]
]
]
]
]Form Criticism
Introduction
Form criticism is a way to approach the biblical text that focuses on finding the pre-written, oral origins of the various stories and episodes within text of the Hebrew Bible. First developed in Germany by Hermann Gunkel before the first World War, form criticism emerged from Gunkel’s realization that there were sections of text within the Hebrew Bible that likely had origins in an oral tradition before being written down. Per the Anchor Bible Dictionary, Gunkel first got his idea for the biblical texts having oral origins by studying the oral traditions of other Near Eastern ancient cultures. From his experiences with other nearby cultures, Gunkel suggested that oral origins for the various genres of text within the Hebrew Bible was a fruitful place for critical biblical analysis and started to formulate his ideas for formally.
Read more...
