Course Description

This course introduces students to the history, transmission, preservation, and critical study of biblical texts. It examines the development of the Old and New Testament manuscripts, the role of scribes and translators, textual variants, manuscript traditions, and methods of textual criticism. The course equips students with foundational skills for analyzing biblical manuscripts and understanding the reliability and interpretation of biblical texts.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Define textual criticism and explain its importance.
2. Describe the transmission history of the Old and New Testaments.
3. Identify major biblical manuscripts and textual traditions.
4. Explain causes of textual variants in manuscripts.
5. Apply principles of textual criticism to selected passages.
6. Evaluate the significance of ancient translations.
7. Discuss modern approaches to biblical textual studies.
8. Assess the reliability of biblical transmission.

9.      COURSE OUTLINE

TOPIC 1: BIBLICAL CRITICISM

Meaning of Biblical Criticism

Biblical Criticism refers to the techniques employed by biblical scholars in interpreting a given text of the Bible in order to ascertain their original wording, the nature of their composition, their sources, date, and authorship among others.

It is a contemporary approach to the study of the Bible. It is a study of biblical writings, according to Harrington (1987), in order to establish their text, understand their context and style, and determine their origin and authenticity.

Technically, biblical criticism simply refers to the scholarly approach of studying, evaluating and assessing the Bible as literature in order to understand it better (Wood 1996 ).

Issues examined in Critical Biblical studies include:

1.      Title,

2.      Date,

3.      Authorship,

4.      Setting,

5.      Occasion/purpose,

6.      Literary features,

7.      Theme/message/theology,

8.      Structure/outline.

The Need for Biblical Criticism

In order to provide reasonable answers to the questions of authorship, when, why and how individual books of the Bible were produced, biblical scholars have employed scientific and quasi-scientific methods. According to Mitchel (2000), Biblical criticism is as much an art as it is a science. Its objects are the interests we have in knowing as much as we can about the Bible, its world, its ideas, its teachings, indeed its very truth. The point of departure for any kind of biblical criticism, then, is the human desire to know whatever can be known about the Bible.

The desire to know the origin of biblical traditions went beyond the establishment of a reliable text and inquired into the sources of the stories and narratives included in the Bible. Often comparison of biblical texts with other ancient literatures, or with other texts in the Bible itself, was helpful in isolating subtle differences among these texts. The noted differences became important clues. They may indicate, for example, that some biblical stories did not originate only with their written transmission. It is very likely that these stories or at least some parts of them were, at first, handed on by word of mouth. Or, the observed differences of style, vocabulary, and viewpoint may show that a given biblical story was passed on in more than one form. 

The Place of Biblical Criticism in Theological Study

According to Wenham (1989): The role we ascribe to biblical criticism depends to a large extent on our understanding of the nature of Scripture. Is it a divine book or a human one? Is the fundamentalist right to insist on the divinity of Scripture, or the biblical scholar more correct in underlining its humanity?

It is safe to argue that none of these positions should be taken in isolation. The Scripture is fully human and fully divine.

Example, the Old Testament constantly claims divine authorship. Most of the laws begin 'the LORD said to Moses', while the Ten Commandments are said to have been written by the finger of God. The prophets typically introduce their messages with 'thus says the LORD', while the narrator of the historical books adopts an omniscient perspective (Exodus 20). Within the NT the divine authorship and authority of the Old Testament is always assumed and frequently asserted.

For Jesus the Old Testament is the word of God (Mk. 7:13; Jn. 10:35). According to Apostle Paul, all scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim. 3:16). And the claim that the NT comes from God too is also clear in many passages (Mt. 5:22, 28, 32, 34, etc.; 1 Cor. 14:37).

The early church continued this attitude towards the Bible. Kelly writes, 'It goes without saying that the fathers envisaged the whole of the Bible as inspired... their general view was that Scripture was not only exempt from error but contained nothing that was superfluous.' According to Jerome, In the divine Scriptures every word, syllable, accent and point is packed with meaning‘ (Wenham 1989).

Types of Biblical Criticism

There are four main types of Biblical criticism.

1. Textual Criticism: This is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in dates from the earliest writing in cuneiform, impressed on clay, for example, to multiple unpublished versions of a 21st-century author's work.

2.      Source Criticism: This refers to the attempt to establish the sources used by the authors and redactors of a biblical text. It originated in the 18th century with the work of Jean Astruc (1684-1766),who adapted the methods already developed for investigating the texts of classical antiquity to his own investigation into the sources of the Book of Genesis

3.      Form Criticism: This is  a method of biblical criticism  that classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and then attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission. Form criticism seeks to determine a unit's original form and the historical context of the literary tradition. It was developed by Hermann Gunkel (1862-1932), Martin Noth (1902-1968), Gerhard von Rad (1901-1971), and other scholars in their critical study of the  Old Testament.

4.      Literary Criticism: This focuses on the various literary genres embedded in the text in order to uncover evidence concerning date of composition, authorship, and original function of the various types of writing that constitute the Bible.

Other types of Criticism

Scholars have come up with other types of Biblical Criticism which have been added to the list as below;

5. Philological Criticism: This the study of the biblical languages for an accurate knowledge

    of vocabulary, grammar, and style of the period.

6. Tradition Criticism: This attempts to trace the development of the oral traditions that

    preceded written texts.

7. Redaction Criticism:  Studies how the documents were assembled by their final authors

     and editors.

8. Historical Criticism: Seeks to interpret biblical writings in the context of their historical

    settings.