Biblical criticism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biblical criticism is a form of historical criticism that seeks to analyze the Bible through asking certain questions of the text, such as: Who wrote it? When was it written? To whom was it written? Why was it written? What was the historical, geographical, and cultural setting of the text? How well preserved is the original text? How unified is the text? What sources were used by the author? How was the text transmitted over time? What is the text's genre and from what sociological setting is it derived? When and how did it come to become part of the Bible?
Biblical criticism has been traditionally divided into textual criticism, also called lower criticism, that seeks to establish the original text out of the variant readings of ancient manuscripts, and higher criticism that focuses on identifying the author, date, and place of writing for each book of the Bible. In the twentieth-century a number of specific critical methodologies have been developed to address such questions in greater depth.
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[edit] History of Biblical criticism
An excellent historical overview can be found in the article on the documentary hypothesis. The article on higher criticism is also useful.
Other useful articles are:
- Andreas Karlstadt
- Thomas Hobbes
- Isaac de la Peyrère
- Baruch Spinoza
- Richard Simon
- John Hampden
- Jean Astruc
- Johann Gottfried Eichhorn
- Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette
- Friedrich Schleiermacher
- David Friedrich Strauss
- Ludwig Feuerbach
- F. C. Baur
- Julius Wellhausen
- Albert Schweitzer
- Richard Elliott Friedman
- Harold Bloom
- Randel McCraw Helms
[edit] Types of Biblical criticism
- Textual criticism
- Source criticism
- Documentary hypothesis
- Form criticism
- Redaction criticism
- Socio-historical criticism
- Rhetorical criticism
- Narrative criticism
- Tradition history
- Psychological Biblical Criticism
- Linguistic Criticism
[edit] See also
- Further reading
- Barton, John (1984). "Reading the Old Testament: Method in Biblical Study, Philadelphia, Westminster, ISBN 0664257240".
- Birch, Bruce C., Walter Brueggemann, Terence E. Fretheim, and David L. Petersen (1999). A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament, ISBN 0687013488.
- Coggins, R. J., and J. L. Houlden, eds. (1990). "Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, London: SCM Press; Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, ISBN 033400294X".
- Fuller, Reginald H. (1965). The Foundations of New Testament Christology. New York: Scribners. ISBN 0-684-15532-X..
- Goldingay, John (1990). "Approaches to Old Testament Interpretation. Rev. ed. Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity, ISBN 1894667182".
- Hayes, John H., and Carl R. Holladay (1987). "Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook, Rev. ed. Atlanta, GA, John Knox, ISBN 0804200319".
- Knight, Douglas A., and Gene M. Tucker, eds. (1993). "To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Applications, Louisville, KY, Westminster/John Knox, ISBN 0664257844".
- Morgan, Robert, and John Barton (1988). "Biblical Interpretation, New York, Oxford University, ISBN 0192132571".
- Soulen, Richard N. (1981). "Handbook of Biblical Criticism, 2nd ed. Atlanta, Ga, John Knox, ISBN 0664223141".
- Stuart, Douglas (1984). "Old Testament Exegesis: A Primer for Students and Pastors, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, Westminster, ISBN 0664243207".
[edit] External links
- Biblical criticism in Judaism chabad.org (providing some anecdotes supposed to counter Biblical Criticism from a Jewish point of view)
- A good introduction at Theopediazh:圣经批判
