Review of A Primer on Biblical Literacy by Marsh

Marsh, Cory M. A Primer on Biblical Literacy. El Cajon, CA: Southern California Seminary Press, 2022, pp.130, $12.99, paperback.

A Primer on Biblical Literacy is just as the title describes, a short introduction to the far-reaching topics of biblical research, interpretation, and application. Marsh accomplishes his original goal of presenting typical theological topics of biblical literacy and hermeneutics in an easy-to-understand way.

Cory M. Marsh is a Professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary, located in El Cajon, CA. Dr. Marsh also serves as the Scholar in Residence at Revolve Bible Church in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He holds a Ph.D. in Biblical Theology from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Marsh is a member of The Evangelical Theological Society, The Evangelical Philosophical Society, The Society of Biblical Literature, the Institute for Biblical Research, and the Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics.

A Primer on Biblical Literacy is a short introduction to the concept of how to understand God as revealed in Scripture. The book is composed of three chapters and includes the full text of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy at the end. The first chapter presents the need for biblical literacy among Christians. A brief exegesis of Jesus’ bout with Satan in the desert demonstrates how the Word of God has always been under attack. He then highlights many people who have mishandled the Bible in the last century from religious cult leaders such as Jim Jones and David Koresh to prominent word-of-faith leaders like Joel Osteen and Bill Johnson. However, Marsh claims, “A more urgent danger exists in the average pew every Sunday: sincere Christians simply do not study the Bible for themselves (p. 16).”

In chapter two Marsh attempt to define biblical literacy as achievable awareness and proficiency in understanding the Scriptures. He states, “biblical literacy is achieved when the Christian is able to recognize the various historical contexts and literary genres in Scripture that God used to reveal Himself and, from there, can discern the Scripture’s meaning expressed through those contexts (29).” Marsh postulates that a lack of clear definition and a lack of emphasis on biblical literacy has led to such staggering rates of biblical illiteracy among Christians today. According to Marsh biblical literacy requires being a true follower of Christ, prayerfulness, humility, obedience, diligence, and a genuine growing love for God (pp. 33–35). He notes that “spiritual maturity and biblical literacy are connected by fellowship” (p. 36).

Chapter three discusses the principles and methods of biblical literacy and hermeneutics. Marsh elucidates the importance of finding meaning in the text, argues for authorial intent over reader response approaches, and ensures the context of the passage is considered. Marsh then presents a three-step process to hermeneutics beginning with observation, then interpretation, and finishing with application. Marsh labels authorial intent the meaning of the text and application the significance of the text. He completes the chapter by using two common examples of misinterpreted passages, Jeremiah 29:11 and Philippians 4:13, and applying his method to discover their true meaning and significance.

A Primer on Biblical Literacy is just as the title describes, a short introduction to the far-reaching topics of biblical research, interpretation, and application. Marsh accomplishes his original goal of presenting typical theological topics of biblical literacy and hermeneutics in an easy-to-understand way. Marsh’s outline of the book has a positive logical flow by presenting the need for biblical literacy in the first chapter, defining biblical literacy in the second chapter, then explaining how one achieves biblical literacy for himself in the third chapter. The casual presentation of the material and the simple form of the book make it a book that is accessible to laypersons of any level of biblical literacy.

The concept of Christian community as a core aspect of biblical literature is the most important part of Marsh’s argument. While hermeneutics is often an isolated endeavor, true biblical literacy requires the power of the Spirit found in the fellowship of believers who gather as the body and bride of Christ.

There are several commendable aspects of the book. First, Marsh’s urgency of the need for biblical literacy is obvious. His examples of the misuse of Scripture by religious cult leaders give a dire warning about some of the real dangers of misinterpreting Scripture. Marsh is deft to point out that the lack of interpretive accountability by their followers and syncretism with their personal philosophies led to their popularity and downfall. Had each of these false teachers existed within a biblical community, it is possible they could have been corrected and saved from calamity along with their followers.

Second, Marsh is to be commended for defining biblical literacy as achievable awareness and proficiency. As he stated, too often people believe that to fully understand the Bible one must have a comprehensive understanding of the original languages, be completely versed in the historical settings, and hold a seminary degree in theology. One needs simply to make a concerted effort to understand God’s Word as He intended, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to guide (what Marsh calls spiritual maturity), and humbly submit to the body of Christ for instruction and correction.

Third, the concept of Christian community as a core aspect of biblical literature is the most important part of Marsh’s argument. While hermeneutics is often an isolated endeavor, true biblical literacy requires the power of the Spirit found in the fellowship of believers who gather as the body and bride of Christ. In this sense, biblical literacy is a form of worship built out of a desire to truly know and understand God.

While I agree wholeheartedly with the thesis and content of A Primer on Biblical Literacy, there are some points of contention with Marsh’s approach. First, a distinction should be made between biblical illiteracy and false gospels. Religious cult leaders, while certainly biblically illiterate, are far more guilty of knowingly eisegeting the text. Ignorance of biblical truths and blatant false beliefs have points of overlap but are not the same. Far more often a lack of biblical literacy stems from a lack of genuine belief in God and His Word and results in falling away from the faith into secularism. While Marsh hints at this near the conclusion of chapter one (16), focusing on spiritual apathy as the result of biblical illiteracy would have been a stronger argument.

Second, I believe that the larger portion of the first chapter should have been on the false gospel of the word-of-faith movement rather than the religious cult leaders. Word-of-faith leaders have far-reaching ministries which affect and afflict millions of people worldwide. Religious cult leaders and their followers, though generally more fatal, pale in comparison to the millions who have been directed to hell by the prominent leaders of the prosperity gospel. However, I would like to acknowledge that his deemphasis on prosperity preachers could have been a stylistic choice considering the volume of conservative evangelicals who have already condemned such teachings. Third, the primary critique of this work is the volume of hermeneutical material covered. Marsh specifically states, “…this book is not intended to be a technical work on hermeneutics (xvii),” then proceeds to dedicate almost one-third of the book to hermeneutics. I do not disagree that hermeneutics is essential for biblical literacy. However, in organizing his material in this manner, he defeats his claim that hermeneutics and biblical literacy are distinctly different practices. Marsh believes that biblical literacy is a larger topic encompassing hermeneutics, but from the presentation, I would claim that biblical literacy is an outcome of good hermeneutics.