form criticism
noun
a method of textual analysis, applied especially to the Bible, in which the origin and history of certain passages are traced by isolating their literary forms, as miracle story, saying, or apothegm, on the assumption that they were fixed by oral tradition prior to compilation in written form.
Origin of form criticism
First recorded in 1925–30
OTHER WORDS FROM form criticism
form-crit·i·cal [fawrm-krit-i-kuh l] /ˈfɔrmˌkrɪt ɪ kəl/, adjectiveWords nearby form criticism
forlorn hope,
forlì,
form,
form an opinion,
form class,
form criticism,
form drag,
form factor,
form genus,
form letter,
form stop
British Dictionary definitions for form criticism
form criticism
noun
literary criticism concerned esp with analysing the Bible in terms of the literary forms used, such as proverbs, songs, or stories, and relating them to their historical forms and background