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Abstract:
Biblical Studies is the study of the Judeo-Christian Bible and related texts. It seeks to determine the meaning of the biblical books or given passages, especially as intended by the biblical writers for their addressees. Biblical Studies over the past few centuries have been categorized into three broad areas. First, there are those that locate the meaning of the text in the world behind the text; second, those that locate the meaning of the text in the world within the text; and third, those that locate the meaning of the given text in world in front of the text. The third method has opened the way for Biblical Studies to be undertaken, using the mother-tongue translations of the Bible. In the paper, the writer has argued scholarly that, the mother-tongue Bibles in Ghana have enough problems that call for academic engagement. The significance of this study is that, it has added another dimension to the already existing methodologies for Biblical Studies. Scholars and readers of this paper will be exposed to this methodology which they may want to use in the academic study of the Bible. The author recommends the mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics approach to the Departments of Religious Studies in Universities and Theological Seminaries in Africa, for, it will in no doubt add to biblical scholarship world-wide.

Keywords: mother-tongue biblical hermeneutics, biblical studies in Ghana, African biblical studies, historical-critical method of biblical studies, biblical exegesis

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