The Well That Washes What It Shows: An Invitation to Holy Scripture

“Linebaugh’s well-crafted invitation to study the Holy Scriptures would be an excellent centerpiece for an adult Bible study that would provide learners with a coherent, yet concise introduction to the Bible. . . . Reading this book was like coming to an oasis in the desert, a well with the water of eternal life. This is a book that preachers need to read for their own refreshment as they are called on to proclaim Christ. I intend to make The Well That Washes What It Shows a required text when I teach my elective, ‘The Pastor’s Devotional Life’ next year.”
―1517

“Ministry requires careful contextualization of Scripture’s unchanging content to serve the church well. Linebaugh’s book offers an invitation to do that as we live out Scripture’s narrative arc. He shows how the Bible illustrates the need for a contextualized ministry and provides the resources to accomplish it. . . . The Well That Washes What It Shows overflows with affection for Scripture as it reveals how each part of the Bible’s story preaches the gospel of Christ.”
―The Gospel Coalition

“A slim, accessible volume written for laypeople as well as pastors. . . . [Linebaugh’s writing about Scripture] is earnest, endearing, unpretentious, and attractive. . . . One of the book’s greatest strengths is its foursquare refusal to dabble in hot-button issues, whether moral, political, or theological. This is not a book about petty squabbles or partisan divisions. It’s about the book of the gospel, the Holy Scriptures that give us Christ.”
―Christianity Today

“Written for a wide readership by an outstanding teacher, this book provides an introduction to the Bible that is both crystal clear and theologically profound. Linebaugh offers fresh insights throughout and demonstrates brilliantly how the Scriptures provide two precious and sorely needed gifts: honesty about ourselves and hope for the future in God.”
―John M. G. Barclay, Durham University
 
“This book is a passionate exposition of Scripture’s witness to the Gospel―the relentless, unstoppable grace of God’s creation and redemption of all humanity through the gift of Christ, the Word incarnate. But more than that, here is pastoral theology at its best, linking the diagnostic and liberating power of that living Word with the hurts and hopes of human hearts. Take up and read!”
―Susan Eastman, Duke Divinity School
 
“Jonathan Linebaugh here introduces the Bible to readers, inviting them to delight in treasures old and new found in its pages. God was in Christ, and Linebaugh capably shows us how Christ speaks life now through these words of his prophets and apostles. For instruction, for comfort, for resurrection, Linebaugh shows us how Christ graces us again and again through these life-giving words.”
―Michael Allen, Reformed Theological Seminary
 
“As one might expect from Jonathan Linebaugh, this book is based on rigorous scholarship as well as being elegantly written. But it is also short and very accessible―and studded with brilliantly chosen quotations from Madonna to Melanchthon. The Well That Washes What It Shows is a highly enjoyable read that packs a truly impressive amount of information and insight on the whole of the Bible into such a short space. It deserves a very wide readership; indeed, I can’t think of anyone who would not learn and benefit from it.”
―Simon Gathercole, University of Cambridge
 
“In this slender volume, Jonathan Linebaugh invites us into a relationship with Scripture, illuminating throughout the relentlessness of human wrong as it encounters the greater relentlessness of God’s grace. Conversations with George Eliot, Luther, Dylan, and Madonna enrich this account, to which I will return again and again.”
―Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Princeton Theological Seminary
 
“The word ‘invitation’ in the subtitle of this book is a key one: Jonathan Linebaugh is a delightfully charming, welcoming guide. He stands back to show us the shape of the whole Bible, moves in a little closer to show us the shape of an individual book, draws us quite near to see the intricate weave of a passage. Like George Herbert, the presiding saint here, Linebaugh shares with us holy wonderment at the Book in which, amazingly, ‘heaven lies flat.’” 
―Alan Jacobs, Baylor University
 
“Refulgent with Scripture in a way that it practices what it preaches, Linebaugh’s invitation to Scripture is just that―not an invitation to itself so that readers marvel at its cleverness, but an invitation to something beyond itself, an invitation to join the author in his love for God’s word. He provides chronological and geographical bearings so that readers, whether novice or seasoned, gain a sense of the whole, but does so with art for both the eye and the ear. Readers will be drawn into the love of God communicated through the piercing honesty of the biblical text.”
―Amy Peeler, Wheaton College
 
“The Well That Washes What It Shows gives a powerful vision of the Bible as a divine Word that is truly alive. Book by book across the whole biblical canvas, Linebaugh shows how Scripture doesn’t just talk about good news for sufferers and sinners, but bursts from the page, bringing real comfort to real people from the living God.”
―Simeon Zahl, University of Cambridge
 
“I have been teaching the Bible for church groups and in seminary classes for a long time now, and from the beginning I have been on the hunt for an accessible guide that surveys the Bible’s contents and shows how it all fits together theologically around the good news about Jesus, as that good news was rediscovered and re-preached by Luther and the other Protestant Reformers. My search is now over: this is that book. I can confidently predict I will be assigning it in every introductory Bible course I teach from now until I retire. A wonderful gift to anyone who wants to learn (or relearn) what the Bible is all about.”
―Wesley Hill, Western Theological Seminary
 
“What book on the Book of books do you place in the hands of one who is seeking a thoughtful, non-technical, sympathetic introduction to sacred Scripture that is simultaneously an invitation to the ‘well that washes what it shows’? This one, I hope! With understated learning, simple eloquence, and uncommon insight, Jonathan Linebaugh leads readers to and through the biblical canon before offering a more expansive overview of Romans. Then in a final chapter, he encourages ministers of the Word to point people to the gospel and to Jesus, who alone has the words of love and life, comfort and hope. I will return to this book time and again as I consider―and encourage others to ponder―how best to approach and appropriate Holy Scripture.”   
―Todd D. Still, Truett Theological Seminary
 
“Jonathan Linebaugh’s The Well That Washes What It Shows is a stunning reminder that the Scriptures do not just teach―they reveal and heal. With theological clarity and pastoral warmth, Linebaugh shows how the Word of God exposes our need and meets it with the grace of Christ. This book is an invitation to encounter the living God who speaks mercy, raises the dead, and binds up the brokenhearted.”
―Justin S. Holcomb, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida
 
“In this learned, artful, and deeply pastoral book, Jonathan Linebaugh helps his readers realize that it is the work of God through his Word to change us, not our work to change ourselves by the Word for God. Not only does Linebaugh concisely tell us the story of the Bible while including the full spectrum of its various voices, but he also helps us understand its proper role and power in our lives. Thanks be to God!”
―Ashley Null, bishop of the Anglican Diocese of North Africa