(3 of 5)
Catholic scholars are cautious in using this method, but they generally accept its basic assumptions: that the Gospels are redactions of sayings and narratives that cannot be properly interpreted without reference to the oral tradition that lies behind them.
By establishing the Sitz im Leben (life situation) of individual Gospel passages, form critics conclude that some can be judged factual accounts — but others are clearly not to be taken literally as records of events in Jesus' life. Many form critics agree that the detail-laden narratives of Jesus' Passion are derived from eyewitness accounts. But the story of the Magi, and Matthew's account (27: 51-53) of the disturbances that took place in Jerusalem after Jesus' death, appear to be folk tales that were devised to impress the faithful with the magnitude of underlying events. Form criticism suggests that many sayings of Jesus were shaped by the Evangelists, although they reflect Christ's thoughts. The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is obviously a compilation of Christ's teachings drawn from many different sources. The tongues of fire that came upon the disciples at Pentecost may be only the Biblical writer's attempt to express a supernatural experience which defies human expression.
Protestant Praise. Far from destroying faith in the Bible as God's word. this modern approach makes Scripture more comprehensible — and has contributed mightily to the modern-day revival of Catholic interest in the Bible. There are interesting new Catholic magazines on Scripture aimed at laymen, and thousands of parishes have organized Bible study groups for their parishioners. Non-Catholic scholars readily grant the quality of such modern Catholic Bibles as the English translations prepared by the late Monsignor Ronald Knox and the U.S.'s still-incomplete Confraternity editions, both of which were designed to replace the classic but archaic Douay version. A religious bestseller (more than 1.000,000 copies) is the French Jerusalem Bible, translated by the staff of Ecole Biblique, a respected center for Biblical research run by the Dominican order in the Jordanian section of Jerusalem.