This post is part of the Poured Forth Blog Post Series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]
Poured Forth is also available as a book: Poured Forth
Do you hold an earned doctorate? If so, do you still control the copyright to your dissertation? If so, would you say your dissertation is for God, not for this world?
If you answered “Yes” to all three questions, my challenge to you is this: would you consider giving your dissertation to the Body of Christ by dedicating it to the public domain?
Think of all the books you read that formed your thinking about the Bible. Now imagine each one of those books cost an entire month of your earnings. Even worse, imagine that those books were not available in your country at all!
The majority of the Church simply cannot afford to purchase quality books or commentaries or music at the prices that publishers set. In many countries one book costs as much as a month’s wages—or more. Even if they had the money, many of our brothers and sisters don’t have a credit card to make the purchase.
Ultimately, the solution to the global famine of biblical resources will not come from the publishers. Instead, there is an obvious first step: we can release our dissertations into the public domain.
This is not just idle theory for me. Like you, I remember studying constantly for months to pass my multi-day qualifying exams in my field so I could begin my dissertation. I remember countless hours of work in the library and meetings with professors. Like you, I faced the demands for changes from my committee after the defense, with only days to implement the corrections. Perhaps your spouse worked extra hours so you could focus on the dissertation; perhaps you spent evenings in the library instead of with your kids. Dissertations demand sacrifice.
Recall the words of King David: “I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24, BSB). Your dissertation is an alabaster box filled with precious perfume. Will you pour it out at the feet of Jesus so that the precious aroma can fill the earth?
Of course there are Creative Commons licenses other than CC0 (Public Domain). Yet none of these give true freedom for God to take your dissertation anywhere, anytime, in any form. I ask again: is your dissertation for this world, or is it for God? If it is God’s, don’t you believe that God will watch over what is His?
As long as your dissertation is under your control, God is limited by your capacity to oversee its use and dissemination. How many projects can you oversee? Five? Ten? Thirty? God has no such limits. Once you release your dissertation into His hands, God can send it to millions—perhaps billions—of people in hundreds of places, more places than you could ever imagine or reach. Will you trust Him?
There may be practical challenges when you attempt to dedicate your work to the public domain. Before I could free my dissertation, I had to remove quotations of Bible translations that were chained up by copyright and replace them with public domain translations. You may have extended quotes of copyrighted works that you need to convert to paraphrases or summaries. Dedicating your dissertation to the public domain will demand due diligence. “I will not offer to the LORD my God that which cost me nothing.”
Take time to consider this decision carefully. Once you dedicate your dissertation to the public domain, there is no going back. I can assure you that some people will take advantage of you if you do this. We should expect this. How did the world treat Jesus? Is the student above the teacher?
No. There is no giving halfway to our King. Public domain is the only means available to give your work unconditionally and permanently into the Lord’s hands. I will say it again:
Public domain is the one true altar of whole burnt offering for Christians who create.
I have placed my dissertation into the public domain as a small spark on the altar. You can just barely see the glow of it deep down under the wood. Will you join me? Won’t you add your work to the fire as well? The Church is waiting.
This post is part of the Poured Forth Blog Post Series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [9]
Poured Forth is also available as a book: Poured Forth
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