Surveying New Testament scholarship during the period 1926–1956, Professor Robert Grant observed that the only real advances were made by the critical scholars and historians, not by those scholars who were looking only for the message:“ The permanent achievements [of this period 1926–1956] were made by those whose goal was understanding rather than proclamation. They did not sell their birthright as critics and historians for what has been called a ‘pot of message’ ” (Robert Grant, “American New Testament Study, 1926–56,” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 87, p. 50 [1968]).