Download Importance of Historical Criticism and more Summaries History in PDF only on Docsity! Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text"., its literary criticism in the light of historical evidence or based on the context in which a work was written, including facts about the author's life and the historical and social circumstances of the time. Historical criticism began in the 17th century and gained popular recognition in the 19th and 20th centuries. The perspective of the early historical critic was rooted in Protestant Reformation ideology since its approach to biblical studies was free from the influence of traditional interpretation. Where historical investigation was unavailable, historical criticism rested on philosophical and theological interpretation. With each passing century, historical criticism became refined into various methodologies used today: source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, tradition criticism, canonical criticism, and related methodologies. 2.. An important part of the historical method is its continuing internal dialectic. Historical understanding grows by a process in which historians subject to criticism the ways in which the present- mindedness of their predecessors caused them to distort the past. The primary goal of historical criticism is to discover the text's primitive or original meaning in its original historical context and its literal sense. The secondary goal seeks to establish a reconstruction of the historical situation of the author and recipients of the text 3.writing history is subjective because certain events happened so long ago, and because sometimes the evidence is incomplete, different historians have different approaches and views about what happened in the past. This is the subjective nature of history. One historian claims an event happened a certain way, while another disagrees completely. 4.Historical writing is only as objective as the author commits to. If the author has some "truth" or interpretation in mind, then he or she will find the sources that uphold that truth. In the end, there is no pure objectivity in history. There are only perspectives. Step-by-step explanation Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of Jewish and Christian writings from ancient times, historical criticism has also been applied to other religious and secular writings from various parts of the world and periods of history.
