Biblical criticism

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Biblical criticism is the study of the Bible using historical, literary, and other methods of critical analysis. Modern biblical criticism initially focused on reconstructing the historical events behind biblical texts and the history of how the texts developed, using methods that emphasized reason and objectivity. Biblical criticism helped establish the Bible as an object of cultural and academic study beyond confessional interpretations. The emergence of modern biblical criticism is generally traced to the European Enlightenment, particularly the German Enlightenment, although a minority view traces its origins to the Protestant Reformation. Rationalism, German pietism, and British deism influenced its development. In the nineteenth century, biblical criticism became a major approach to biblical studies. The quest for the historical Jesus had begun in the late eighteenth century and continued through successive periods of research into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Biblical...

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