Fun with Formgeschichte

Formgeschichte is a method of higher criticism invented by a German guy who liked to coin new words. It involves the critical analysis of a text of questionable authorship. It is assumed that by noting such things as vocabulary, sentence structure, topics, themes and underlying concepts one can ascertain who the authors were and whether or not later revisions were made.

Though it has been applied to other literature as well, it is most commonly used to examine Biblical literature. The form critic attempts to remove what he sees as adulterations of the text and thereby arrive at a writing which more accurately depicts the thoughts of the original author. By removing bits that seem "unauthentic" the basis of our theology can change and morality becomes more fluid than absolute. Applying formgeschichte to a stop sign however could get you killed. Formgeschechte is not to be confused with the related discipline bullgeschichte even though at times the distinction seems a bit blurry.

The task at hand is to determine as much as you can about the authors of Sackcloth and Ashes. How many are there? What (if any) is their education level? What was edited in after the original author wrote the article? What was edited out? Were any of them former chicken ranchers from Arkansas?
Mail your entry to:

Sackcloth and Ashes
PO Box 9093
Rochester, MN 55903


The winner will receive future issues of Sackcloth and Ashes absolutely free (if she or he can find any lying about somewhere unclaimed.) Results will be published in a later issue if anyone gets around to it.