Form criticism

Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism applied as a means of analyzing the typical features of texts, especially their conventional forms or structures, in order to relate them to their sociological contexts. Form criticism begins by identifying a text's genres or conventional literary forms, such as parables, proverbs, epistles, or love poems. It goes on to seek the sociological setting for each text's genres, its "situation in life" (German: Sitz in Leben). For example, the sociological setting of a law is a court, or the sociological setting of a psalm of praise (hymn) is a worship context, or that of a proverb might be a father to son admonition. Having identified and analyzed the text's genre-pericopes, form criticism goes on to ask how these smaller genre-pericopes contribute to the purpose of the text as a whole.

Related Topics:
Biblical criticism - Parable - Proverb - Love poem

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Form criticism was originally developed for Old Testament studies by Hermann Gunkel. It later came to be applied the Gospels by Karl Ludwig Schmidt, Martin Dibelius and Rudolf Bultmann among others.

Related Topics:
Hermann Gunkel - Rudolf Bultmann

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BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FORM CRITICISM:

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• Armerding, Carl E. The Old Testament and Criticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983, pp. 43-66.
• Hayes, John H. An Introduction to Old Testament Study. Nashville: Abingdon, 1979, pp. 121-154.
• Hayes, John H., ed. Old Testament Form Criticism. San Antonio: Trinity University, 1974.
• Tucker, Gene M. Form Criticism of the Old Testament. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971.
• Tucker, Gene M."Form Criticism, OT," pp. 342-345 in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume. Keith Crim, gen. ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976.