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Higher criticism-Lower Criticism

Discussion in 'Bible Versions & Translations' started by robycop3, Aug 14, 2007.

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  1. robycop3

    robycop3 Well-Known Member
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    Some folks might be puzzled by these two terms, so here are some definitions:

    Higher Criticism...An effort to determine the actual authorship, date, place, & composition of a given text.

    Lower Criticism...an effort to identify & remove errors from a given text.

    These are only bried definitions, kept short to give you a picture of what each one entails. Like it or not, both are important; they often work hand-in-hand. Now, while these actions are usually applied to Scriptural mss, they're also applied to virtually every ancient writing also.

    Mosta the time, we drift into "Middle Criticism", a mixture of higher & lower!
     
    #1 robycop3, Aug 14, 2007
  2. Keith M

    Keith M New Member

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    Some folks also drift into criticism criticism, condemning Scripture criticism.

    :laugh: :D
     
    #2 Keith M, Aug 14, 2007
  3. TCGreek

    TCGreek New Member

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    I know that you kept your definitions short, but I must add this about the Higher Critic: the higher critic has often treated the Bible as a flawed human book.
     
    #3 TCGreek, Aug 14, 2007
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 14, 2007
  4. Plain Old Bill

    Plain Old Bill New Member

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    Which of the "higher critics" would you trust?:godisgood:
     
    #4 Plain Old Bill, Aug 14, 2007
  5. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    Forgive me, robycop3, but your definition is flawed. Lower criticism is not an effort to remove errors, it is an effort to restore the original text. If the original text had errors, then lower criticism will not remove them. (But of course I believe that the original texts of the Bible had no errors.)
     
    #5 John of Japan, Aug 15, 2007
  6. robycop3

    robycop3 Well-Known Member
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    I reckon that if one restores the original text, this restoration will not include any errors that cropped up when the copying strayed from being an exact repro of the original.
     
    #6 robycop3, Aug 15, 2007
  7. StefanM

    StefanM Well-Known Member
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    Nevertheless, much of higher criticism is completely compatible with a high view of scripture. For example, who hasn't tried to apply higher criticism to Hebrews?
     
    #7 StefanM, Aug 15, 2007
  8. John of Japan

    John of Japan Well-Known Member
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    That is really not the same. Higher criticism tends to deny direct statements of authorship right in the text (such as Is. 1:1), and there are no such statements or other such evidence in Hebrews. I've never heard the discussion of the authorship of Hebrews called higher criticism.
     
    #8 John of Japan, Aug 15, 2007
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