Nate confronts the biblical literacy crisis while skeptics demand answers about Deuteronomy 22:28 and the fifty shekels.

Biblical Literacy Crisis: Christian Discipleship & Reading the Bible — Deuteronomy 22:28 Explained

What happens when most churchgoers cannot name Israel’s first king, yet skeptics can quote Deuteronomy 22:28 from memory? That is the strange landscape of the biblical literacy crisis—a problem Nate confronts head-on in this episode of Ask A Christian Podcast. A Lifeway Research survey found that two out of three church attenders failed a basic Bible knowledge test, with 55% unable to identify Saul as Israel’s first king and 44% believing the Gospel of Thomas belongs in Scripture. Meanwhile, the same week, someone in the live chat demanded an explanation for the “fifty shekels” law. The contrast is the point: people are arguing about a book they have not read, and churches are not discipling them to read it.

The Biblical Literacy Crisis: The Biblical Bottom Line

Scripture is clear that knowledge of God’s Word is not optional for the believer. Hosea 4:6 declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Jesus rebuked the Sadducees in Matthew 22:29, saying, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” The biblical literacy crisis is not merely an academic problem—it is a discipleship failure. Pastors cannot do the reading for their congregations, and small groups that never open the text are not discipleship. The New Testament assumes believers will know the Scriptures personally (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Acts 17:11). For deeper grounding in what the church has historically taught, explore our Christian catechism for adults, and for how to handle disagreements about difficult passages with grace, see our resource on graceful disagreement.

Deuteronomy 22:28 and the Fifty Shekels Objection

When the chat brought up Deuteronomy 22:28, Nate did not flinch. He read the text aloud: “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days.” Critics call this proof that the Bible condones rape. But as Nate explained, the verse is a starting point, not the full legal picture. The Talmud—the collected writings of the people whose law this actually was—contains extensive material on how this statute was applied, including provisions for the woman’s family to refuse the marriage and for the man to face far graver consequences than a single payment. The verb in verse 28 differs from the verb used for violent rape in verse 25, which carries the death penalty [citation:7][citation:9]. The biblical literacy crisis makes itself felt here: a single verse ripped from its legal and historical context becomes a weapon, while the full counsel of Scripture goes unread.

The Quiz Nobody Wanted to Fail

Nate’s reaction to the Lifeway statistics was less outrage than weary recognition. Two-thirds of respondents failed. Only 11% could correctly order the major Old Testament events. Two out of three thought Hezekiah was a book of the Bible. Nate wanted to take the quiz himself, then realized the researchers had not made it easily accessible. The moment captured the episode’s tension: the church has more access to Scripture than any generation in history, more study tools, more podcasts, more apps—and less working knowledge of the text itself. The solution is not more content. It is the old-fashioned one: open the book, read it, and find someone who will disciple you through it.