A large-scale Bible museum will open in Washington, D.C., within four years, say planners who have been touring the world with portions of their collection.
Cary Summers, chief operating officer of The Museum of the Bible, a nonprofit umbrella group for the collection of the billionaire Green family of Oklahoma, said they considered Washington, Dallas and New York but decided the nation’s capital was the best location. The final name of the museum and its exact location have not been disclosed but planners hope to confirm a location later this summer.
 |
Join the Discussion |
 |
Post a Comment |
Research they commissioned found that the general population was more willing to travel to the nation’s capital for a Bible-focused museum than the other two cities, Summers said.
A consultant on the Creation Museum’s planned life-size Noah’s Ark in Kentucky, Summers said the Bible museum will charge admission. Although the museums of the Smithsonian Institution are free, he noted that the Newseum and the Spy Museum both charge admission and have been successful.
A sampling of the Bible museum’s offerings — from the collection of more than 40,000 artifacts — have been displayed in the Passages Exhibit at the Vatican and in Oklahoma City and Atlanta and will soon appear in Charlotte, N.C.
Summers said the traveling exhibit re-creates at 80 percent scale the chamber of London’s Westminster Abbey where the King James Version of the Bible was written. A full-scale re-creation is planned for the museum.
Steve Green, president of the Hobby Lobby arts and crafts chain and a Southern Baptist, said the museum will feature the history, contents and influence of the Bible but will leave it up to visitors to decide whether to believe the holy book.
"When we present the evidence," he said, "I think it’s going to be compelling for somebody to say, ‘Wow, this is a compelling book. I might want to consider what it has to say.’ "
-
Utah soldier finally awarded Bronze Star for service in Iraq
Published Jun 19, 2013 01:01:03AM -
Woman charged with felony animal torture for killing dog with insecticide
Published Jun 18, 2013 10:19:03PM -
Husband charged with abusing sick wife
Published Jun 18, 2013 10:01:02PM -
NSA director says plot against Wall Street foiled
Published Jun 18, 2013 09:59:03PM
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
