Regarding the term “Biblical criticism,” this phrase is often used as shorthand for academic study of the Bible (with some justification, I guess). And yet I think there may be some unfortunate misunderstandings in what is meant by “criticism” here, as well as with some of the general assumptions of what exactly is being done by “Biblical critics.”

Used here, “criticism” certainly does not build on the common meaning of ‘criticize’ - that is, “to find fault with.” For example, Harper’s Bible Dictionary defines Biblical criticism as “study and investigation of biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings.” A discerning judgment is, needless to say, quite different than “finding fault with.”

Even though Biblical criticism encompasses many different subfields, some of which are compatible with “traditional” belief, others aren’t so compatible - because Biblical criticism is ultimately based on the principles of naturalism, (whereas, obviously, religious belief isn’t).

If you wish to continue, read the responses to Does an academic reading of the Bible erode other forms of reading? If you still desire to continue, then belay on.

Okay, where do I start?

You might consider the following:

Online Materials

• COJS Jewish History

Books

• How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now

• The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings

• Age of Reason by Thomas Paine - A starting point of many irreconcilable contradictions and errors that lend many scholars to views on multiple authorship.

• How to Read the Bible by Marc Zvi Brettler also published as How to Read the Jewish Bible.

Podcasts

• NYU Ancient Israel course

• Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean

• Old Testament Introduction from Christine Hayes, Yale (youtube)

• Ancient Israel from Dan Fleming, NYU (youtube)

• The Pentateuch, The Prophets, The Writings from John Goldingay, Fuller (3 courses, iTunes)

• From Israelite to Jew (Second Temple Judaism) from Michael Satlow, Brown (iTunes)

• Jerusalem: The Holy City: A History of Jerusalem from Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel from Robert Cargill, UCLA (iTunes)

• Historical Jesus from Thomas Sheehan, Stanford (iTunes)

• [New Testament Introduction from Dale Martin, Yale (youtube)] (http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/introduction-to-new-testament)

• The Hebrew Scriptures in Judaism & Christianity from Shaye Cohen, Harvard (iTunes)

• Introduction to Ancient Greek History from Donald Kagen, Yale (youtube)

• Ancient Mediterranean World from Isabelle Pafford, UC Berkeley (iTunes)

• Harvard EdX course: The Letters of the Apostle Paul with Laura Nasrallah

But my beliefs are the oldest and truest, right?

• Which, if any, of these modern Christian attitudes existed in early Christianity? x-post to /r/AcademicBiblical, x-post to /r/AskHistorians

• Why was there large diversity in the early Christianity community? Did they all believe in a physical (or spiritual) resurrection of Jesus? And how much do we really know about the apostles and their deaths?

• How accurate is the statement, “Christian Fundamentalism is only about a couple hundred years old and creationism and biblical literalism are both very new ideas.”

• When you started diving into the field of biblical scholarship what did you learn that surprised you the most? What do you think the average layperson would be surprised to learn?