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Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 For its theory and methods, the field draws on disciplines ranging from ancient history,
historical criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...
, philology, textual criticism,
literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
, historical backgrounds, mythology, and comparative religion. Many secular as well as religious universities and colleges offer courses in biblical studies, usually in departments of religious studies, theology, Judaic studies, history, or comparative literature. Biblical scholars do not necessarily have a faith commitment to the texts they study, but many do.


Definition

The ''Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies'' defines the field as a set of various, and in some cases independent disciplines for the study of the collection of ancient texts generally known as the Bible.''The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies'' by J. W. Rogerson and Judith M. Lieu (May 18, 2006) page xvii These disciplines include but are not limited to
historical criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...
, archaeology, hermeneutics, textual criticism,
cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...
, history, the history of interpretation, sociology, theology, and
patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
.


Academic societies

Several academic associations and societies promote research in the field. The largest is the
Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...
(SBL) with around 8,500 members in more than 80 countries. It publishes many books and journals in the biblical studies, including its flagship, the '' Journal of Biblical Literature''. SBL hosts one academic conference in North America and another international conference each year, as well as smaller regional meetings. Others include the European Association of Biblical Studies, the Evangelical Theological Society, the Institute for Biblical Research, the
American Schools of Oriental Research The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), founded in 1900 as the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Alexandria, Virginia which supports the research and teaching of ...
, and the Catholic Biblical Association.


Biblical criticism

Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings". Harper's Bible Dictionary, 1985, p. 129 Viewing biblical texts as being ordinary pieces of literature, rather than set apart from other literature, as in the traditional view, it asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work in its production; what sources were used in its composition; and what message it was intended to convey. It will vary slightly depending on whether the focus is on the Hebrew Bible, the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
, the letters of New Testament or the canonical gospels. It also plays an important role in the quest for a historical Jesus. It also addresses the physical text, including the meaning of the words and the way in which they are used, its preservation, history and integrity. Biblical criticism draws upon a wide range of scholarly disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, folklore, comparative religion, Oral Tradition studies, and historical and religious studies.


Textual criticism

Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in texts, both manuscripts and printed books. Ancient scribes made errors or alterations when copying manuscripts by hand. Given a manuscript copy, several or many copies, but not the original document, the textual critic seeks to reconstruct the original text (the urtext, archetype or autograph) as closely as possible. The same processes can be used to attempt to reconstruct intermediate editions, or recensions, of a document's transcription history. The ultimate objective of the textual critic's work is the production of a "critical edition" containing a text most closely approximating the original. There are three fundamental approaches to textual criticism: eclecticism, stemmatics, and copy-text editing. Techniques from the biological discipline of cladistics are currently also being used to determine the relationships between manuscripts. The phrase "lower criticism" is used to describe the contrast between textual criticism and "
higher criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...
", which is the endeavor to establish the authorship, date, and place of composition of the original text.


History of the Bible

Historical research has often dominated modern biblical studies. Biblical scholars usually try to interpret a particular text within its original historical context and use whatever information is available to reconstruct that setting.
Historical criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...
aims to determine the
provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...
, authorship, and process by which ancient texts were composed. Famous theories of historical criticism include the
documentary hypothesis The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). A vers ...
, which suggests that the Pentateuch was compiled from four different written sources, and different reconstructions of "the historical Jesus", which are based primarily on the differences between the canonical Gospels.


Original languages

The Hebrew Bible, the textual basis of the Christian
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
(although with order rearranged and some books split into two), was written in
Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of ...
, although a few chapters were written in Biblical Aramaic. Deuterocanonical books removed from the Old Testament in some Protestant Christian Bibles are variously written in Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, with possible Aramaic undertones, as was the first translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint or Greek Old Testament. Therefore, Hebrew, Greek and sometimes Aramaic continue to be taught in most universities, colleges and seminaries with strong programs in biblical studies.


See also

* Biblical hermeneutics *
Biblical theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. Description Although most speak of biblical theology as a particular method or emphasis within biblical studies, some scho ...
* Bible study (Christianity) * Chronology of the Bible * Doctor of Biblical Studies * Exegesis * Historicity of the Bible


References


Further reading

* ''The Cambridge History of the Bible,'' 3 vols., eds. P. R. Ackroyd, C. F. Evans, S. L. Greenslade and G. W. H. Lampe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963, 1969, 1970. * Frei, Hans. ''The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics.'' New Haven: Yale, 1974. * Grant, Patrick. 1989. ''Reading the New Testament''. London: MacMillan. * Greenspahn, Frederick E. "Biblical Scholars, Medieval and Modern," in J. Neusner et al. (eds.), ''Judaic Perspectives on Ancient Israel'' (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987), pp. 245–258. * Harrison, Peter. ''The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science.'' Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2001. * Harrisville, Roy A. & Walter Sundberg. ''The Bible in Modern Culture: Baruch Spinoza to Brevard Childs''. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. * Knight, Douglas A. and Gene M. Tucker, eds. ''The Hebrew Bible and Its Modern Interpreters.'' Philadelphia: Fortress/Chico: Scholars Press, 1985. * Nicholson, Ernest W. ''The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century: The Legacy of Julius Wellhausen.'' Oxford: Clarendon, 1998. * Noll, Mark A. ''Between Faith and Criticism: Evangelicals, Scholarship, and the Bible in America.'' Harper & Row, 1986. * Reventlow, Henning Graf. ''The Authority of the Bible and the Rise of the Modern World.'' Tr. J. Bowden. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985. * Sherwood, Yvonne and Stephen D. Moore. ''The Invention of the Biblical Scholar: A Critical Manifesto.'' Fortress, 2011. * Sperling, S. David. ''Students of the Covenant: A History of Jewish Biblical Scholarship in North America.'' Atlanta Scholars Press, 1992. * Sugirtharajah, R.S. ''The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial, and Postcolonial Encounters.'' Cambridge: Cambridge U.P., 2001.


External links

* * * * * (Parallel Bible with non-English translations, list of multidisciplinary resources) {{Authority control