textualism
(ˈtɛkstjuːəlɪz(ə)m)
[f. prec. + -ism.]
1. Strict adherence to the text, esp. of the Scriptures; the principles or method of a textualist.
| 1863 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) II. 286 The arbitrary textualism of the Puritan divines. 1895 Thinker VIII. 405 He feels unable..to burden his audience with minutiæ, subtleties, pedantries, textualisms. |
2. That department of scholarship which deals with the text of the Bible; textual criticism.
| 1888 Church Times 318 Reputations..acquired merely in the field of grammar and textualism, not in theology proper. 1908 Times, Lit. Supp. 5 Mar. 74/2 Textualism is not a popular study. |