▁the ▁Heb rew ▁people ▁to ▁assemble ▁the ▁book ▁of ▁Gen esis . ▁According ly , ▁Ast ru c ▁borrow ed ▁methods ▁of ▁text ual ▁criticism ▁( used ▁to ▁investigate ▁Greek ▁and ▁Roman ▁texts ) ▁and ▁applied ▁them ▁to ▁the ▁Bible ▁in ▁search ▁of ▁those ▁original ▁accounts . ▁Ast ru c ▁believed ▁that ▁he ▁had ▁identified ▁them ▁as ▁separate ▁sources ▁that ▁were ▁edited ▁together ▁into ▁the ▁book ▁of ▁Gen esis , ▁thus ▁explaining ▁Gen esis ' ▁problems ▁while ▁still ▁allowing ▁for ▁M osa ic ▁author ship . ▁ ▁The ▁twenty ▁or ▁so ▁Protest ant ▁univers ities ▁in ▁Germany ▁adopted ▁and ▁developed ▁Ast ru c ' s ▁method . ▁There ▁was ▁a ▁willing ness ▁among ▁the ▁doctor al ▁candidates ▁to ▁re - express ▁Christian ▁doctrine ▁in ▁terms ▁of ▁the ▁scientific ▁method ▁and ▁of ▁the ▁historical ▁understanding ▁common ▁during ▁the ▁ ▁German ▁En light en ment ▁( cir ca ▁ 1 7 5 0 – 1 8 5 0 ). ▁ ▁German ▁Piet ism ▁played ▁a ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁rise ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁criticism ▁by ▁supporting ▁the ▁desire ▁to ▁break ▁the ▁hold ▁of ▁religious ▁authority . ▁ ▁R ational ism ▁also ▁became ▁a ▁significant ▁influence ▁in ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁bib lic al ▁criticism , ▁providing ▁its ▁concern ▁to ▁avoid ▁dog ma ▁and ▁bias ▁through ▁reason . ▁ ▁For ▁example , ▁the ▁Swiss ▁the olog ian ▁Jean ▁Al phon se ▁Tur ret in ▁( 1 6 7 1 – 1 7 3 7 ) ▁attacked ▁conventional ▁ex eg esis ▁( inter pret ation ) ▁and ▁argued