Published by Eerdmans on August 26, 2025
Genres: Academic, Non-Fiction, Theology
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In this distinctive introduction to the Bible, Jonathan Linebaugh illuminates Scripture’s dual capacity for revealing human sinfulness and imparting divine love. Drawing on the language of the poet George Herbert, Linebaugh characterizes Scripture as “the well that washes what it shows”―that is, the living and active word that simultaneously reveals our need for Jesus and gives us Jesus.
Linebaugh begins by outlining Scripture’s overall story, subject matter, and shape. He then provides a broad overview of the Old and New Testaments, followed by a case study of the book of Romans that demonstrates how to bring together theological, historical, exegetical, and devotional concerns when studying Scripture. Whereas many introductions to the Bible prioritize one of these concerns at the expense of the others, Linebaugh shows readers how to synthesize them. In so doing, he demonstrates how reading the Bible can be both generative and regenerative: we attend to the gospel revealed in Scripture so that same gospel can be spoken afresh on the basis of Scripture. Grounded in Linebaugh’s combined expertise as a theologian and experience as an ordained minister, The Well That Washes What It Shows is a valuable resource for pastors, seminary students, and anyone seeking to read Scripture in ways that engage both the mind and the heart.
The Well That Washes What It Shows takes its title from a line by the 17th-century poet and clergyman George Herbert. In a poem entitled “The Holy Scriptures,” Herbert likens Scripture to pure water that has the ability to offer an accurate reflection of who we are and, through the purity of that water offer cleansing and healing. For Dr. Jonathan Linebaugh, this is the core of what the Holy Scriptures are: a revealing and healing text. Scripture is not just teaching that we interpret, but it is the living and active word of God that transforms and forms us.
At its heart, The Well That Washes What It Shows refuses to treat the Bible as a mere artifact of history or a checklist of rules. Instead, Linebaugh insists that Scripture’s living and active word diagnoses and redeems: it tells us who we are, shows our need for Christ, and then meets that need with God’s promised mercy. This twofold movement—honesty about human condition and comfort in divine grace—is the book’s central heartbeat.
Linebaugh’s work is a brief Christocentric introduction to the Bible through this lens, beginning in Genesis and going all the way to Revelation, dividing the Old Testament into its three traditional parts (Law, Prophets, and Writings) and the New Testament into Gospels, Letters, and Hebrews-Revelation. Each section is very succinct—16-24 pages—and I would honestly say too succinct to say much of value. Linebaugh’s writing is very conceptual and highbrow, diving down into specifics for a sentence or two before returning to more mystical generalities. Linebaugh speaks like an academic, pulling in church history, other theologians, and (usually obscure) cultural references. All of this can work when the focus is more specific and the text has space to breathe, but the scope of this book makes coherence almost impossible. To me, The Well That Washes What It Shows reads very much like a stream-of-consciousness exposition of Scripture using Herbert’s poem as its paradigmatic lens.
Part 3 of the book is a case study of the book of Romans. And this is what the whole book should have been. Linebaugh spends 31 pages (his longest chapter!) going through the book of Romans. Even here, the writing feels frenetic and rushed, jam-packed with references there’s no time to explore, but I felt like Linebaugh actually had space to say something of substance. It’s a great introduction and overview of the book and I wish that the whole volume had been like this. Though, of course, that would have made for a thousand-page tome.
Overall, I appreciate Linebaugh’s emphasis on Scripture as both revelation and remedy. He challenges readers not merely to study Scripture but to let Scripture study us—letting its truth wash over us. But in the end, the book just doesn’t feel accessible or substantive. There’s a lot of conceptual thinking and interesting cultural references, but I personally didn’t find that it cohered into a strong, consistent, and deep message.