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THE BIBLE: LARGEST EVER MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THE ‘GOOD BOOK’ TO PROVIDE “SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE”

DAVID ADAMS reports on the plans to build a Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC…

It’s the world’s most read book and, whether you’re a believer or not, none can dispute the dramatic impact the Bible has had upon the shape of today’s world.

Yet, while it’s been the subject of dedicated museums before – there’s a handful in the US as well as in Europe, Israel and even the Australian town of St Arnaud, there’s never been a dedicated museum of the scale of the Museum of the Bible, soon be be constructed in the US capital of Washington, DC.

Artist’s impression of the Museum of the Bible, slated to open in 2017. The museum is being designed by architects the Smith Group JLR. PICTURE: Smith Group JLR

“This museum will invite everyone to engage with the Bible through a scholarly and engaging presentation of this book. It isn’t about anyone’s beliefs or personal faith; it’s solely about a book. Everyone involved in this project has a strong conviction that that Bible can stand on its own two feet. This museum will be something that people who have no religion at all will be able to walk into and enjoy.”

– Cary Summers, chief operating officer of the Museum of the Bible

“You can’t find anything approaching this size about this topic anywhere else in the world,” Cary Summers, the museum’s chief operating officer, tells Sight via email. 

Housed in an eight-storey building containing almost 40,000 square metres of space – which will make it one of the largest museums in the capital, the $US800 million museum is being built by Steve Green, president and son of the founder of US craft store chain Hobby Lobby. 

It is scheduled to open in 2017. Displays will cover the narrative, history, and impact of the Bible through what Mr Summers says will be a series of “high-tech exhibits, immersive settings and interactive experiences built for guests of all ages”. As well as five floors containing exhibition space, the building will feature a 500 seat performing arts hall, a ballroom and a restaurant and cafe as well as a “Biblical garden” on the rooftop.

While the project has already attracted its share of criticism – particularly over whether the museum will be used for proselytising (Mr Green has reportedly said this will not be the case), Mr Summers believes the need for the museum is clear.

“The Bible has had a huge impact on our world today – from culture and politics, to social and moral justice, to literature, art and music, and more,” he says. “We live in a new “Dark Ages” of sorts, with Bible literacy polling at an all-time low. In this modern information age, it makes no sense that people wouldn’t know about what is arguably the most influential book of all time.”

Noting that there will be ““something to interest everyone: people of all faiths, adults and children, the intellectually curious and most seasoned of scholars alike”, he says the “non-sectarian” approach – a “foundational tenet” of the museum – means it will have a broad appeal.

“This museum will invite everyone to engage with the Bible through a scholarly and engaging presentation of this book. It isn’t about anyone’s beliefs or personal faith; it’s solely about a book. Everyone involved in this project has a strong conviction that that Bible can stand on its own two feet. This museum will be something that people who have no religion at all will be able to walk into and enjoy.”

The location, just two blocks from the National Mall and three from the Capitol – the seat of the US Congress, was chosen after an 18 month search. Mr Summers says that given the city is “the museum capital of the world”, “it’s only fitting that they selected Washington as the place to locate a museum that invites all people to engage with the Bible via a scholarly and engaging presentation of this book”.

“Our goal in building this museum is to make the Bible more accessible to all the world, and we believe putting it in a location just three blocks from the US Capitol near DC’s storied pantheon of cultural and research institutions in and around the National Mall will do just that.”

The basis of the museum’s collections will be Mr Green’s family’s personal collection of Biblical artifacts. Known aptly as the ‘Green Collection’, it includes more than 40,000 Biblical artifacts collected over the past five years, some of which have been seen in exhibitions which have been travelling around the world over the past few years.

The collection, one of the largest in the world, includes one of the biggest collections of cuneiform tablets in North America – such as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, the world’s largest private collection of Torah scrolls and the second largest private collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments, medieval manuscripts including the Rosebery Rolle – a Middle English translation of the psalms which predates Wycliffe’s translation by some 40 years, rare editions of some of the first printed Bibles and ‘Americana’ such as the Lunar Bible – the first Bible to ever travel to another celestial body.

Mr Summers’ highlights include the ‘Julia Howe Ward poem’ – which provided the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, one of the most sung hymns in American history, and which he says “demonstrates the impact of the Bible”, and the third century ‘Wyman fragment’, the oldest known copy of parts of Romans Chapter 4 and 5 including 5:1 which states Christians are “justified by faith”.

A PEEK INSIDE: An artist’s renderings of the ‘Impact Floor’, dedicated to the influence the Bible has had on our world. It will feature a high-tech interactive recording booth here visitors can record their own memories and observations of the Bible. PICTURE: C&G Partners

 

“Another of my favorites that shows the history of the Bible is the oldest Jewish prayer book or ‘siddur’, which is dated to 840 CE,” he says. “This proto prayer book contains prayers for the morning service, liturgical poems and the Haggadah that is read at Passover. “

Mr Summers also highlights the Dead Sea Scroll fragment of Nehemiah, chapter 2:13-18, one of only two surviving pieces of text found among the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Book of Nehemiah. “This text gives us an insight into the Bible’s narrative of the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem in the fifth century BCE. “

~http://www.museumofthebible.org

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