What is the task of Bible Study?

The task or goal of Bible study (the practice of hermeneutics) is twofold. First, to find out the meaning the inspired author intended to communicate to his first readers. That is the task of interpretation. Second, to find out what God says to us today through the passage. That is the task of application (evaluating and appropriating it).

The task of Bible study can be summed up with two questions.  

1. What exactly did the author intend to communicate to his original readers?  
2. What exactly does God intend to communicate to us today from that passage? 

Memorize these two questions because they are at the heart of all Bible study and this book. The first is a question of meaning (authorial intent). The second is a question of significance (what difference the passage makes to us today). 

About the Author

Dr. Kenneth Acha, MD, DMin.

Kenneth’s mission is to use medicine, spiritual formation, poverty alleviation, and leadership development to help people live lives to the fullest. He holds two doctorate degrees: the first is in medicine and the second is in spiritual formation. He is a practicing U.S. physician, an assistant professor of medicine, and a senior professor of leadership and spiritual formation at Servants University (SU). Kenneth is also a core faculty in the department of orphan care and poverty alleviation at SU and the founder and president of the Kenneth Acha Foundation, an organization that has helped thousands of orphans in Cameroon and trained many leaders since 2005.

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