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 Museum backers say its collections will offer a
scholarly, nonsectarian view of one of history's most-debated
sacred writings, following revision of the initial mission
statement that called for it to "bring to life the living word
of God."
"It's not about espousing our faith," Steve Green, a Southern
Baptist who is the museum board's chairman and president of the
Hobby Lobby craft store chain, told reporters this week. "We
just want to present the facts and let visitors decide."
Visitors at the Saturday opening will enter through 37-foot-high
(11.2-meter-high) brass gates etched with the first 80 lines of
the Book of Genesis from the Bible's first mechanical printing
in the 15th century.
The eight-level museum in a prime tourist spot two blocks off
the National Mall features the world's biggest private
collection of Torahs, as well as walk-through scenes of biblical
stories such as Noah's flood and a re-creation of a Middle
Eastern village at the time of Jesus.
Its 430,000 square feet (40,000 square meters) include a digital
guide and an interactive display that answer questions on the
Bible. A rooftop garden has plants mentioned in the Bible, and
museum admission is free.
Joel Baden, a Yale Divinity School professor and co-author of
"Bible Nation," a book on Hobby Lobby, said the museum did not
reflect the full complexity of the Bible.
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"They are telling a story of the Bible that is a particularly
American Protestant one," he said by telephone, noting less or
little attention was paid to Roman Catholics, Jews, Muslims and
Mormons.
Conservatives cheered Hobby Lobby in 2014 when the Supreme Court
ruled that the Oklahoma-based retailer and Conestoga Wood
Specialties could refuse to cover contraceptives in employees’
health insurance due to the owners' religious beliefs.
Hobby Lobby again drew headlines in July, when it agreed to pay $3
million and forfeit smuggled Middle Eastern artifacts obtained for
the museum under a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.
Green said the legal trouble involved his family and not the museum
itself, and that questions had not been raised about where items the
Greens had donated came from.
"There are items that we will explain 'here is what our provenance
is,' and if there are holes, we'll let people know," he said.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan
Oatis)
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