Historical criticism, also known as higher criticism, refers to the study of the origins and development of religious texts. Synonyms for historical criticism include textual analysis, source criticism, and literary criticism. Textual analysis involves examining the language and content of a text to determine its meaning and context. Source criticism examines the sources used by the author and the source material used to create the text. Literary criticism explores the literary elements of a text, such as structure, character development, and metaphorical language. All these approaches aim to understand the historical and cultural context in which the text was produced and interpret its message accordingly.