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Historical-critical method (Higher criticism) (view source)
Revision as of 13:05, May 8, 2018
, 13:05, May 8, 2018→"legitimate historical-critical findings".: added needed section "The literal sense of scripture"
The Higher Criticism was employed to study the historic origins, the dates, and authorship of the various books of the Bible, and that great branch of study known in the technical language of modern theology as Introduction. It is a very valuable branch of Biblical science, and of highest importance as an auxiliary in interpreting the Word of God. From cautious research methods "legitimate historical-critical findings" informed by the legitimate findings of the Lower Criticism can flood light on the fuller meaning of the Scriptures.
The Higher Criticism was employed to study the historic origins, the dates, and authorship of the various books of the Bible, and that great branch of study known in the technical language of modern theology as Introduction. It is a very valuable branch of Biblical science, and of highest importance as an auxiliary in interpreting the Word of God. From cautious research methods "legitimate historical-critical findings" informed by the legitimate findings of the Lower Criticism can flood light on the fuller meaning of the Scriptures.
The Higher Criticism means nothing more than the study of the literary structure of the various books of the Bible, and more especially of the Old Testament. Historical-critical researchers seek to find out all they can with regard to the portion of the Bible they are studying; the author, the date, the circumstances, and purpose of its writing.
The Higher Criticism means nothing more than the study of the literary structure of the various books of the Bible, and more especially of the Old Testament. Historical-critical researchers seek to find out all they can with regard to the portion of the Bible they are studying; the author, the date, the circumstances, and purpose of its writing.
=== The literal sense of scripture ===
The literal sense of scripture refers to the sense of the words themselves; it is “that which has been expressed directly by the inspired human authors.” It has been variously described as the verbal or grammatical sense, the plain sense, the sense the human author intended, the sense the divine author intended, the historical sense, and even the obvious sense. Underlying these various descriptions is the notion that “the literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture.” However, the literal sense of scripture is not merely limited to the literalistic, which too often obscures, and can even violate the actual meaning of the text (see [[Proof texts]]). The literal sense is discovered by careful and attentive study of the biblical text using all interpretive tools available, such as grammatical aids, archaeological evidence, historical and literary analyses, sociological and anthropological studies, and whatever else can be called upon to expand one’s knowledge of the historical and literary context of the text and thereby gain a better understanding of the literal sense of the biblical text.
The importance of the literal sense was emphasized by St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] in his recognition that “all the senses are founded on one—the literal—from which alone can any argument be drawn, and not from those intended in allegory.”<ref>Pope Pius XII, ''Divino Afflante Spiritu'' (1943), no. 33, translated National Catholic Welfare Conference, in The Bible Documents: A Parish Resource (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2001), 22. 2 Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993), no. 131, in The Bible Documents, 162. 3 Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.) (Washington, DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana–United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2000), no. 116.</ref> This importance was reiterated in [[Pope Pius XII]]’s long delayed exhortation to Catholic biblical scholars: “let the Catholic exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest, that namely of discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the Sacred Books. In the performance of this task let the interpreters bear in mind that their foremost and greatest endeavor should be to discern and define clearly that sense of the biblical words which is called literal.”<ref>''Divino Afflante Spiritu''</ref>
Catholic biblical studies had long been hampered by [[exegesis]] limited to the text of the [[Vulgate]] alone through a too literal understanding of the canons of the [[Council of Trent]] regarding which of the various Latin versions should be the officially legitimate Latin version of the Bible which would henceforth be held as the definitive Latin version for the Catholic Church (there had been other Latin versions), and by a perceived suspicion of the results of what are now called modern methods of hermeneutics, due to the illicit abuse of legitimate critical methods by liberal scholars, many of them Protestant and anti-Catholic. This had been long perceived as a danger to the Catholic faith. Apparently encouraged by the results of conservative biblical research by Evangelical scholarship and the observations and promptings of Catholic biblical scholars joined to his own scholarly studies, Pope Pius XII officially opened the door to the "proper use" of the tools of biblical criticism by Catholic exegetes and educational institutions of biblical studies.
See [[Hermeneutics]].
== Critical Assumptions ==
== Critical Assumptions ==