ABSTRACT
Before I attempt, in the second part of this book, to lay down my own perspectives of theology and therapy, there is a subject that I want to address. It requires attention at this point because it considerably informs and shapes those perspectives. It is a subject which of itself indicates a fascinating complementarity but it belongs here because it is an example of how a third discipline complements the other two. It is, so to speak, a tributary; a powerful tributary which over time has flowed into other waters and made its contribution. This tributary is the discipline of Literary Criticism and although for many generations it has had a kindred stream in the world of biblical studies, within what is commonly referred to as Biblical Interpretation or Hermeneutics, it has a life and tradition of its own, beyond religion. Margaret Davies helpfully points out how this similarity-come-difference can present itself as confusion. She refers to early (late 19th century) attempts by biblical scholars who "[reached] behind the texts to their sources, and the events which gave rise to them. (This type of scholarship has often been referred to as "literary criticism", but is more appropriately described as "source criticism"...)" (Davies, 1990, p. 402).
