Are source-critical questions on topic?

Question

I ran across this question, and it didn't really seem to sit with the rest of the questions. To me, this functions as a distraction from this site's real work of how we deal with the text itself.

OTOH, much of this site's scope so far seems to be in line with the litmus test "is this the sort of question I might find in a biblical commentary?" I would say questions of authorship typically do pass that test.

And, indeed, there are cases where a change in author yields a significant change in interpretation, which is certainly relevant to this site as well.

So, what do we want to do with questions of authorship, and does this bleed into higher criticism more generally?

Answer 1

Following in line with this meta question, it seems that the purpose of this site is to serve as an academic community interested in studying and analyzing the Biblical text. (Both exegesis and hermeneutics.)

Admittedly, questions of authorship or inspiration are outside of the realm of translation or interpretation. However, I feel it strongly fits into the "academic" or expert aspect of this community.

I personally would like to see these types of questions be on-topic here. It seems that they are more a question of the text rather than a question of the doctrine. Therefore, I believe they would fall here more than on Christianity.SE