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Biblical Criticism
Excerpt from the Lexham Bible Dictionary, the most advanced Bible dictionary.
A careful, scholastic study or analysis of the Bible. There are many forms of biblical criticism, including: textual, historical, form, tradition, and reader-response. These methods can be grouped into three categories according to the way the biblical text is being analyzed:1. the historical origin and development of a text’s prehistory;2. the final written form of the text—what the passage says and means;3. the destination of the text—the audience receiving it.
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The Lexham Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
Biblical Criticism A careful, scholastic study or analysis of the Bible. There are many forms of biblical criticism, including: textual, historical, form, tradition, and reader-response. These methods can be grouped into three categories according to the way the biblical text is being analyzed:1. the
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
BIBLICAL CRITICISM. The word “criticism” comes from the Gk verb krinein, which means to distinguish, decide, or judge. Biblical criticism therefore is the practice of analyzing and making discriminating judgments about the literature of the Bible—its origin, transmission, and interpretation. In this
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised
Criticism
Criticism [Gk. hē kritiké̄ téchnē-‘the discriminatory art’]. A comprehensive term embodying a number of techniques employed in the study of (among other things) written documents in order to establish as far as possible their original text, the literary categories to which they are to be assigned,
The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition
Biblical Criticism
BIBLICAL CRITICISM today involves various disciplines whose goal is the exact interpretation of the Bible. Most types of criticism aim to clarify the meaning of the text: they are not critical in the sense of challenging the text and its meaning. Traditionally, biblical criticism has been largely concerned
Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
Biblical Criticism
Biblical CriticismBiblical criticism is a child of the Enlightenment, an era when it was believed that every human endeavor must appear before the bar of reason and be judged according to its relation to universal truth. Inevitably, the OT and NT were made to appear.The purposes for which biblical
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
Biblical Criticism. †A variety of techniques and disciplines have been employed in an effort to determine the exact and original wording of the biblical text and to seek to elucidate its meaning for both its original audience and today by examining matters of authorship, transmission, and application.
Catholic Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
BIBLICAL CRITICISM The application of modern literary and scientific methods to the study of Scripture. The word “criticism” does not imply a negative stance toward the Bible, but comes from the Greek krinein, meaning “to judge” or “to discern.” Criticism thus refers to informed judgments about the meaning
Harper’s Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
Biblical Criticismbiblical criticism, the study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning and discriminating judgments about these writings. The term ‘criticism’ is derived from the Greek word krinō, which means ‘to judge,’ ‘to discern,’ or to be discriminating in making
Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics
Bible Criticism
Bible Criticism. Criticism as applied to the Bible simply means the exercise of judgment. Both conservative and nonconservative scholars engage in two forms of biblical criticism: lower criticism deals with the text; higher criticism treats the source of the text. Lower criticism attempts to determine
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Biblical Criticism
BIBLICAL CRITICISM — the application of one or more techniques in the scientific study of the Bible. These techniques are not peculiar to Bible study; they would be equally helpful in the study of the writings of Homer or Shakespeare. Their primary intention is to help the reader of the Bible understand
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
CRITICISM, OF THE BIBLE
CRITICISM, OF THE BIBLE<krit’-i-siz’-m>: Criticism in GeneralCRITICISM IN GENERAL:So much has been said and written in recent years on “Criticism” that it is desirable that the reader should have an exact idea of what criticism is, of the methods it employs, and of the results it reaches, or believes
The Thiselton Companion to Christian Theology
Biblical Criticism
Biblical CriticismH. Reventlow traces the roots of biblical criticism to the intellectual climate of the Deists and the Enlightenment. More narrowly and specifically, however, modern biblical criticism can be anticipated in Richard Simon (1638–1712), who was a loyal Catholic but argued that the Pentateuch