Biblical studies is the academic study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Jews and Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox Slavonic Orthodox Georgian Armenian Apostolic See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים "Prophets" is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים "writings" is the third and final section of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) after Torah and Nevi'im In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic The term New Covenant (; Greek:, diathēkē kainē is used in the Bible (both in the Hebrew Bible and the Greek New Testament) to refer " Deuterocanonical books " is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages Antilegomena (from Greek, meaning things contradicted or disputed literally spoken against) was an Epithet used by the Church Fathers to denote those The Bible comprises 24 books for Jews, 66 for Protestants, 73 for Catholics, and 78 for most Orthodox The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled was Thomas Jefferson's effort to extract the doctrine This article on Jewish apocrypha includes a survey of books written in the Jewish religious tradition either in the late pre-Christian era or in the early Christian era but The biblical apocrypha (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφος meaning hidden) are books published in an edition of the Bible whose canonicity New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings of the early Christian church that give accounts of the teachings of Jesus, aspects of the life of Jesus accounts The Authors of the Bible have authored or co-authored literature that has appeared in the canons of Judaism and of Christianity Panbabylonism is a school of thought within Assyriology and Religious studies that considers the Hebrew Bible and Judaism as directly derived Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament is the first section of the two-part Christian Biblical canon, which includes the books of the Hebrew Bible as well as several Deuterocanonical The Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible. Mosaic authorship is the traditional ascription to Moses of the authorship of the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch - Genesis, The Pauline epistles are the thirteen books in the New Testament traditionally attributed to and explicitly ascribed to Paul of Tarsus. Scholars have debated the authorship of the Johannine works ( Gospel of John, the first, second, and third epistles of John, and the Book The Bible has been translated into many languages from the Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. A Biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the The Samaritan Pentateuch is the text of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, also called the Torah or Law that is used by the Samaritans The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of roughly 1000 documents including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1979 in eleven Caves A targum ( Hebrew: תרגום plural targumim, lit "translation interpretation" is an Aramaic Translation of the Hebrew The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version' Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome 's Vulgate The Vulgate is an early Fifth Century version of the Bible in Latin, and largely the result of the labours of Jerome, who was commissioned by The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh) The Gothic Bible or Wulfila Bible is the Christian Bible as translated by Wulfila into the Gothic language spoken by the Eastern Germanic or The Luther Bible is a German Bible translation by Martin Luther, first printed with both testaments in 1534 The efforts of translating the Bible from its original languages into over 2000 others have spanned more than two millennia. The Bible is a compilation of various texts or " books " of different ages used in the Jewish and Christian religions This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Historical criticism or higher criticism is a branch of literary analysis that investigates the origins of a text as applied in Biblical studies it naturally Textual criticism (or lower criticism) is a branch of Literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of Transcription errors in Novum Testamentum Graece is the Latin name of the Greek language version of the New Testament. New Testament manuscripts are categorized into five groups This categorization scheme was introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in Der Text des Neuen Testaments The synoptic problem concerns the literary relationships between and among the first three canonical gospels (the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and The historicity of the Bible addresses in what ways the Bible is historically accurate the extent to which it can be used as a historic source and what qualifications should For the movement associated with William F Albright and known as Biblical archaeology see Biblical archaeology school. Biblical hermeneutics refers to methods of interpreting the Bible. Pesher (pl pesharim) is a Hebrew word meaning "interpretation" in the sense of "solution" Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic The Pardes typology describes four different approaches to Biblical Exegesis in rabbinic Judaism (or - simpler - interpretation of text in Allegorical interpretation is the approach which assigns a higher-than-literal interpretation to the contents of a text (eg Bible) Biblical literalism (also called Biblicism) is a primarily pejorative term referring to the adherence to an explicit and literal sense of the Bible. Bible prophecy, or " biblical prophecy " is the belief in prophecies in the Bible. Biblical inerrancy is the conservative evangelical doctrinal position that in its original form the Bible is totally without error and free from all contradiction Biblical infallibility is the theological term to describe the belief that the Bible is free from errors on issues of faith and practice while minor possible contradictions in history This article is about criticisms which are made against the Bible as a source of information or ethical guidance In Islam, the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding revelation from God but revelation which had become corrupted or distorted in its handing down (in Arabic The Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, contains references to over fifty people also found in the Bible, typically in the same or similar This article discusses the relationship between Gnosticism and the New Testament. This article discusses the traditional views of the two religions and may not be applicable all adherents of each Biblical law in Christianity generally refers to a discussion as to what and how the biblical law applies in a Christian context. For Christianity, the Bible traditionally comprises the New Testament and Old Testament, which together are sometimes called the "Scriptures. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. " Judaism recognizes as scripture only the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, an acronym for the Hebrew names of its divisions: Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (writings). Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים "Prophets" is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים "writings" is the third and final section of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) after Torah and Nevi'im Other texts often examined by biblical scholars include the Jewish apocrypha, the Jewish pseudepigrapha, the Christian apocrypha, the many varieties of ante-Nicene early Christian literature, and early Jewish literature. Pseudepigrapha (from Ancient Greek ψευδής Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus ( c
There are two major approaches towards Biblical studies. The first approach studies the Bible as a human creation and is also known as Biblical criticism; This approach is practiced in the secular academic world. This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document In this approach, Biblical studies can be considered as a sub-field of religious studies. Religious studies, or Religious education, is the academic field of multi-disciplinary Secular study of religious beliefs behaviors and institutions
The other approach is the religious study of the Bible, where it is assumed that the Bible has a divine origin. This approach is a branch of theology, and is also known as Biblical interpretation. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts
Methodologically and theoretically, the field draws on many disciplines, including history, archaeology, literary criticism, philology, and increasingly the social sciences. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies Practitioners of Biblical Studies do not necessarily have a faith commitment to the texts they study. In fact, Biblical criticism seems to contradict commitment to the text and is sometimes considered heresy, though some important Jewish scholars in this field are in fact orthodox [1]. This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized
Contents |
In Judaism
In Judaism, especially among the Orthodox, traditional Bible study entails the study of Tanakh with medieval and modern rabbinic commenataries or with Midrashim. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense can mean the entire spectrum of Rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic Jews traditionally study in the home or in institutions like the yeshiva. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n
Jewish academic institutions where Bible studies may include less traditional approaches include Hebrew Union College (Progressive Judaism), the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) and Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox) in the United States; and all major universities in Israel, whose Bible department actually concentrates on Biblical criticism. The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (also known as HUC, HUC-JIR, and The College-Institute) is the oldest Jewish Progressive Judaism is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Conservative Judaism (also known as Masorti Judaism in Israel and Europe) is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out Yeshiva University is a private Jewish University in New York City whose first component was founded in 1886. Modern Orthodox Judaism (or Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize traditional observance The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document
In Christianity
In Christianity, the theological interpretation of Biblical passages is called biblical exegesis. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy Other branches of Bible study aim instead at elucidating the provenance, authorship, and chronological order of Biblical texts. Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from" means the Origin, or the source, of something or the history of the ownership or location This is a branch of philology more than theology, and sometimes comes into conflict with theology. See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" "Higher criticism" and its findings, including the well known documentary hypothesis which suggests that the Bible was compiled from the writings of several different hands, and the work of the Jesus Seminar, which attempted to cull "inauthentic" sayings of Jesus from the "authentic" ones contained in the Gospels, are examples of Biblical studies whose results have been particularly controversial in theology. Historical criticism or higher criticism is a branch of literary analysis that investigates the origins of a text as applied in Biblical studies it naturally Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Jesus Seminar is a group of about 150 individuals including scholars with advanced degrees in Biblical studies, Religious studies or related fields as well as Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament
Bible Study is the activity in which Christians read and reflect on the Bible individually or, including discussion, in small groups or base communities. In Christianity, Bible study is the study of the Bible by ordinary people as a personal religious or spiritual practice.
Additionally, Biblical Studies is a common discipline offered in the Bible colleges, Bible institutions or schools and some secular colleges. In its most general sense discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a Disciple. It centered on the study of the Scriptures as found in the Bible. In the U. S. , it is not listed as an academic discipline following the pursuit of academic studies in normal stream colleges and universities. In Europe, however, Theology is a faculty in many respectable universities (e. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective g. Oxford and Cambridge) although several countries have transferred the training of priests and ministers to their respective churches.
It seems that the discipline of Bible studies in many U. S. institutions is practically the same as theology in more traditional institutions. A distinction should be made, therefore, between
- Biblical studies which concentrate on the Bible and its interpretation, as in Exegesis. Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy
- Biblical studies as an all-around name for minister training.
Presently in the U. S. , "Biblical studies" are taught mainly in non-academic schools and institutions under the support of many Christian denominations and missionary organizations. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes.
In traditional churches, the training of priests and ministers includes the study of theology, which is a wider field incorporating more aspects of religion. A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Typically this takes place in a university or a seminary, depending on country and denomination. A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is a specialized and often live-in Higher education institution for the purpose of instructing students
Background
Biblical Studies involve the studies of the Bible and can be studied as a subject for themselves or as a subdivision under Theology. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective It is often offered as a postgraduate course in some Christian colleges or Bible institutions as a non-academic study course. In contrast with most divinity schools, seminaries or older theological schools, Biblical Studies does not attempt to criticize the Bible as in higher (or literary criticism) or lower (or textual criticism) form. Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. Textual criticism (or lower criticism) is a branch of Literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of Transcription errors in In this, it differs markedly from the usual scientific method or from the neutral point of view approach used in this Wikipedia article. However, its content varies but usually covered a wider scope including the following:
Principles of Biblical interpretation
The Bible is the holy scripture for most Christian denominations and its interpretation forms part of the core of each denomination's faith. Therefore, there are very few clear rules accepted by all who consider themselves Christian and making a neutral point of view clarification of principles is most difficult. Exegesis using the inductive method is used in understanding the texts in scriptures. Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of Reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed Some guides or rules of interpretation have been formulated and are, in some circles known as Principles of Interpretation, in others as Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics may be described as the development and study of Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts According to the Bible it is the word of God and gives these rules. However, no clear consensus on them exists. Typically a biblical passage may be understood
- literally, as meaning exactly what is written.
- figuratively, meaning that there is a clear parallel to something else.
- allegorically, meaning that the passage is an allegory of something more
In addition, in some denominations, any of these may be either addressed to its historical audience or to mankind in general. An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation All three ways may even be correct simultaneously. According to most denominations, the only way to choose a right interpretation is through use of Holy Spirit, which may be found, depending on denomination, from person's conscience, from tradition or from some combination of them. In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance Typically, old churches stress the use of tradition, while Protestant churches stress the use of personal inspiration. However, most denominations do draw a line somewhere in the literal interpretation, accepting some traditional standpoints.
Hermeneutical exegesis focuses on the origin writer’s sense in relation with the expected audience response. The rule of context applies, and "scriptures interpret scriptures". The ideas and meanings are likely to be in harmony within the language and cultural context. Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Therefore the rule allow for the meaning to be limited and interpreted within the intent and purpose of the original writers. This interpretative view obviously leads to more focus individual understanding than collective interrelated consensus.
Biblical canon scriptures are accepted by many Christian's as God-inspired. A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or Set of Biblical books considered to be authoritative as Scripture by a particular religious Thus, attention is given to accepting the divine Holy Spirit who is thought to be the original inspiration or Author of all scriptures. In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance However, there are several different doctrines on the nature of the inspiration, ranging from "word" inspiration to context inspiration. Exegesis is different from the traditional method of literary study but approaches it when moving towards religious philosophy. Exegesis (from the Greek 'to lead out' involves an extensive and critical interpretation of an authoritative text, especially of a Holy
Hebrew and Greek languages
The study of original languages within the Bible is usually considered an imperative to any correct interpretive work, although a minority of U. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin S. Christians hold that King James Version is the sole, inspired, true word of God. Most seminaries and Universities, in fact, require their candidates for doctorates in divinity to possess adequate knowledge of these two disciplines. Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — Although Aramaic was the verbal language of the inter- and New Testament period, many schools do not provide the study of this ancient language but leave it to the faculties of Arts. The Septuagint translation of the Old Testament into Greek is also important while trying to understand the religious life of the early church. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the The New Testament is written in Koine Greek, a form which probably carried Hebrew and Aramaic influences. Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is a scientific approach to the study of the Bible, based on the assumption that the Bible is a human creation, rather than divine. This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Thus while apparent contradictions are interpreted in theology as having deeper or different meaning, they are interpreted in Biblical criticism as originating from the human writers. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Prophecies fulfilled after the alleged time of writing are interpreted in Theology as a proof for the divine origin of the text, and in Biblical criticism as a proof that the real time of writing was later than claimed. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective
According to Jewish tradition, different books of the Bible were written in different times by different people. Biblical criticism extends this idea, and assumes that different parts (even different verses in the same chapter) may have been written in different times by different people, and later edited by other people. Some are based on local traditions, and others have been added to reflect the writer's political of religious agenda. The final editor of the Bible had his own agenda, but could not simply omit parts which have become sacred over time, so he made minor changes in order to promote his own agenda [2] .
Biblical criticism uses mostly the following study tools:
- Study of the language used in different parts of the Bible. According to the critical approach, this may teach us, for example, about the period at which each part was written, and perhaps about the writers as well.
- Comparison of different but similar stories and verses from different parts of the Bible. According to the critical approach, this may teach us, for example, about the identity of the writer, his agenda and how different stories and ideas may have originated from each other.
- Comparison of different ancient versions of the same text, such as the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint (basis of the Old Testament in European languages). The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon.
- Comparison to ancient myths and to later Midrash. Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic
- Archaeology may sometimes also serve as an aiding tool, though there are different approaches among scholars to its use as a scientific tool. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos
References
- ^ Between Belief and Criticism, Israel Knohl
- ^ That's not what the good book says, Avigdir Shinan and Yair Zakovitch, published by Miskal - Yediot Ahronot Books and Chemed books, Tel-Aviv 2004
See also
- Wikiversity: Biblical Studies
- The Bible and history
- Biblical hermeneutics
- Biblical criticism
- Christian theology
- Higher criticism
- Textual criticism
- Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)
- Koine Greek
External links
- Historical approach to Bible studies
- BiblicalStudies.org.uk A resource for Biblical Studies featuring detailed bibliographies plus hundreds of free articles and books. The historicity of the Bible addresses in what ways the Bible is historically accurate the extent to which it can be used as a historic source and what qualifications should Biblical hermeneutics refers to methods of interpreting the Bible. This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Christian Theology is discourse concerning Christian faith Christian theologians use biblical Exegesis, rational analysis and argument Historical criticism or higher criticism is a branch of literary analysis that investigates the origins of a text as applied in Biblical studies it naturally Textual criticism (or lower criticism) is a branch of Literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of Transcription errors in Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in
- Bible Study Tools with searchable Bible by verse and topic, commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, etc.
- Bible Dictionary - Bible commentaries, interpretations and characters.
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic