Source Criticism

Definition and Meaning

Source criticism is a method of study that seeks to determine which earlier sources underlie a particular book or passage of the Bible. The term translates the German Quellenkritik, and the method is also called "documentary criticism." In this context, "criticism" does not mean disparaging the Bible; it is an academic term for analyzing and evaluating a text. Scholars mark the boundaries between sources using such clues as places where the same event is recorded twice, abrupt shifts in style or vocabulary, and changes in the name used for God. Together with form criticism and redaction criticism, which developed later, source criticism is grouped under the heading of "historical criticism."

Biblical and Historical Background

In Old Testament studies, research on the Pentateuch was the starting point of source criticism. In the eighteenth century, the French physician Jean Astruc is reported to have noticed that Genesis divides into passages that call God Elohim and passages that call him Yahweh. In the late nineteenth century, Julius Wellhausen systematized what is known as the "Documentary Hypothesis," a theory holding that the Pentateuch was formed by combining four sources designated J, E, D, and P.

In New Testament studies, the Synoptic Problem is the principal subject of inquiry. The Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. A widely known solution to this problem is the "Two-Source Hypothesis," which holds that the Gospel of Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke drew on Mark together with a hypothetical collection of the sayings of Jesus ("Q"). Even within the scholarly community, numerous revisions and objections have been put forward concerning the number and dating of the sources.

Practice in Korean Churches

In Korean churches, source criticism is taught mainly in biblical studies courses at graduate schools of theology. Lay members rarely encounter it in sermons. The degree to which it is accepted varies by denomination and seminary.

• Conservative Presbyterians (such as the Hapdong, Kosin, and Hapshin denominations) and many evangelicals are critical of conclusions such as the Documentary Hypothesis from the standpoint of biblical inerrancy. Many uphold the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. They do, however, teach the method of observing textual differences, while evaluating it critically.
• Progressive denominations and seminaries (such as the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea) accept source criticism as a legitimate scholarly tool for understanding how the Bible came to be. They hold that faith and academic study are compatible.
• Within the Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel traditions, acceptance likewise varies by institution and scholar.

Historically, during the schisms in the Korean Presbyterian Church in the 1950s, whether biblical criticism could be taught in seminaries was one of the major points of contention. Kim Chai-choon and Park Hyung-ryong are often cited as the leading representatives of the opposing positions in this controversy. The dispute is closely bound up with the circumstances that led to the founding of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea.