what are the four types of biblical criticism

The Old Testament (the Hebrew Bible), and the New Testament, as distinct bodies of literature, each raise their own problems of interpretation - the two are therefore generally studied separately. [124]:296298, Form critics assumed the early Church was heavily influenced by the Hellenistic culture that surrounded first-century Palestine, but in the 1970s, Sanders, as well as Gerd Theissen, sparked new rounds of studies that included anthropological and sociological perspectives, reestablishing Judaism as the predominant influence on Jesus, Paul, and the New Testament. The documentary theory has been undermined by subdivisions of the sources and the addition of other sources, since: "The more sources one finds, the more tenuous the evidence for the existence of continuous documents becomes". These three approaches have three different emphases. [4]:21 Redaction criticism also began in the mid-twentieth century. This quest for the historical Jesus began in biblical criticism's earliest stages, and has remained an interest within biblical criticism, on and off, for over 200 years. For purposes of discussion, these individual methods are separated here and the Bible is addressed as a whole, but this is an artificial approach that is used only for the purpose of description, and is not how biblical criticism is actually practiced. . Form criticism identifies short units of text seeking the setting of their origination. [143]:4,11 Rhetorical analysis divides a passage into units, observes how a single unit shifts or breaks, taking special note of poetic devices, meter, parallelism, word play and so on. Mid-twentieth century scholars of oral tradition objected to the "book mentality" of source criticism, saying the idea that ancients had "cut and pasted" from their sources reflects the modern world more than the ancient one. In the 20th century, Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius initiated form criticism as a different approach to the study of historical circumstances surrounding biblical texts. [38]:22 In the previous century, Semler had been the first Enlightenment Protestant to call for the "de-Judaizing" of Christianity. [4]:22, There is no general agreement among scholars on how to periodize the various quests for the historical Jesus. [25]:698,699, In 1953, Ernst Ksemann (19061998), gave a famous lecture before the Old Marburgers, his former colleagues at the University of Marburg, where he had studied under Bultmann. [124]:271, In the early to mid twentieth century, form critics thought finding oral "laws of development" within the New Testament would prove the form critic's assertions that the texts had evolved within the early Christian communities according to sitz im leben. The bottom line though is that biblical studies focuses on the Bible as a book. In it, Schweitzer scathingly critiqued the various books on the life of Jesus that had been written in the late-nineteenth century as reflecting more of the lives of the authors than Jesus. In any case, the form critics did not derive the laws from or apply the laws to the Gospels systematically, nor did they carry out a systematic investigation of changes in the post-canonical literature. (As a comparison, the next best-sourced ancient text is the Iliad, presumably written by the ancient Greek Homer in the late eighth or early seventh century BCE, which survives in more than 1,900 manuscripts, though many are of a fragmentary nature. Textual methods emphasize on the text itself. Keener. [149]:29 Rhetorical criticism is a qualitative analysis. What is it called to study the Bible? 6 Constructive criticism. [138]:98 As in source criticism, it is necessary to identify the traditions before determining how the redactor used them. [149]:ix,9, Biblical rhetorical criticism makes use of understanding the "forms, genres, structures, stylistic devices and rhetorical techniques" common to the Near Eastern literature of the different ages when the separate books of biblical literature were written. Higher criticism: the study of the sources and literary methods employed by the biblical authors. Wellhausen's hypothesis, for example, depends upon the notion that polytheism preceded monotheism in Judaism's development. Daniel J. Harrington defines biblical criticism as "the effort at using scientific criteria (historical and literary) and human reason to understand and explain, as objectively as possible, the meaning intended by the biblical writers. [79], Variants are classified into families. [167]:29 There have also been conservative Protestants who accepted biblical criticism, and this too is part of biblical criticism's legacy. It began to be recognized that: "Literature was written not just for the dons of Oxford and Cambridge, but also for common folk Opposition to authority, especially ecclesiastical [church authority], was widespread, and religious tolerance was on the increase". Biblical criticism is a form of literary criticism that seeks to analyze the Bible through asking certain questions about the text, such as who wrote it, when it was written, for whom was it written, why was it written, what was the historical and cultural setting of the text, how well preserved is the original text, how unified is the text, how [154]:167 Stephen D. Moore has written that "as a term, narrative criticism originated within biblical studies", but its method was borrowed from narratology. For full treatment, see biblical literature: Biblical criticism. [4]:22 One way of understanding this change is to see it as a cultural enterprise. "[1] The original biblical criticism has been mostly defined by its historical concerns. [152]:5, As a form of literary criticism, narrative criticism approaches scripture as story. The scientific principles on which modern criticism is based depend in part upon viewing the Bible as a suitable object for literary study, rather than as an exclusively sacred text. [93][94]:1 The French physician Jean Astruc presumed in 1753 that Moses had written the book of Genesis (the first book of the Pentateuch) using ancient documents; he attempted to identify these original sources and to separate them again. Diagram showing the authors and editors of the Pentateuch (Torah) according to the. [190] For example, the patriarchal model of ancient Israel became an aspect of biblical criticism through the anthropology of the nineteenth century. Critics began asking if these texts should be understood on their own terms before being used as evidence of something else. [187]:218 In 1905, Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann wrote an extensive, two-volume, philologically based critique of the Wellhausen theory, which supported Jewish orthodoxy. HIGHER CRITICISM is a term applied to a type of biblical studies that emerged in mostly German academic circles in the late eighteenth century, blossomed in English-speaking academies during the nineteenth, and faded out in the early twentieth. 4 Positive criticism. [7], Jean Astruc (16841766), a French physician, believed these critics were wrong about Mosaic authorship. [51] Bultmann claimed myths are "true" anthropologically and existentially but not cosmologically. Psychological Criticism Contents: An overview of psychological biblical criticism with a focus on psychoanalytic approach; various psychoanalytic theories utilized in such approach, and a critique of its tasks, presuppositions, and reading strategies. [186]:42,83, One of the earliest historical-critical Jewish scholars of Pentateuchal studies was M. M. Kalisch, who began work in the nineteenth century. It focused on the literary structure of the texts as they currently exist, determining, where possible, the author's purpose, and discerning the reader's response to the text through methods such as rhetorical criticism, canonical criticism, and narrative criticism. [2]:137 J. W. Rogerson summarizes: By 1800 historical criticism in Germany had reached the point where Genesis had been divided into two or more sources, the unity of authorship of Isaiah and Daniel had been disputed, the interdependence of the first three gospels had been demonstrated, and miraculous elements in the OT and NT [Old and New Testaments] had been explained as resulting from the primitive or pre-scientific outlook of the biblical writers. [4]:21,22 New perspectives from different ethnicities, feminist theology, Catholicism and Judaism offered insights previously overlooked by the majority of white male Protestants who had dominated biblical criticism from its beginnings. [81]:207,208 The multiple generations of texts that follow, containing the error, are referred to as a "family" of texts. [37]:2 African-American biblical criticism is based on liberation theology and black theology, and looks for what is potentially liberating in the texts. ", continues to be debated by theologians and historians such as Wolfgang Stegemann[de], Gerd Theissen and Craig S. Historical-biblical criticism includes a wide range of approaches and questions within four major methodologies: textual, source, form . "It also means that the fourth century 'best texts', the 'Alexandrian' codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, have roots extending throughout the entire third century and even into the second". Critics are interested in what the text means for the community"the community of faith whose predecessors produced the canon, that was called into existence by the canon, and seeks to live by the canon". [152]:3 The New Critics, (whose views were absorbed by narrative criticism), rejected the idea that background information holds the key to the meaning of the text, and asserted that meaning and value reside within the text itself. Most scholars agree the first quest began with Reimarus and ended with Schweitzer, that there was a "no-quest" period in the first half of the twentieth century, and that there was a second quest, known as the "New" quest that began in 1953 and lasted until 1988 when a third began. According to Old Testament scholar Edward Young (19071968), Astruc believed that Moses assembled the first book of the Pentateuch, the book of Genesis, using the hereditary accounts of the Hebrew people. 9 It is no longer acceptable to hold exclusive beliefs. "[27]:22,16 According to Schweitzer, Reimarus was wrong in his assumption that Jesus's end-of-world eschatology was "earthly and political in character" but was right in viewing Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher, as evidenced by his repeated warnings about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of time. [77] Variants are not evenly distributed throughout any set of texts. Arlington, Virginia. [9]:204,217,210. Some variants represent a scribal attempt to simplify or harmonize, by changing a word or a phrase. Biblical criticism lays the groundwork for meaningful interpretation of the Bible. No conclusive evidence has yet been produced to settle the question of genre, and without genre, no adequate parallels can be found, and without parallels "it must be considered to what extent the principles of literary criticism are applicable". This was due to a shift in perception of the critical effort as being possible on the basis of premises other than liberal Protestantism. The student body was hurt by these accusations as it seemed to impugn their motives and sincerity. [83]:5, Source criticism is the search for the original sources that form the basis of biblical texts. Another problem is posed by dating (see note 4. Turretin believed that the Bible was divine revelation, but insisted that revelation must be consistent with nature and in harmony with reason, "For God who is the author of revelation is likewise the author of reason". ), Allen P. Ross (Beeson Divinity School, Samford University), "The Study of Textual Criticism", List of artifacts in biblical archaeology, List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources, List of burial places of biblical figures, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biblical_criticism&oldid=1140998625, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from July 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [146]:8991, John H. Hayes and Carl Holladay say "canonical criticism has several distinguishing features": (1) Canonical criticism is synchronic; it sees all biblical writings as standing together in time instead of focusing on the diachronic questions of the historical approach. [13]:82 Rabbis addressed variants in the Hebrew texts as early as 100CE. 5) Constructive Criticism : This type of Criticism aims to show the purpose of something which is but achieved by a different approach. As a result, Semler is often called the father of historical-critical research. . While taking a stand against discrimination in society, Semler also wrote theology that was strongly negative toward the Jews and Judaism. Destructive criticism on the other hand . to the Bible), (3) developing sensitivity to the various types of literature present in the Bible (another application of literary criticism), (4) considering the "what" and the "how" of canon, and (5) cultivating a robust sense of curiosity with regard to the biblical text. His disciples then stole the body and invented the story of the resurrection for personal gain. Historical-biblical criticism includes a wide range of approaches and questions within four major methodologies: textual, source, form, and literary criticism. Thus, the geographical labels should be used with caution; some scholars prefer to refer to the text types as "textual clusters" instead. . The divisions of the New Testament textual families were Alexandrian (also called the "Neutral text"), Western (Latin translations), and Eastern (used by churches centred on Antioch and Constantinople). For example, in the late 1700s, textual critic Johann Jacob Griesbach (1745 1812) developed fifteen critical principles for determining which texts are likely the oldest and closest to the original. "[It] is safe to conclude that in many measurable features contemporary evangelical scholarship on the scriptures enjoys a considerable good health". [39] In The Essence of Christianity (1900), Adolf Von Harnack (18511930) described Jesus as a reformer. Wellhausen's and Kaufmann's methods were similar yet their conclusions were opposed. [175] The cole Biblique and the Revue Biblique were shut down and Lagrange was called back to France in 1912. This essay will elucidate these approaches along with some critical observations. As John Niles indicates, the "older idea of 'an ideal folk communityan undifferentiated company of rustics, each of whom contributes equally to the process of oral tradition,' is no longer tenable". [163]:93, On one hand, Rogerson says that "historical criticism is not inherently inimical to Christian belief". This indicates additional separate sources for Matthew and for Luke. By the mid-twentieth century, the high level of departmentalization in biblical criticism, with its large volume of data and absence of applicable theology, had begun to produce a level of dissatisfaction among both scholars and faith communities. [21] The importance of textual criticism means that the term 'lower criticism' is no longer used much in twenty-first century studies. [152]:6 A decade later, this new approach in biblical criticism included the Old Testament as well. By the end of the nineteenth century, these principles were recognized by Ernst Troeltsch in an essay, Historical and Dogmatic Method in Theology, where he described three principles of biblical criticism: methodological doubt (a way of searching for certainty by doubting everything); analogy (the idea that we understand the past by relating it to our present); and mutual inter-dependence (every event is related to events that proceeded it). [197][198] It grew out of form criticism's Sitz im Leben and the sense that historical form criticism had failed to adequately analyze the social and anthropological contexts which form critics claimed had formed the texts. [54]:69[97]:5 These sources are supposed to have been edited together by a late final Redactor (R) who is only imprecisely understood. Questions are asked such as: When was it Continue Reading 2 1 Quora User This "leads naturally to a second indictment against biblical criticism: that it is the preserve of a small coterie of people in the rich Western world, trying to legislate for how the vast mass of humanity ought to read the Bible. The presence of contradictions and repetitions doesn't necessarily prove separate sources, since they are "to be expected given the cultural background of the Old Testament and the long period of time during which the text was in formation and being passed on orally". [97]:62[98]:5 Old Testament scholar Karl Graf (18151869) suggested an additional priestly source in 1866; by 1878, Wellhausen had incorporated this source, P, into his theory, which is thereafter sometimes referred to as the GrafWellhausen hypothesis. [47]:1318 In 1974, the theologian Hans Frei published The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative, which became a landmark work leading to the development of post-critical interpretation. Schmidt asserted these small units were remnants and evidence of the oral tradition that preceded the writing of the gospels. J stands for the Yahwist source, (Jahwist in German), and was considered[by whom?] While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [186]:83 The growing anti-semitism in Germany of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the perception that higher criticism was an entirely Protestant Christian pursuit, and the sense that many Bible critics were not impartial academics but were proponents of supersessionism, prompted Schechter to describe "Higher Criticism as Higher Anti-semitism". [114]:41 Q allowed the two-source hypothesis to emerge as the best supported of the various synoptic solutions. [46] Schweitzer revolutionized New Testament scholarship at the turn of the century by proving to most of that scholarly world that the teachings and actions of Jesus were determined by his eschatological outlook; he thereby finished the quest's pursuit of the apocalyptic Jesus. He discovered that the alternation of two different names for God occurs in Genesis and up to Exodus 3 but not in the rest of the Pentateuch, and he also found apparent anachronisms: statements seemingly from a later time than that in which Genesis was set. 1937) advanced the New Perspective on Paul, which has greatly influenced scholarly views on the relationship between Pauline Christianity and Jewish Christianity in the Pauline epistles. 1956) calls this periodization "untenable and belied by all of the pertinent facts",[25]:697,698 arguing that people were searching for the historical Jesus before Reimarus, and that there never has been a period when scholars weren't doing so. The detailed analysis of biblical books and passages as written texts has benefited from the study of literature in classical philology, ancient rhetoric, and modern literary criticism. [53][54]:443, The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran in 1948 renewed interest in archaeology's potential contributions to biblical studies, but it also posed challenges to biblical criticism. [24]:140, The first quest for the historical Jesus is also sometimes referred to as the Old Quest. In 1943, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Providentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII issued the papal encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu ('Inspired by the Holy Spirit') sanctioning historical criticism, opening a new epoch in Catholic critical scholarship. The form critics did not derive laws of transmission from a study of folk literature as many think. another term for biblical exegesis. [149]:29 In that essay, Wichelns says that rhetorical criticism and other types of literary criticism differ from each other because rhetorical criticism is only concerned with "effect. [173]:300 Two years later, Lagrange funded a journal (Revue Biblique), spoke at various conferences, wrote Bible commentaries that incorporated textual critical work of his own, did pioneering work on biblical genres and forms, and laid the path to overcoming resistance to the historical-critical method among his fellow scholars. [105]:vi, In New Testament studies, source criticism has taken a slightly different approach from Old Testament studies by focusing on identifying the common sources of multiple texts instead of looking for the multiple sources of a single set of texts. [143]:3[144] New Testament scholar Paul R. House says the discipline of linguistics, new views of historiography, and the decline of older methods of criticism were also influential in that process. [154]:166 Scholars such as Robert Alter and Frank Kermode sought to teach readers to "appreciate the Bible itself by training attention on its artfulnesshow [the text] orchestrates sound, repetition, dialogue, allusion, and ambiguity to generate meaning and effect". Reimarus distinguished between what Jesus taught and how he is portrayed in the New Testament. Biblical scholar B.H. Streeter used this insight to refine and expand the two-source theory into a four-source theory in 1925. https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-criticism, The Catholic Encyclopedia - Biblical Criticism. Grade Mode: A . These new points of view created awareness that the Bible can be rationally interpreted from many different perspectives. Some of these subdivisions are: textual criticism, source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism and other criticisms under literary criticism. [54]:99 Frei was one of several external influences that moved biblical criticism from a historical to a literary focus. [4]:20[48], Most scholars agree that Bultmann is one of the "most influential theologians of the twentieth-century", but that he also had a "notorious reputation for his de-mythologizing" which was debated around the world. 6. [32]:38,39 Alexander Geddes and Johann Vater proposed that some of these fragments were quite ancient, perhaps from the time of Moses, and were brought together only at a later time. [141] Mark Goodacre says "Some scholars have used the success of redaction criticism as a means of supporting the existence of Q, but this will always tend toward circularity, particularly given the hypothetical nature of Q which itself is reconstructed by means of redaction criticism". [86], This contributes to textual criticism being one of the most contentious areas of biblical criticism, as well as the largest, with scholars such as Arthur Verrall referring to it as the "fine and contentious art". Wellhausen's theory went virtually unchallenged until the 1970s, when it began to be heavily criticized. Emendation is the attempt to eliminate the errors which are found even in the best manuscripts. Higher criticism deals with the genuineness of the text. This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 21:09. Biblical studies is the study of the Bible. Biblical criticism can be broken into two major forms: higher and lower criticism. [8] Biblical criticism is often said to have begun when Astruc borrowed methods of textual criticism (used to investigate Greek and Roman texts) and applied them to the Bible in search of those original accounts. Clark responded, but disagreement continued. In 1974, Hans Frei pointed out that a historical focus neglects the "narrative character" of the gospels. He saw it as a "necessary tool to enable intelligent churchgoers" to understand the Bible, and was a pioneer in establishing the final form of the supplementary hypothesis of the documentary hypothesis. [27]:15, Reimarus's controversial work garnered a response from Semler in 1779: Beantwortung der Fragmente eines Ungenannten (Answering the Fragments of an Unknown). and M.A. Biblical criticism is also known as higher criticism (as opposed to "lower" textual criticism), historical criticism, and the historical-critical method. [158][156]:9 Soulen adds that biblical criticism's "leading practitioners have set standards of industry, acumen, and insight that remain pace-setting today. [181], This tradition is continued by Catholic scholars such as John P. Meier, and Conleth Kearns, who also worked with Reginald C. Fuller and Leonard Johnston preparing A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. [192]:2 Feminist criticism embraces the inter-disciplinary approach to biblical criticism, encouraging a reader-response approach to the text that includes an attitude of "dissent" or "resistance". [4]:161 In the late nineteenth century, they sought to understand Judaism and Christianity within the overall history of religion. [64], By 1990, biblical criticism as a primarily historical discipline changed into a group of disciplines with often conflicting interests. First, form criticism arose and turned the focus of biblical criticism from author to genre, and from individual to community. [143]:8,9 Critics of rhetorical analysis say there is a "lack of a well-developed methodology" and that it has a "tendency to be nothing more than an exercise in stylistics". [191]:15 Third wave feminists began raising concerns about its accuracy. [96]:208[119] One example is Basil Christopher Butler's challenge to the legitimacy of two-source theory, arguing it contains a Lachmann fallacy[120]:110 that says the two-source theory loses cohesion when it is acknowledged that no source can be established for Mark. According to Spinoza: "All these details, the manner of narration, the testimony, and the context of the whole story lead to the plain conclusion that these books were written by another, and not by Moses in person". [2]:45 Neutrality was seen as a defining requirement. This is now the accepted scholarly view. According to Reimarus, Jesus was a political Messiah who failed at creating political change and was executed by the Roman state as a dissident. [22]:298[177] The dogmatic constitution Dei verbum ("Word of God"), approved by the Second Vatican Council and promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1965 furtherly sanctioned biblical criticism. [32]:38, One can see the Supplementary hypothesis as yet another evolution of Wellhausen's theory that solidified in the 1970s. [22]:298 Conservative Protestant scholars have continued the tradition of contributing to critical scholarship. 20. [55]:9,149 For example, the majority of the Dead Sea texts are closely related to the Masoretic Text that the Christian Old Testament is based upon, while other texts bear a closer resemblance to the Septuagint (the ancient Greek version of the Hebrew texts) and still others are closer to the Samaritan Pentateuch. [143]:425, Structuralism looks at the language to discern "layers of meaning" with the goal of uncovering a work's "deep structures" the premises as well as the purposes of the author. 15 Comments. [107]:15 As Nicholson says: "it is in sharp declinesome would say in a state of advanced rigor mortisand new solutions are being argued and urged in its place". For example, Psalm 8 is a hymn that begins, "Lord, our Lord, / how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (verse 1). The rise of redaction criticism closed this debate by bringing about a greater emphasis on diversity. If there is no original text, the entire purpose of textual criticism is called into question. Since 1966 the United Bible Societies have published four editions of the Greek New Testament designed for translators and students. There is also some verbatim agreement between Matthew and Luke of verses not found in Mark. The biblical scholar Hans Frei wrote that what he refers to as the "realistic narratives" of literature, including the Bible, don't allow for such separation. [133]:46 New Testament scholar N. T. Wright says, "The earliest traditions of Jesus reflected in the Gospels are written from the perspective of Second Temple Judaism [and] must be interpreted from the standpoint of Jewish eschatology and apocalypticism". Anders Gerdmar[de] uses the legal meaning of emancipation, as in free to be an adult on their own recognizance, when he says the "process of the emancipation of reason from the Bible runs parallel with the emancipation of Christianity from the Jews". [82]:213 One of Griesbach's rules is lectio brevior praeferenda: "the shorter reading is to be preferred". [171] Similarly, the dogmatic constitution Dei Filius ("Son of God"), approved by the First Vatican Council in 1871, rejected biblical criticism, reaffirming that the Bible was written by God and that it was inerrant. [155], Ken and Richard Soulen say that "biblical criticism has permanently altered the way people understand the Bible". community's oral tradition. "Lower" or textual criticism addressed critical issues . [149]:6 Sonja K. Foss discusses ten different methods of rhetorical criticism in her book Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice saying that each method will produce different insights. Historical-biblical criticism includes a wide range of approaches and questions within four major methodologies: textual, source, form, and literary criticism. Instead, writing was used to enhance memory in an overlap of written and oral tradition.

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