Source criticism is a technique used to identify what sources were used to in the formation of a particular book. The belief is the closer the source is to the event it is trying to describe, the more one can trust it. Source criticism is also referred to as literary criticism. Textual criticism is literary criticism concerned with the identification of text and manuscript errors.

            Tobit is the story of an Israelite taken captive and exiled to Nineveh. Tobit is in Assyrian captivity. Against the Assyrians king’s orders, Tobit buries the dead. While preparing for a burial, Tobit falls asleep and wakes up blind. Now, he wants to kill himself. There is a woman by the name of Sarah in the land of Media who also wants to kill herself. She is in despair because after being married 7 times, she is still a virgin. On each of her wedding nights, a demon named Asmodeus kills her husband. God send Raphael, the angel of healing, to there rescue. Tobit sends his son Tobias to Media because a man there owes him money. Raphael takes the human form and accompanies Tobias on his journey to Media. On there journey, Tobias is nearly swallowed by a big fish, but he escapes and kills the fish, salvaging the gall bladder, heart, and liver. When Tobias and Raphael get to Media, they reside with Sarah and her family. Sarah and Tobias get married, despite the past slayings of her previous husbands. Raphael tells Tobias to burn the fish heart and liver, so the smoke can drive Asmodeus away to Egypt where he is taken captive by Raphael. Tobias and Sarah return to Nineveh with Tobit’s debt. They rub the fish gall bladder in his eyes and he is able to see again.  The main lesson of this story is that no matter what you go through, in the end everything works out for the better.

            Some people consider the Maccabees to be heroic because they fight against the king. King Antioch is an evil king who defiles the temple, makes circumcision illegal, and worships false idols in the temple. Everyone was afraid to step up to king Antioch except Maccabee. He believed that God was on his side and He would help him through the battle. Maccabee was successful in defeating King Antioch. Everyone was surprised by his defeat and considered Maccabee a hero.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Week 11: Respond Again. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.