The Top Books to Boost Biblical Literacy

In every generation God’s people are called to be, perhaps most fundamentally, people of God’s Word. However, many pastors and spiritual leaders have sadly observed a trend of diminishing basic biblical literacy even in theologically faithful church congregations today. Quite simply, many of God’s people—saints who have genuine saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—need to know their Bibles better.

The apostle Paul reminds Timothy that the inspired Scriptures are “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15–17). Many followers of Jesus in the American church would say they believe this, even as the patterns of their lives do not reflect a diligent desire to read, study and understand the Bible more deeply.

By God’s grace, and by the Spirit, we ought to desire more teaching, reproof, training, competence and maturity—all of which Paul tells us will come through deeper understanding and application of the Word of our God.

Here are some resources toward this end: increasing biblical literacy in our congregations. I’ll move from simplest to most complex, but all of these books will help lay a foundation for deeper biblical study, understanding and faithful application in the lives of God’s people.

The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm; illustrated by Gail Schoonmaker (Crossway) is a children’s book. And I recommend that adults read it too. In my view, it offers perhaps the best and simplest initial primer to reading and understanding the Bible as one big unified story of God’s redeeming work in the world through Jesus Christ. When I began as a ministry intern at Holy Trinity Church in Chicago along with other seminary students, we went through this book to get our first taste of biblical theology.

God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible by Vaughan Roberts (IVP) provides a simple, clear and memorable way to organize our understanding of the biblical narrative, from Genesis to Revelation. Yes, Bible students will need to dig into the intricacies of every text in Scripture, but it’s so helpful to begin to use books like Roberts’ to first “put our Bibles together” in a comprehensive way.

Gospel and Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy (Authentic Media) is a book that many pastors in my circles will say helped them understand the Bible, almost as if for the very first time. Using the theme of “kingdom,” Goldsworthy helps readers understand the connected themes and theological threads of Scripture, putting each part of the biblical narrative in its proper place in relation to the cumulative saving work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. It’s a short book, but it packs a biblical-theological punch.

The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept by Mark Dever (Crossway) essentially offers one “sermon” on each book in the Bible. This two-part work is a fantastic resource, as Dever seeks to capture the main theme from every book of the Bible, while also offering a basic summary of what happens in that book, and how it relates to God’s overall redemptive plan. If you’ve ever wanted a meaty, yet concise, answer to the question “What is the book of Nahum about?” this is the go-to resource.

Baxter’s Explore the Book: A Survey and Study of Each Book From Genesis Through Revelation by J. Sidlow Baxter (Zondervan) is an oldie but a goodie for those who really want to dig in to any biblical book. This work is really the culmination of years of faithful biblical exposition; it contains full summaries, structural outlines, main themes and central applications of every book of the Bible. Much more than a verse-by-verse commentary, Baxter’s book really offers the full background information and study of each book of the Bible that led him to rich expository sermons through the Scriptures. It’s an absolute gold mine.

ESV Expository Commentary 12-Vol. Set by multiple authors (Crossway) offers theologically faithful, biblically accurate and consistently substantive (and readable) commentaries on every biblical book. I recommend this series of commentaries because the quality is consistent. They are accessible for the seminary-trained and the lay believer in the pew.