Do you know of any good texts that introduce higher criticism (source, form and redaction) in a simple but thorough way? What about biblical criticism from a conservative evangelical position?

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Richard
CofE
UK

Ladd's The New Testament and Criticism is dated but grapples with the issues from a generally conservative perspective. Interestingly, after class once I asked him what he thought of redaction criticism. He expressed grave reservations about evangelicals using it.

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
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Davidius
Husband of Emilia
Member: First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham (RPCNA) - Durham, NC
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German Literature and Classics

This may explain the old adage about Baptists being Methodists with shoes, and Presbyterians being Baptists who can read. To round out the adage, Lutherans might qualify as Presbyterians who drink to excess, and Episcopalians as Lutherans who know when to say when. - D.G. Hart

Gary North has a small book called The Hoax of Higher Criticism, but I have not read it yet.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Since many higher-critical texts are written from a very sub-Christian point of view, it would be hard for me to imagine any good conservative positively introducing the issue. Duane Garrett has a pretty thorough critique of the liberal methods
Amazon.com: Rethinking Genesis: Garrett, Duane: Books

Gleeson Archer has probably the most damning criticism
Amazon.com: A Survey of Old Testament Introduction: Gleason Archer,Dillon Burroughs: Books

But if you want to be fair and read the best succinct opening to higher criticism, see the introductory notes to The Oxford Study Bible (either NRSV or RSV).

Lower Criticism, textual, the best opening would be Bruce Metzger's books.

But many liberals today are abandoning the higher-criticism project as outdated and resting on Enlightenment presuppositions. This is actually where postmodernism helps us. Who cares about the possible form or editorial processes which we by definition cannot have certain knowledge of its transmission? The text itself is where the real action is. That is liberals talking, not just conservatives.

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J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College

There is an overview with some reference material found in the Theopedia article here: Biblical criticism - Theopedia

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Jim
1689 LBCF
Independent Bible Church
North Texas, USA

You might want to read J. Blenkinsopp's "The Pentateuch" - he has a VERY good overview of the various positions.

I might suggest you "ad fontes" on this - go back and read the literature at the beginning of the 1900's to really get a fair treatment; most books on these topics from an evangelical position are terrible because of their/our presuppositions of how organic texts are...

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John
Evangelical Free Church, no offices held
Langhorne, PA

[B]δός δοξαν τῳ θεῳ.[/B]
[B]ιδου ποιω τα εσχατα ως τα πρωτα.
הבל הבלים[/B]

Someone has suggested Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible by Emanuel Tov.

If you go ad fontes on this score you'll wind up reading some atomizers whose approach has fallen into disfavor. The presuppositions about the organic nature of the text came back in style, at least for a little while.

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Ruben
Moderator

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To read an actual Higher Critic scholar's thoughts I would recommend Douglas Stuart's Old Testament Exegesis .

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Benjamin P. Glaser
Pittsburgh, PA
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