Since the 1990s, How Has Lower (Textual) Criticism Begun Following in the Footsteps of Higher (Biblical) Criticism?

Discover how New Testament textual criticism has lost its way since the 1990s, as lower criticism has followed in the footsteps of higher criticism. Learn about the coherence-based genealogical method, which emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical and cultural context of the text and the social context of the manuscripts. Explore the changing definition and goal of New Testament textual criticism.

Genesis 2:4 BDC: “God” is used in Genesis chapter 1, while chapter 2 changes to Jehovah God. Does this mean that there are two different authors of Genesis?

The higher critics argue that every Bible verse that contains the Hebrew word for God, (Elohim), set off by itself has its own writer, designated by the capital “E” (“Elohist”). On the other hand, any verse that contains the Tetragrammaton, (Jehovah, Yahweh), God’s personal name, is attributed to yet another writer, “J” (“Jawist”). (Cassuto, 18-21) Let us see how they explain this. The critics argue that “God” (Elohim) is restricted to use exclusively in the first chapter of Genesis (1:1–31) in relation to God’s creative activity and that starting in Genesis 2:4 through the end of the second chapter, we find God’s personal name.

A Christian Skeptic Discovers God In Ancient Israel

William Foxwell Albright, the son of missionary parents, eagerly pursued his college education as a young man of faith. Finally, he received the coveted Ph.D.—but at a significant cost. His faith had been destroyed by the 19th-century German school of higher criticism. The leading exponents of this school of higher criticism, Julius Wellhausen and Franz Delitzsch, were out to prove that the Old Testament history of the Bible was mere fiction. Why?

The Mosaic Authorship Controversy Resolved

It was in the latter half of the nineteenth century that higher criticism began to be taken seriously. These critics rejected Moses as the writer of the Pentateuch, arguing instead that the accounts in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were based on four other sources [writers] written between the 10th and the 6th centuries B.C.E. To differentiate these sources one from the other, they are simply known as the “J,” “E,” “D,” and “P” sources.

Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑