The Various Forms of Form Criticism

The Various Forms of Form Criticism

A form critic‘s main purpose then was to classify the gospel pericope according
to their forms and to assign them to their perspective sitz-im-leben. Apart from the passion narratives, Dibelius found five main categories;

• Paradigms

These are brief episodes which culminate in an authoritative saying of Jesus, or
sometimes in a statement about the reaction of onlookers. A typical pure
paradigm is Mark: 3: 31-35. Dibelius also cites the following verse as pure paradigms: Mark: 2: 1-12; 18: 22, 23-28; 3: 1-5, 20-30; 10: 13-16; 12: 13-17;
14: 3-9. Dibelius believed that paradigms attained this shape in order to serve as example or illustrations in the preaching of early missionaries. Hence, their
name is derived from the Greek word; paradigms (meaning
example. Dibelius‘ location of the sitz-im-leben of the paradigms in early Christian preaching has been criticized by Bultmann as too narrow. He prefers the term ―apophthegm‖ for pericope of this type, and subdivides them intoncontroversy-dialogues (Mark: 3:1-6), scholastic dialogues (Mark: 12: 28-34), and biographical apophthegms (Luke: 9: 57-62), which purport to contain information about Jesus and were used as edifying paradigms for sermons. V
Taylor has criticized the terminology of both Bultmann and Dibelius and claims that his term ―pronouncement-story‖ is simpler and puts the emphasis in the right place.

• Tales

These are stories of Jesus‘ miracles which, unlike paradigms, include details betraying a certain pleasure in the narrative itself. Dibelius attributed these
stories to a special class of story-tellers and teachers for whose existence
there is no New Testament evidence. These stories may be divided into exorcism (Mark: 5: 1-20; 9: 14-29), healing miracles (Mark: 1: 40-45; 5:
21-43) and nature miracles (Mark: 4: 35-41; 6: 35-44). All these stories follow the same basic pattern;
• A description of the disease or situation to be remedied.
• A statement of the cure or solution achieved by Jesus.
A statement of the results of the miracle-either the effects on the person
healed or the reaction of the onlookers. In contrast to the paradigms they
were not formed for the purpose of illustrating sermons. Their purpose was to prove that the miracle- worker was an epiphany of God.
They were used especially in a Hellenistic setting to demonstrate Jesus‘
superiority over rival gods and miracle-workers. Bultmann who calls these
narratives ―miracle-stories‖ does not endorse Dibelius‘ belief in a special class of story-tellers, but agrees with him that these stories were formed for
propaganda and apologetic purpose.

• Legends

Dibelius took over this term from its application in later Christian centuries to ―legends of the saints‖. It does not necessarily imply that what is recorded
is unhistorical though that may often be the case, in the opinion of Dibelius, and particularly of Bultmann. What is important is the purpose of these
narratives. They are religious narratives of a saintly man in whose works and
fate interest is taken. They arose in the church to satisfy a twofold desire: the wish to know something of the virtues and lot of the holy men and women in
the story of Jesus, and the wish which gradually arose to know Jesus himself in this way. (Luke: 2: 41-49; 4: 29; Mark: 14: 28-33; 16 13-23)

• Myths

These are narratives which depict a many-sided interaction between
mythological but not human persons. The supernatural is seen breaking in upon the human scene. Only three narratives are listed in this category; the
baptismal miracle (Mark: 1: 9-11 and parallel passages), the temptations
(Mark: 4: 1-11 and parallel passages), and the transfiguration (Mark: 9: 2-8 and parallel passages) Bultmann does not use the term ―myth‖ to denote a category, but includes these three narratives among the historical and stories and legends.

• Exhortations

Greek paranesen (is Dibelius‘ term for the teaching material in
the gospels. Their sitz-im-leben is catechesis. Formally, the sayings of Jesus may be divided into maxims ,metaphors, parabolic narratives, prophetic
challenges, short commandments, and extended commandments including
some kind of motive clause (Matthew: 5: 29ff, 6: 2-4). Bultmann‘s treatment of the sayings of Jesus is more extensive.
He divides them according to content into three groups;
1. Logia or wisdom sayings.
2. Prophetic and apocalyptic sayings.
3. Laws and community regulations.

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