Memoir
Reading the Bible in the Deep
Coming Sept 2026!
When panic attacks shattered his world, leaving him drowning in chaos he couldn’t name, biblical scholar Dave Nienhuis discovered something unexpected: Scripture itself offered language for his anguish. The Bible’s recurring image of the catastrophic Deep—the watery chaos that threatens to overwhelm—spoke for him when he had no words of his own.
Both a confession and a Bible study, And the Sea Was No More traces the image of the Deep through Scripture, from the Spirit hovering over primordial waters in Genesis to Revelation’s vision of a time when the sea will be no more. Through childhood trauma and EMDR therapy, through the Psalms and the prophets, through Job’s complaints and Jesus asleep in the storm, Nienhuis discovers that God meets us not above the chaos but within it.
This is a Bible study written from the body—theology that knows how to flinch, exegesis shaped by trauma, faith that has learned to breathe again after being sucker-punched by the Deep. Writing as both a scholar and a sufferer, Nienhuis attempts no explanations for suffering but gives readers permission to cry “How long, O Lord?” without shame.
For anyone catastrophically overwhelmed—by trauma, grief, illness, anxiety, depression, or simply the weight of living in a troubled world—And the Sea Was No More offers both a lifeline and a liturgy. And it reveals that the only way through the Deep is to follow the slaughtered Lamb who went down into the waters and came out the other side, scarred and singing “follow me.”
Reviews
“The world we are living in is complex, confusing, and often overwhelming. That’s why we need this book, And the Sea Was No More, for such a time as this. Dave Nienhuis bravely shares his personal challenges rooted in childhood emotional trauma to help others rediscover biblical truths that have the power to set us free. I highly recommend this potent memoir!”
―Brenda Salter McNeil, associate pastor of preaching and reconciliation, Quest Church
“Scripture comes alive in this personal, powerful message to all who at times feel alone and overwhelmed, reminding us that our loving, liberating, and life-giving God is with us―especially when we may not feel it.”
―Michael B. Curry, twenty-seventh presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
“Dave Nienhuis has written a remarkable book: honest, unsettling, and full of theological wisdom. And the Sea Was No More speaks with rare depth to the realities of trauma, anxiety, shame, and embodied suffering, while resisting the false comfort of simplistic religious answers. What emerges instead is a vision of faith shaped by lament, truth-telling, and the discovery of God’s presence in the very places where people often feel most abandoned. This is a deeply humane and profoundly Christian work. It will be of great importance to those going through suffering and to those who seek to accompany them with greater care, wisdom, and compassion.”
―John Swinton, professor in practical theology and pastoral care, University of Aberdeen
“And the Sea Was No More is a rare work of depth and honesty. Dave Nienhuis refuses trite answers to challenging biblical and existential questions, creating space for mystery, lament, and truth-telling. In doing so, he offers what we most need and what we know today to be the antidote to ongoing trauma and woundedness―a compassionate witness to our pain, and faithful companionship when we find ourselves in the deep.”
―Chuck DeGroat, professor of pastoral care and Christian spirituality and executive director of the clinical counseling program, Western Theological Seminary
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