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Originally Posted by Toto Richard Carrier has posted a video of a talk he gave on the historical method. ... I think you will find it informative and amusing.

Ernst Troeltsch's essay "On Historical and Dogmatic Method in Theology" (1898) formulated the principles of historical criticism. The essay still haunts theology. According to Troeltsch, the historical method of thought and explanation has three principles:

(1) the principle of criticism or methodological doubt, which implies that history only achieves probability. Religious tradition must also be subjected to criticism (pp. 731-32).

(2) The principle of analogy makes criticism possible. Present experience and occurrence become the criteria of probability in the past. This "almighty power" of analogy implies that all events are in principle similar (p. 732).

(3) The principle of correlation (or mutual interdependence) implies that all historical phenomena are so interrelated that a change in one phenomenon necessitates a change in the causes leading to it and in the effects it has (p. 733). Historical explanation rests on this chain of cause and effect. The third principle rules out miracle and salvation history (pp. 740-42).

Historical method is the child of the Enlightenment.

The Historical-Critical Method, Guides to Biblical Scholarship (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), p. 55. Emphasis supplied; page references are to Troeltsch's original: "Ueber historische und dogmatische Methode in der Theologie," Zur religioesen Lage, Religionsphilosophie und Ethik (2. Aufl., Ges. Schr. II, Aalen: Scientia Verlag, 1962 = 1922), pp. 729-53