Museum of the Bible: Worthy of Touring

Colleen Mallette gives a glowing review of her tour of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.

Last month I had the pleasure of touring the Museum of the Bible in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC. I was wonderfully impressed at the depth of information, authentic artifacts, and use of technology which made this a fun learning experience for people of all ages. If your family is visiting DC this summer, I would highly recommend taking a morning or afternoon to walk through it — your children would enjoy it and parents would learn a lot. 

What you’ll see in the Museum of the Bible  

There are six floors in this museum, and it took us four hours to cover most of them. There were video displays throughout, plus multiple mini-movies and extended “walk-through immersive experiences” that took us from room to room in order to view the entire sequence. There was quite a variety of types of displays which made it interesting no matter where you were. Also available were some hands-on tables, which children always gravitate to.   

There was even an entire area that recreated the town of Nazareth with natural noises coming through speakers of activities that were being portrayed in each area; for instance, in the garden area were sounds of birds overhead.  

One floor was devoted to the stories of the Bible and was separated into the Old Testament "Hebrew" side and the New Testament side that focused on Jesus. To show the whole Hebrew story of salvation from creation, through the Fall, Noah’s Ark, Moses, David, and the prophets, the museum made it fascinating and quick by using an animated Immersion Experience. They covered all of those stories in only 30 minutes! The information on Jesus from the Gospels was tastefully done and appropriate for families.  

Another floor was devoted to the impact the Bible has had on America and on the rest of the world. It was great to see where the Word of God has been introduced to even the most remote areas of the world. I especially enjoyed the exhibit showing how many languages the Bible has been translated into so far. It is the biggest-selling book in all of history, and rightly so!  

Here in the USA, the Bible has impacted music, art, fashion, schools, culture, crusades, and revolutions. It influenced the original writers of the Declaration of Independence and is still used to swear in new political leaders.  

Artifacts you can view

The floor devoted to the history of the Bible contained more than 600 artifacts and 50 media programs. There were actual ancient hieroglyphs, early alphabets, and a recreation of a large Dead Sea Scroll that wrapped around a whole room plus pieces of true scrolls, codices (the first bound books), and finally whole Bibles. Early copies of the Bible were all hand-scribed, before being reproduced on printing presses, which was demonstrated by a live actor showing how the first press worked.   

There have been many versions of the Bible over the years, but the latest artistic version made in Minnesota in the early 2000s, the St. John’s Bible, was created at a Catholic monastery, and the museum had a beautiful display about it.   

On the main floor is a room devoted to items donated by the Vatican Museum and Library. It included reproduction paintings of artwork hanging in the Vatican that portray Biblical scenes and some other artifacts from the Vatican. It was nice to see the Catholic Church represented when the rest of the museum was non-denominational.   

There were three exhibits that were an additional cost to view; we didn’t visit those because we felt there was enough to see that was included in the entrance fee.  

A connection to The Chosen 

As a big fan of The Chosen, I was pleased to see that they had donated four scenes from the series to be run consecutively in the Galilee Theater which portrayed beautiful depictions of Jesus from the Gospels. The four scenes were The Miracle of the Fish, Jesus Calls Matthew, Jesus Cleanses a Leper, and The Wedding at Cana. 

The producers of The Chosen also recently announced that starting July 7, 2024, they will be posting to their app their traditional Bible Roundtable Discussions for season four, which were filmed at the Bible Museum! The producer, Messianic Jewish Rabbi, Catholic Priest and Evangelical Bible Scholar will be showing Bible scroll displays and other historical artifacts in the museum, and their discussions of each episode take place at a table in the recreated Nazareth town. This free app is available for iOS and Android.

Check out the extras  

On the top floor is a nice café with a rooftop open garden sitting area. There is also a children’s playroom on the main floor. Each floor has restrooms, seating for breaks, and guides in case you have questions. The central staircase was large and beautifully adorned, and there were five elevators. The museum shop was full of a variety of Bible-related gifts, and you must go through the shop in order to exit.   

Touring this museum is well worth your time as an educational, entertaining and spiritually enlightening experience. To learn more, visit MuseumOfTheBible.org. 

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Copyright 2024 Colleen Mallette
Images: Copyright 2024 Colleen Mallette, all rights reserved.