Archaeology is, furthermore, of great value because it relates exegesis to historical facts. Christianity is a historical religion, based upon events and experiences which transpired in history. Allegorical and symbolical interpretations often ignore the historical background of the Christian religion and lead to aberrations in religious thought. While the New Testament as a supernatural revelation harbors many elements transcending historical verification, it does nevertheless contain much material which can be determined by historical study. Thus Dana asserts: There is no feature of the process of interpretation more important than the reconstruction of the historical situation out of which a given book or passage arose
