Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism applied as a means of analyzing the typical features of texts, especially their conventional forms or structures, in order to relate them to their sociological contexts. Form criticism begins by identifying a text's genres or conventional literary forms, such as parables, proverbs, epistles, or love poems. It goes on to seek the sociological setting for each text's genres, its "situation in life" (German: Sitz in Leben). For example, the sociological setting of a law is a court, or the sociological setting of a psalm of praise (hymn) is a worship context, or that of a proverb might be a father to son admonition. Having identified and analyzed the text's genre-pericopes, form criticism goes on to ask how these smaller genre-pericopes contribute to the purpose of the text as a whole. Biblical criticism seeks to analyze the Bible through asking certain questions of the text, such as: Who wrote it? When was it written? To whom was it written? Why was it written? What was the historical, geographical, and cultural setting of the text? How well preserved is the original text... An ill digested lesson The Governess. ... A proverb (from the Latin proverbium) is a pithy saying which had gained credence through widespread or frequent use. ... Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ...

Form criticism was originally developed for Old Testament studies by Hermann Gunkel. It later came to be applied the Gospels by Karl Ludwig Schmidt, Martin Dibelius and Rudolf Bultmann among others. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... This article or section should be merged with Rudolf Karl Bultmann Rudolf Karl Bultmann (August 20, 1884 - July 30, 1976) was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg. ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON FORM CRITICISM:

• Armerding, Carl E. The Old Testament and Criticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983, pp. 43-66.
• Hayes, John H. An Introduction to Old Testament Study. Nashville: Abingdon, 1979, pp. 121-154.
• Hayes, John H., ed. Old Testament Form Criticism. San Antonio: Trinity University, 1974.
• Tucker, Gene M. Form Criticism of the Old Testament. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971.
• Tucker, Gene M."Form Criticism, OT," pp. 342-345 in Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Supplementary Volume. Keith Crim, gen. ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1976.