higher criticism
Noun: * Higher criticism: The scholarly and scientific analysis of biblical texts, focusing on investigating their historical origins, authorship, dating, sources, and intended meaning. It contrasts with "lower criticism" (or textual criticism), which is concerned with establishing the original wording of the text.
Higher criticism is used as an academic discipline within theology and religious studies. It applies historical, literary, and archaeological methods to understand the Bible as a collection of human documents written in specific historical contexts. * The professor specialized in the higher criticism of the Pentateuch. * Modern biblical scholarship often relies on the methods of higher criticism. * His approach was more aligned with higher criticism than with devotional reading.
- Historical-critical method: This is a primary methodology within higher criticism, seeking to understand the text in its original historical setting.
- The historical-critical method, a key part of higher criticism, examines the socio-political context of biblical books.
- Source criticism: A sub-discipline of higher criticism that tries to identify the original written sources used by the biblical authors.
- Through source criticism, scholars hypothesize about the documents that were combined to form the Book of Genesis.
- Lower criticism (Textual criticism): The scholarly effort to reconstruct the most original wording of a text by comparing different ancient manuscripts. This is a foundational step before higher criticism can be performed.
- Historical criticism: A broader term often used synonymously with higher criticism, emphasizing the historical investigation of texts.
- Biblical criticism: The overarching academic field that includes both higher (historical/literary) and lower (textual) criticism.
- Historical analysis (of the Bible)
- Historical-critical scholarship
- Source analysis
- Devotional reading
- Literalist interpretation
- Fundamentalist exegesis
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the scientific study of biblical writings to determine their origin and meaning
