editors are working on materials for a workshop that will reiterate our ethical policies and practices to editors and writers.
The Eagle sincerely apologizes to our readers for this incident. Questions and comments may be directed to x1402 or Editor@TheEagleOnline.com.
Anne Godlasky Editor in Chief
