THE 205: Biblical Texts in Global Contexts (Gaudino): Historical Criticism

Historical criticism examines the social, cultural, and political environment in which the biblical text was originally written.  Sources that provide historical criticism may discuss:

• date the biblical text was written
• authorship of the biblical text (person or sources)
• historical, social, and cultural context of the author's world

Some biblical commentaries (particularly commentaries published prior to 2000) use a historical criticism approach to analyzing the biblical text. A few examples of series that use this approach include: