The Historical Critical Method: Its Assumptions, Concerns and Contributions

The Historical Critical Method: Its Assumptions, Concerns and Contributuons

Jeffrey R. SHARP

One of the clearly recognized facts about modern biblical interpretation is that the Scriptures are rooted in history and that the interpreter who wishes to understand their message must delve into that history. In the words of one evangelical scholar, the Scriptures are “the Word of God in the words of men in history.” Some of the most useful tools for biblical study are the various disciplines which can be grouped under the title “The Historical Critical Method.” There are many different responses to criticism which range from a rejection of any form of criticism as being incompatible with a Sacred Text to the willingness to follow the logic of criticism and accept the conclusions to which criticism points as firmly as the evidence suggests. In this article the writer does three things: a) discusses the concerns and assumptions which gave birth to and inform the Historical-Critical approach to the Biblical texts; b) introduces historical criticism and its Bible study methodologies; and finally c) provides some comments on historical criticism's contributions and ongoing usefulness to modern Biblical study.