Factors in the Development of Modern Biblical Study

The impression which is likely to be derived from the reading of a history of biblical interpretation is that modern criticism is a goal which has been attained by an evolution in which the curve of progress is fairly steady and constant. There seems to be a tacit assumption that such adjectives as “modern,” “critical,” and “scientific” as applied to biblical studies are synonymous and equally deserved. The occasional appearance of a critical judgment in the work of ancient worthies is regarded as an “anticipation” of modern views. In most histories of interpretation the beginnings of modern criticism are found in the Renaissance and the Reformation, so that Luther and Calvin are regarded as biblical scholars; the importance of New Testament studies in the work of Erasmus is exaggerated, and processes of scientific criticism are pictured as in effect before the impact of discovery brought a new world-view into being.