Development of Biblical Criticism (AQA A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes

Development of Biblical Criticism

Introduction: Changing contexts for biblical interpretation

By the early 20th century, women's roles in society had changed dramatically from earlier periods in Christian history. The First World War accelerated this shift, as women took on jobs traditionally done by men. By 1918, women had established themselves in the economy and society in new ways.

This social transformation created a challenge: how should Christians interpret New Testament passages that appeared to restrict women's roles? The answer lay partly in developments within biblical scholarship, particularly the rise of biblical criticism.

The Bible and the Reformation

Before the Reformation

Until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Christians learnt about their faith primarily through the Church and clergy:

• Church teachings (doctrine) came from the Latin Bible and traditional Church teachings
• Priests who could read Latin and had studied Church doctrine taught people what the Bible said
• Ordinary Christians had limited direct access to scripture

After the Reformation

The Reformation brought significant changes:

• Protestant Christians could study the Bible in their own languages
• Individuals could form their own opinions about scripture's meaning
• One passage of scripture could be interpreted in light of others
• The authority of the Church was challenged by reformers
• The Bible in translation became more widely available
• Protestants claimed the Bible, rather than Church authority, should be the primary guide for faith and practice
• Protestant Christians gained freedom to challenge traditional interpretations of scripture

Background to the interpretation of scripture

Liberal theology

Liberal theology developed in the 19th century as an attempt to:

• Show the relevance of religious ideas to modern life
• Rationalise and present Christian faith in ways compatible with science
• Apply modern thought to Christian teaching

For example, Albert Schweitzer and others tried to understand the historical Jesus by going beyond the biblical text.

Biblical criticism emerges

Biblical criticism developed as part of liberal theology. This was the systematic and critical examination of biblical texts.

Key points about biblical criticism:

• The Bible should be studied like any other collection of ancient documents
• Theologians used various scholarly methods to understand scripture
• The term 'critical' means using critical faculties to understand the text properly, not taking a negative attitude
• Biblical criticism aimed to find the truth expressed through scripture beyond straightforward acceptance of translated texts

Two types of biblical criticism

Higher criticism:

• Examines how different passages and books were written
• Studies how biblical texts relate to one another
• Considers authorship and composition

Lower criticism:

• Examines content, language, and meaning of individual passages in detail
• Identifies the precise meaning of original words
• Studies textual variations

Key features of biblical criticism

Biblical criticism involves three main approaches:

1. Examining original languages: Scholars study the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to ensure translations accurately reflect what authors intended.

2. Analysing the form of writing: Understanding the type of text helps interpret it correctly:

• Letters (e.g., 1 Corinthians offers advice to fellow Christians)
• Liturgical material (e.g., Philippians 2:6-11 was probably used in worship)
• Each form has a specific context for understanding

3. Examining background context: Scholars consider:

• Commonly held views of the time
• What writers assumed readers would already know
• Cultural and historical circumstances

Challenges to liberal biblical criticism

Karl Barth's critique

In 1916, Swiss theologian Karl Barth challenged liberal biblical criticism:

• He argued the Christian message in the Bible is not merely a development of Enlightenment values
• The Bible's role is to challenge ordinary human assumptions
• It was wrong to suggest human reason can judge scripture
• Instead, scripture is the judge of human reason
• Barth's work influenced Conservative Evangelical approaches to scripture

Fundamentalism/literalism

During the first half of the 20th century, some Protestant groups in the USA developed fundamentalism:

Fundamentalism: A movement emphasising certain beliefs as fundamental to Christianity, known as the 'five fundamentals':

1. Biblical inspiration and the infallibility of scripture
2. The virgin birth of Jesus
3. Belief that Christ's death was the atonement for sin
4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus
5. The historical reality of Jesus's miracles

Different approaches today

Liberal approach:

• General features of society today (including gender neutrality and acceptance of homosexuality) should inform Christian interpretation
• Jesus accepted women as followers and mixed with social outcasts
• Modern values should be considered in biblical interpretation

Literalist/fundamentalist approach:

• Rules from first-century Palestine should continue to apply today
• They were accepted by early Christians
• This includes early Christian views as they engaged with Roman and Greek cultures

Biblical passages on gender equality

Passages supporting gender equality

Romans 16:1-2: Paul introduces Phoebe, a female deacon:

• Paul commends Phoebe as 'our sister, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae'
• He asks the church to receive her and help her
• She has been a benefactor to many, including Paul himself

Paul also describes several women as 'fellow workers' in the Church:

• Priscilla and Aquila work together
• Mary worked 'very hard for you'
• Tryphaena and Tryphosa work hard in the Lord
• Persis worked very hard in the Lord

This suggests women and men shared equally in the Church's work and deserved recognition.

Galatians 3:26-28: Paul establishes theological grounds for equality:

• All are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus
• Those baptised into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ
• There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female
• All are one in Christ Jesus

The basis of all equality is being 'in Christ' – rules and social norms do not apply in this context.

Passages against gender equality

Ephesians 5:22-23: Instructions for Christian households:

• 'Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord'
• 'The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church'
• Husbands should love their wives as they love themselves
• Wives should respect their husbands

1 Corinthians 14:34-35: Paul on women speaking in church:

• 'Women should remain silent in the churches'
• They are not allowed to speak but must be in submission
• If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their husbands at home
• It is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church

Critical examination of 1 Timothy 2:8-15

The passage

1 Timothy 2:8-15 states:

• Men should pray everywhere, lifting holy hands without anger or disputing
• Women should dress modestly with decency and propriety
• Women should adorn themselves with good deeds, not elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive clothes
• A woman should learn in quietness and full submission
• The writer does not permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man
• She must be quiet
• Reasoning: Adam was formed first, then Eve
• Adam was not deceived; the woman was deceived and became a sinner
• Women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness

Scholarly analysis

Authorship: Scholars generally agree that 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (the Pastoral Epistles) were written after Paul's time, not by Paul himself.

Usage: The passage is widely used against women's ordination and against women holding teaching roles in churches, particularly in the Catholic Church and Conservative Evangelical Protestant Churches.

Critical examination considerations

When examining ancient texts, consider:

1. Original use and context: There may have been a particular issue with the Church in Ephesus that the letter addressed. The advice might be specific rather than universal.

2. Education context: Few women at that time had formal education, making them more vulnerable to false teachings.

3. One-sided correspondence: We have only the writer's response, not the original questions or problems, making it difficult to understand the full context.

4. Evidence of women's active participation: The fact that the writer opposes women speaking in the Ephesian church shows this was already happening.

5. Men's behaviour: Verse 8 exhorts men to 'lift up holy hands without anger or disputing', suggesting men had been arguing with women who were responding.

6. Linguistic issues: In verse 12, the Greek word authentein (translated as 'assume authority over') appears only once in scripture, making its precise meaning uncertain.

7. Not universally applicable: Even if it was right for Ephesian women not to take leading roles due to specific circumstances, that may not apply today.

Different responses to New Testament texts on gender

Christian Egalitarians

Christian Egalitarians argue:

• There should be no distinction between men and women regarding roles within the Church
• This applies equally to racial and social groups
• All are equal before Christ and should be treated as such

Christian Complementarians

Christian Complementarians argue:

• Men and women are of equal importance in the sight of God
• They have different and complementary roles in:
  • Marriage
  • Family life
  • Society
  • Church organisation
• These different roles complement one another

The Catholic view: equal but different

The Roman Catholic Church holds a complementarian position based on philosophy, tradition, and Church teaching.

Natural Law

Natural Law in Catholic thinking suggests:

• People should live in ways that reflect their inherent nature
• If men and women have different natures, they should take different roles
• This doesn't mean one is more valuable than the other
• They are simply different
• This supports the complementarian view

The tradition of the Early Church

Evidence from the Early Church:

• We don't know the full extent of women's ministry
• References in scripture show women were active
• Church leaders in the 5th century opposed women's roles
• Pope Gelasius I wrote in 494 opposing women celebrating the Eucharist
• This shows some women were taking roles later reserved for men

Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession: The passing of authority from one generation to the next through the laying on of hands at ordination, going back to the apostles.

Ordination: The religious rite by which a person is made a deacon or priest through the laying on of hands.

Inter Insigniores (1976)

The Vatican issued a declaration 'On the Question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood', arguing:

1. Ordination of women in the Early Church was limited to minority sects and was condemned
2. The Church follows Christ himself in choosing only men for this ministry
3. Other Churches that ordain women (following the Reformation) don't follow historical tradition
4. Jesus chose only men to be his 'twelve', yet in his positive dealings with women, he rejected social conventions
5. Jesus showed a high view of women but excluded them from Church leadership

The Protestant view: the priesthood of all believers

Key Reformation principle

The priesthood of all believers: All are equal before God, and there is no need for God's grace to be mediated through a priest.

Protestant theology emphasises:

• All Christians are called to serve God
• No vocation or activity is more 'sacred' than another
• Following the Reformation, people recognised the religious significance of everyday life
• The secular roles of wife and mother were regarded as equal in importance to monastic life
• There is no need for a special priestly role mediating between God and people
• Catholic-style ordination was not necessary for men, so female ordination wasn't an issue initially

Protestant churches today

Protestant Churches have varying views on women's ministry:

• These focus on whether women may hold positions of leadership
• They don't generally share the Catholic view of a specially holy priesthood
• Arguments for and against women leaders are the same as those for gender equality generally

The Anglican position

The Church of England occupies a middle position:

• Separated from Rome by Henry VIII
• Remained Catholic in structure and theology
• Reformed in much of its thinking
• The approach to women's ordination is halfway between Protestant and Catholic traditions
• Accepts some freedom of biblical interpretation from Protestantism
• Retains the hierarchical and priestly structure of Roman Catholicism

Weighing up the role of women in Christianity

Most people accept there are serious gender differences expressed in the New Testament. The Early Church developed in a world where women's roles differed greatly from today.

The social and legal status of women today

Variation worldwide

Women's social status varies greatly:

• Influenced by economic situation, culture, and religion
• In subsistence farming areas, women work the land and raise children as always
• In Saudi Arabia, women follow careers but face strict religious codes controlling public behaviour

UK legal context

In the UK:

• It is illegal to discriminate against women in employment
• Women capable of doing a job should be allowed to do it on equal terms with men
• There have been exceptions (e.g., Church of England ordination restrictions)
• This created legal problems as it could breach equal opportunity legislation

The glass ceiling

Women face career restrictions termed the 'glass ceiling':

• In theory, women can compete with men at all levels
• In practice, more men than women hold senior roles in business and industry
• Main reason: women often take career breaks to have children, missing promotion opportunities

Political roles

Women have held senior political positions:

• Prime Minister in the UK
• Democratic nominee in 2016 US presidential election
• Chancellor of Germany

Legally and socially, men and women should be treated equally in democratic societies.