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Document Details :

Title: Source Criticism and the Limits of Certainty
Subtitle: The Lukan Transfiguration Story as a Test Case
Author(s): MILLER, R.J.
Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
Volume: 74    Issue: 1   Date: April 1998   
Pages: 127-144
DOI: 10.2143/ETL.74.1.504794

Abstract :
Source criticism is indispensable for the diachronic study of the gospels. Establishing the literary relationship among the gospels is prerequisite to understanding their composition. It is also prerequisite to understanding how evangelists redact their sources, which in turn is vital for an appreciation of their distinctive theological tendencies. The necessity of source criticism in these larger projects is noncontroversial. Like most intellectual enterprises in the humanities, source criticism resembles both art and science because it requires a certain creativity and because it proceeds by sifting data, framing hypotheses, and testing them back against the data. Successful source criticism depends on a subtle interplay of intuition and subservience to the evidence.

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