a. The Word of God originated in a historical way, and therefore, can
rightly understood, are synonymous. The special laws of grammar, agreeably to which the sacred writers employed language, were the result of their peculiar circumstances; and history alone throws us back into those circumstances." But though it is an undoubted fact that the two are closely interwoven and cannot be completely separated, yet it is not only possible, but also highly desirable, to distinguish them and to keep them distinct in our discussion. Historical interpretation, as here understood, should not be confused with the accommodation theory of Semler, though he dignified it with the same name; nor with the present-day historical-critical method of interpretation, which is based on the philosophy of evolution as applied to history. The term is here used to denote the study of Scripture in the light of those historical circumstances that put their stamp on the different books of the Bible. Immer calls it, "The Real Explanation." In distinction from the grammatical and logical interpretation, which apply to the formal side of Scripture—to the language in which it is couched—the historical refers to the material contents of the Bible. It proceeds on the following assumptions.
1. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS FOR HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION.
a. The Word of God originated in a historical way, and therefore, can be understood only in the light of history. This does not mean that everything it contains can be explained historically. As a supernatural revelation of God it naturally harbors elements that transcend the limits of the historical. But it does mean that the contents of the Bible are to a great extent historically determined, and to that extent find their explanation in history.
b. A word is never fully understood until it is apprehended as a living word, i.e., as it originated in the soul of the author. Cf. Woltjer, Het Woord, zijn Oorsprong en Uitlegging, p. 45. This implies the necessity of what is called the psychological interpretation, which is, in fact, a sub-division of the historical.