Writing

Books

And the Sea Was No More: Reading the Bible in the Deep (Eerdmans, 2026).

Now available for pre-order from Eerdmans, Amazon, Bookshop.org, or Barnes & Noble

Publisher’s Description: 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.”

A Concise Guide to Reading the New Testament: A Canonical Introduction (Baker Academic, 2018) [Baker Academic] [Amazon]

Publisher Description: The New Testament came together, and comes to us, not as a randomly sorted set of individual books but as a definitely shaped and ordered whole. This concise, theological introduction to the New Testament sheds light on the interpretive significance of the canon’s structure and sequence and articulates how the final shape of the canon is formative for Christian discipleship. Providing an essential overview often missing from New Testament books and courses, this book will serve as an accessible supplement to any New Testament or Bible introduction textbook.

Endorsements:

“This is not simply a conventional historical introduction. Instead, Nienhuis offers a robustly theological proposal about how to read the New Testament as a collection of texts that are foundational for Christian faith and practice. His reading highlights the carefully structured architecture of the generally received NT canon, as well as the way in which the texts form Christian disciples. Not to be overlooked are his illuminating citations of passages illustrating the reception of the NT books by patristic interpreters. A thought-provoking resource for all who seek to introduce students to the NT as Christian Scripture.”

–Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School

“Of the making of New Testament introductions there is no end–yet this volume is truly unique: a guide to the New Testament as a coherent, ordered, and interconnected collection of writings about God’s saving work in Jesus and the call to discipleship. This fascinating and insightful volume will benefit readers of Scripture in various settings, from the formal classroom to the church to the home.”

–Michael J. Gorman, St. Mary’s Seminary and University

“Newcomers to the formal study of the New Testament need a reliable guide that pulls its readers into the heart of the New Testament itself, one that prioritizes learning the New Testament over learning about the New Testament. This is that guide, but it is more besides. It’s also an impressive, uncluttered reading of the New Testament as the church’s Scriptures that promotes faithful life and witness.”

–Joel B. Green, Fuller Theological Seminary

“A solid resource for believers who are serious about New Testament study and Christian discipleship. It’s broadly ecumenical, in the best sense, and illuminating in its use of canonical exegesis. The scholarship is perfectly calibrated for teachers and students: always clear, never overbearing.”

–Scott Hahn, Franciscan University of Steubenville and St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology

“In a field full of introductions to the New Testament, Nienhuis provides a readable and rare guide that approaches the NT documents as a canonical collection for the purpose of forming disciples. This is a fresh and fruitful textbook that manifests a teacher’s passion and care for students to grow in their faith through engaging Holy Scripture.”

–Jonathan T. Pennington, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

A Compact Guide to the Whole Bible: Learning to Read Scripture’s Story (Baker Academic, 2015; co-edited with Robert W. Wall) [Baker Academic Link] [Amazon link]
Publisher’s Description: This compact, one-semester introduction to the Bible prepares students to begin reading the biblical text as Christian Scripture, focusing on the meaning of Scripture for the church. The editors and contributors–experienced teachers with expertise in different parts of the Bible–orient students to the whole of Scripture so that they may read the biblical text for themselves. The book first explains what Christians believe about Scripture and gives a bird’s-eye survey of the whole biblical story. Chapters then introduce the story, arrangement, style, and key ideas of each division of the Old and New Testament, helping readers see how the books of the Bible make a coherent whole.

“This Compact Guide is a true vade mecum: ‘Walk with me.’ The authors cordially invite you to accompany them into the drama of faith through Christian Scripture. Especially if you are new to biblical study and desire to read the Bible seriously and faithfully, it’s an invitation I encourage you to accept.”

–C. Clifton Black, Princeton Theological Seminary

“A Compact Guide is unique in its sweeping, fast-paced, accessible invitation to read the Bible–the whole Bible–in all of its wonderful, challenging presentation of the God who meets us in this ancient, tough, revealing, and relevant book. Perhaps the greatest gift of A Compact Guide is that it dares to present the Bible as Scripture. Generations of people have lived and died by this book, have met a living, revealing God through its stories and pronouncements, and have been taken places they could never have gone without Scripture taking them there.”
–Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School; former bishop, the United Methodist Church
“It’s easy to find introductory textbooks that overwhelm students with information and theories about the Bible–textbooks that complicate rather than open up the Bible to its readers. The promise of this slender volume is its commitment genuinely to invite students into the Bible by giving readers a keen sense of how each section of Scripture contributes to the whole and by identifying key landmarks for making sense of the biblical materials. This Compact Guide is the obvious choice for undergraduate courses concerned with the Bible as the church’s book and for congregational use.”
–Joel B. Green, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Those of us who teach Scripture as part of a larger theological enterprise often long for a concise and accessible way to present the whole scope of Scripture to students. This book is an answer to those longings. It is clear, theologically acute, and written with beginning students in mind. These colleagues have brought their scholarly expertise and their commitment to reading theologically to bear on the whole Bible. The result is a collaborative work that is unified in its approach, uniformly accessible, and of immense value to the rest of us.”
–Stephen Fowl, Loyola University Maryland

Articles and Essays

Coming to Terms – Mockingbird Magazine
The Problem of Evangelical Literacy – Modern Reformation