Higher Criticism

Introduction

I have to admit that I am inspired by the assignment to respond to higher criticism in the Bible. At first glance, I was a little uneasy about the topic and can testify to my ignorance in the matter. After researching higher criticism and studying the class material, I can better support my findings and opinions. Criticism is a word that often has a negative connotation and implies that something is wrong with the subject matter. It is often ridiculed and questioned due to its concept. People become defensive when faced with criticism, and I suppose this is also true when dealing with Bible Criticism. However the fact is that criticism can in turn support subject matter and establish credibility. According to Jean Steinmann, author of Biblical Criticism, criticism comes from the Greek word krinein, which means to judge, more particularly (judge) the art of providing an expert opinion on literary works. I also found an interesting quote in the introduction. It is as follows:

“Criticism is often not so much a science as a trade, demanding health rather than intelligence, industry rather than ability, and practice rather than genius. If it comes from a man with less discernment than learning, in certain cases it may corrupt both the readers and the writer.” (Steinmann 7)

Therefore I believe it is important to learn and study the critics themselves. Steinman describes many types of criticism that are used when studying literature. The two types of criticism often used in reference to the Bible or the Pentateuch are lower criticism and higher criticism. Higher criticism reviews the questions of literary form, authorship, date, historical background, and interpretation вЂ" and is the term used for the many aspects of literary and historical criticism. (Steinmann 12)

Higher Criticism as it refers to the Pentateuch, tries to apply the methods of historical and literary criticism to the first five books of the Old Testament to find inconsistency or validation. To understand the analysis of higher criticism as applied to the Pentateuch, I wanted to better understand the Pentateuch. A brief description of the Pentateuch is found in How the Bible Was Built, by Charles Smith and James Bennett. The Pentateuch also called the Torah or the section of the Old Testament referred to as the Law is made up of the books of Deuteronomy, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. (Bennett 14)

Higher Criticism addresses source criticism, form criticism, and redaction criticism. Source criticism tries to identify multiple sources as writers of the Pentateuch. Source criticism suggests between four and twenty-two authors of the Pentateuch and suggests that due to the style of writing it could not have been written by Moses. It is suggested that no one of Moses’ time could write in a form or style as advanced as that which was used. Steinmann also discusses the styles of the Pentateuch that led critics to suspect various authors. According to Steinmann, the Hebrew language is the explanation for the variation in style. The difference in variation lies in the translator, which in many cases has more than one style. Another explanation is offered in the translation of the scripture from Hebrew. “Hebrew is a vigorous and poetical language, concrete and rich in imagery, but it is quite unfitted for the expression of subtle reasoning or abstract ideas.” (Steinmann 82) Because of this, Steinmann implies that it is unreasonable to look for metaphysics or psychology in the Bible because it is incapable of expressing them due to the language in which it was written.

From the study material for class session one we know that form criticism analyzes the setting for the writing of the text, which is key to understanding the text. Steinmann also describes form criticism as being closely related to study of literary forms yet distinguishable as the study of traditional categories. It was introduced in 1901 by Gunkel and covers the oral patterns of folk literature. Form criticism supplements the findings from analysis of literary forms. (Steinmann 10)

“It is increasingly used s a technique to detect earlier strata in the Old Testament books and to determine the initial function of Biblical material and of its situation in the life of the people that evoked it” (Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (London, 1953), p. 64)

The last element of Higher Criticism focuses on redaction criticism. The Quartz Hill School of Theology describes redaction criticism as the study of editorial factors. (http://www.theology.edu/b725c.htm) A redactor (editor) changes or edits the material received in order to make a certain point or for a specific purpose and may or may not express the original intent of the author. For this reason, redaction criticism is used to determine whether or not there are editorial breaks or seams that have been inserted to make a specific point or change the direction of the writing. If there are breaks or seams, redaction criticism tries to establish and uncover the theological reason for the edits.

The arguments proposed by Higher Criticism follow the three types of criticism mentioned previously. The Catholic Encyclopedia lists one argument from Reformer Carlstadt, who declared that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch because the account of Moses’ death was written in the same style as the remainder of the book.

Johann Gottfried Eichhorn expanded on this hypothesis and applied the difference in style to the sections of Genesis. He derived two possible authors and refers to them as the Elohim and the Jehovah sections of Genesis. Another argument listed in the Catholic Encyclopedia