He was a pioneer in the application of "form criticism" approach to Rabbinic texts. Much of Neusner's work focused on deconstructing the prevailing approach that viewed Rabbinic Judaism as a single religious movement within which the various Rabbinic texts were produced. In contrast, Neusner viewed each rabbinic document as an individual piece of evidence that can only shed light on the more local Judaisms of such specific document's place of origin and the specific Judaism of the author. His 1981 book "Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah" is the classic statement of his work and the first of many comparable volumes on the other documents of the rabbinic canon.