▁story ▁of ▁the ▁res urre ction ▁for ▁personal ▁gain . ▁Re imar us ' ▁controvers ial ▁work ▁prompt ed ▁a ▁response ▁from ▁Sem ler ▁in ▁ 1 7 7 9 : ▁Be ant wort ung ▁der ▁F rag mente ▁eines ▁Un gen annten ▁( Answer ing ▁the ▁F rag ments ▁of ▁an ▁Un known ). ▁ ▁Sem ler ▁ref uted ▁Re imar us ' ▁arguments , ▁but ▁it ▁was ▁of ▁little ▁consequence . ▁Re imar us ' ▁writ ings ▁had ▁already ▁made ▁a ▁last ing ▁change ▁in ▁the ▁practice ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁criticism ▁by ▁making ▁it ▁clear ▁that ▁such ▁criticism ▁could ▁exist ▁independently ▁of ▁the ology ▁and ▁of ▁faith . ▁Re imar us ▁had ▁shown ▁bib lic al ▁criticism ▁could ▁serve ▁its ▁own ▁ends , ▁be ▁govern ed ▁sole ly ▁by ▁rational ▁criteria , ▁and ▁reject ▁de ference ▁to ▁religious ▁tradition . ▁ ▁Less ing ▁contributed ▁to ▁the ▁field ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁criticism ▁by ▁seeing ▁Re imar us ' ▁writ ings ▁published , ▁but ▁he ▁also ▁made ▁contributions ▁of ▁his ▁own , ▁arg uing ▁that ▁the ▁proper ▁study ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁texts ▁requires ▁knowing ▁the ▁context ▁in ▁which ▁they ▁were ▁written . ▁This ▁has ▁since ▁become ▁an ▁accepted ▁concept . ▁During ▁this ▁period , ▁the ▁bib lic al ▁scholar ▁Johann ▁David ▁Michael is ▁( 1 7 1 7 – 1 7 9 1 ) ▁wrote ▁the ▁first ▁historical - crit ical ▁introduction ▁to ▁the ▁New ▁Testament , ▁( 1 7 5 0 ▁and ▁subsequent ▁re vised ▁ed itions ), ▁which