New Testament Criticism

Interpreting the New Testament – Biblical Criticism

In this course, Dr James Carleton Paget (University of Cambridge) explores the varieties of New Testament criticism. In the first module, we introduce the study of biblical criticism, and the challenges involved in reviewing scripture in historical perspective. In the second module, we examine source criticism, and look at some of the most famous responses to the ‘Synoptic Problem’. In the third module, we investigate form criticism, before turning to look at the response from redaction criticism in the fourth module. In the fifth and final module, we make some concluding remarks about the significance of biblical criticism.

New Testament Criticism

In this module, we examine biblical criticism, focusing particularly on (i) the nature of historical criticism of the Gospels (ii) how the Gospels came to be written (iii) where the sources of the Gospel writers came from (iv) the intentions of the Gospel writers (v) the concern of the Gospel writers with preserving information in the context of crisis (vi) the presentation of Jesus in the Gospels (v) the audience of the Gospels (vi) the nature of educated guesswork in relation to interpreting scripture.