Historical-grammatical Historical-grammatical Dave Welch This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality

The historical-grammatical method (or Grammatico-Historical method) of Bible study is a type of Biblical hermeneutics or method of approaching and interpreting the Bible which relies as much as possible on the supportive Context of Biblical texts, especially in relation to the original Audience and Biblical genre. The Grammatico-Historical approach uses all the available linguistic, grammatical, literary, historical, socio-political, archaeological, economic and religious information available in relation to a specific text in order to understand the original author's intended meaning. In this sense it stands in direct contrast to postmodern and Liberal forms of literary deconstructionism where each person's own interpretation is valid at the expense of the original authour's intent.

The grammatical-historical method of Biblical interpretation is strongly linked to a Covenantal overview of the Bible, which is in turn founded upon the whole of Biblical Theology, that is the successive historical revelation of God throughout the Old Testament in New Testament.

Grammatical-Historical vs Literal interpretation

In direct contrast to Literal interpretations which disregard context and are often employed by those labelled Fundamentalists the Grammatico-Historical method will never take a surface 'plain meaning' interpretation of a text unless it first qualifies whether or not the text should be read differently within the context that it is found in the Bible, especially regarding Biblical genres such as prophecy, apocalyptic, poetry, wisdom literature and in regard to figures of speech and idioms.

A significant qualifier should be made here to point out that taking a Grammatico-Historical interpretation rather than a literal interpretation of a Biblical text is in no way equal to considering the Bible to be fallible. Both those taking a Grammatico-Historical interpretation of the Bible and those taking a literal interpretation of the Bible consider it to be the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God. Literalists have in the past considered those taking the Grammatico-Historical approach to be approaching Biblical liberalism, something which most Grammatico-Historical interpreters would abhor.

The original meaning of texts

The aim of the grammatical-historical approach is first to understand what the section of the Bible would have meant to it's original hearers. It's secondary task, which must strictly only be attempted after a clear understanding of a text has been reached in regard to the primary task, is to apply the same lessons and morals to our modern context. Hence one of the foundational questions that a grammatical-historical interpreters asks of interpretation he is confronted with is: Would this interpretation have made sense and have been understandable to the original hearers or addressees who first received this section of the Bible? If then the answer would be no, then the grammatical-historical interpreter must study the text more carefully to find what it would have meant in its original context.

Reversing many people's concept of reading the Bible, rather than primarily asking what does the Bible mean for us today, the grammatical-historical approach asks what did the Bible mean to it's original audience in their original context, and then - and only then - what does the Bible mean for us in modern contexts in light of it's primary meaning to it's original audience.

ORIGINAL INTENT AND MEANING OF AUTHOUR >>> MODERN APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF SPIRITUAL LESSONS

Implications of interpretations

It is also interesting to note that most grammatico-historical interpretations of various selected scriptures as well as the Bible as a whole produce very moderate socio-political implications for society. Beside obvious comdemning of social immorality in line with Christian orthodoxy, grammatical-historical interpretations of the Bible contrast the forms of extremism often associated with fundamentalists and Cults. The best example of this process at work is in relation to Christian eschatology and the meanings of prophetic, apocalyptic and eschatological Biblical texts, see Summary of Christian eschatological differences, where the Covenantal approach is favoured above the Dispensational approach by the grammatical-historical hermeneutic. Another example is interpretation of what it means to speak in tongues.

See also