The Bethe-Salpeter equation describing the interaction of two scalar particles via the exchange of a third scalar particle with mass μ≠0 is in configuration space a hyperbolic partial differential equation of fourth order which will be studied with the help of the Riemann method. This method yields two Volterra equations the solutions of which are special solutions of the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The wave function is a superposition of the special solutions. For the coefficients one gets a system of two integral equations. The Fredholm determinant of the system is the generalization of the nonrelativistic Jost function.