I posted this to a few friends today…it makes an interesting read. Particularly if you are open to this perspective.
I’ve heard of this but have never visited…..
The idea sounds good but this article presents an interesting commentary….one can see this as actually part of the subtle revision of history……
I found these comments right in line with the Chris Pinto documentaries…which I have copies of or can be watched on Prime…
https://www.adullamfilms.com/BridgeToBabylon.html
PART THREE IN THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE BIBLE DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The sequel to A LAMP IN THE DARK and TARES AMONG THE WHEAT
If you watch those videos you might even want to switch the old KJV Bible or at least the Geneva Bible. Unless you really think that God’s word the Bible was actually hidden for all those years…It’s subtle, since some including me and most people I know came to faith being introduced to the Bible in one of the modern forms…God is sovereignly sovereign and the faith of his elect is assured…regardless of the Bible Version. None are lost.
Jhn 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
John 6:38-40 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
And Jesus confirmed this is the way twice..
Jhn 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jhn 6:64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.Jhn 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.Jhn 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.Jhn 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?Jhn 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.Jhn 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Interestingly that’s the same phrase used in Peter’s confession in Matthew. Which the Roman Church used to build their hierarchy upon.
Matthew 16:15-20 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
The old Geneva Bible notes comment:
Matthew 16:1816:18 {5} And I say also unto thee, That thou art {l} Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the {m} gates of hell shall not prevail against it.(5) That is true faith, which confesses Christ, the virtue of which is invincible.(l) Christ spoke in the Syrian tongue, and therefore did not use this discourse to distinguish between Petros, which signifies Peter, and Petra, which signifies a rock, but in both places used the word Cephas: but his meaning is what is written in Greek, in which the different word endings distinguish between Peter, who is a piece of the building, and Christ the Petra, that is, the rock and foundation: or else he named him Peter because of the confession of his faith, which is the Church’s as well as his, as the old fathers witness, for so says Theophylact. That confession which you have made, shall be the foundation of the believers.(m) The enemies of the Church are compared to a strong kingdom, and therefore by “gates” are meant cities which are made strong with wise preparation and fortifications, and this is the meaning: whatever Satan can do by cunning or strength. So does Paul, calling them strongholds; 2Co 10:4 .Old John Gill has a long commentary on that verse with these words…”Christ is a rock that is higher than they, where they find safety in times of distress, and the shadow of which is refreshing to them; and therefore betake themselves to him for shelter, and where they are secure from the wrath of God, and rage of men: he is the rock of ages, in whom is everlasting strength; and is the sure, firm, and everlasting foundation on which the church, and all true believers, are laid: he is the foundation of their faith, and hope, and everlasting happiness, and will ever continue; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The Burgon (Not Bunyan) comments are particularly powerful. As is. The old audio about the writing of the NASB.
https://av1611.com/kjbp/articles/logsdon-repudiates-nasb.html
Short quote from the article below…
“The fourth floor features what the MotB says is the History of the Bible. Among the persons and things highlighted are Eugene Nida (the man who replaced word-for-word translation with “dynamic equivalence”), Constantine Tischendorf, the Sisters of Mt. Sinai, and Eberhard Nestle, promoters of the manuscripts that have led to the modern translations. Some of those manuscripts, including Codex Climaci Rescriptus (which they fail to note includes the unbiblical Dormition of the Mother of God) and Codex Vaticanus, about which the learned John Burgon stated, “…[Codex Vaticanus and the recently-discovered Codex Sinaiticus] have, within the last 20 years established a tyrannical ascendency over the imagination of the critics, which can only be fitly spoken of as a blind superstition. It matters nothing that…[they] differ essentially, not only from ninety-nine out of a hundred [manuscripts]…but even from one another.”6
The MotB chooses to omit from their history that the Roman Catholic Church forbade the laity to read the Bible or that the Roman Catholic Church anathematizes those who do not accept the Apocrypha as part of the Bible.7 They omit William Tyndale’s comment when conversing with a local clergyman, as quoted in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, that “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.” There is no mention of the godly John Bois, Launcelot Andrews, Miles Smith, or any of the other 44 translators of the King James Bible, a team assembled at a time when the greatest minds in the English-speaking world were learned in Hebrew and Greek and dedicated to translating the Bible into English. The MotB provides no account of John William Burgon, FHA Scrivener, or any of the other brilliant men who revered the Bible and dealt with its translation as handling the very Word of God.”
The Museum of What?
…my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
—Psalm:119:161-162
The Museum of the Bible (hereafter MotB) in Washington, DC is located just three blocks from the US Capitol. It is an impressive six-story structure with 430,000 square feet of space, and one would hope that it would reflect the awe we feel as we consider God’s Word. The MotB has dozens of potential areas of focus, including the miraculous fulfilled prophecies in the Bible; the historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible in all of its details; why an all-powerful, perfect God has allowed widespread wickedness on earth and cruelty in nature (and God’s ultimate solution); the Lord’s unique relationship with the nation of Israel and the church; the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel’s Messiah, who came to be “…the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (John:4:42); and the Bible’s precise anticipation of the days in which we’re living, to name a few. Unfortunately, the MotB goes to great lengths to avoid these and other critical subjects.
On May 1, 2016, a year and a half prior to the opening of the Museum of the Bible, the Times of Israel wrote an article expressing concern that the MotB might be…biblical. The article quoted historian Noah Charney as saying, “The proximity of the museum to the world-class Smithsonian and the Capitol has raised eyebrows…. How will it fit in among the venerable institutions lining the Mall?”1 He need not have been concerned about those issues. The MotB seems to be modeled after the Smithsonian Institution, favoring secular/skeptical scholarship over biblical scholarship in every area addressed.
On May 3, 2016, a scant two days after the Times of Israelexpressed their doubts, MotB President Cary Summers allayed their concerns in a blog post on the Times of Israel site, writing “[The Museum of the Bible is] a non-sectarian institution. It…will not proselytize (emphasis added)…. The curator of our own 40,000-item collection, Dr. David J. Trobisch, is not an evangelical….”2 Since the Bible says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John:3:36), it is disturbing that the leadership of the Museum of the Bible, presumably Christians, have chosen to omit the Bible’s central message of salvation available to all solely through Jesus Christ.
The concerns for Bible-believing Christians continued at the grand opening of the MotB in November of 2017. Roman Catholic Cardinal Wuerl was invited to read a letter sent by Pope Francis that began, “His Holiness Pope Francis sends cordial greetings and prayerful best wishes to all gathered…for the inauguration of the Museum of the Bible. It is his fervent hope that this significant cultural institution, through its extensive collections and exhibits, will promote a better understanding not only of the rich and complex history of the biblical text, but also the enduring power of its message to inspire and shape the lives of individuals and peoples of every time and place.”3
The Bible has the power to “inspire and shape” lives? The Bible offers eternal life! “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John:5:13).
The MotB embraces the Roman Catholic Church as if it is just another Christian denomination, and has featured many Roman Catholic exhibits since its founding, including “A Journey of Faith: The Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome”; “‘Stations of the Cross’ by Gib Singleton”; “Basilica Sancti Petri: The Transformation of Saint Peter’s Basilica”; and “Mystery & Faith: The Shroud of Turin.”
I visited the MotB for the better part of a day on a trip to Washington, DC in 2023 and again for an entire day in June of 2025. This newsletter is far from comprehensive, but offers a glance into some of what the museum contains.
The MotB has six floors plus a basement. The person taking my ticket recommended that I start on the fifth floor and make my way down (the sixth floor does not house exhibits). The gallery on the fifth floor features an exhibit titled “The People of the Land: History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel,” created by the Israel Antiquities Authority (hereafter IAA), ironically the more conservative of the archaeologists in Israel (conservative relative to the universities). Even when viewed from a strictly Old Testament perspective (as you would expect from an Israeli source), the exhibit took careful measures to avoid appearing in any way biblical.
An overview panel in the “People of the Land” gallery says, “…this exhibition presents the history of ancient Israel in light of research and archaeological discoveries from the second millennium BCE…to the…gradual, complex emergence and crystallization of the Jewish faith and monotheistic religion.”
An interpretive panel titled “Israelite Religion” began, “The unique characteristics of the Israelite religion were crystalized through a long and gradual process.”
On the contrary, the Lord made a covenant with Abram granting the land to his seed over 460 years before Israel entered the promised land (Genesis:15:18), and the details of Israel’s unique relationship with the Lord were given via Moses to the children of Israel as described from Exodus to Deuteronomy about 400 years before David’s reign (1 Kings:6:1).
The text continues, “The archaeological evidence shows a continuum and close affinity with the cultic traditions common to many of the southern Levantine nations while employing new practices, such as the decrease in the pictorial representations of the human form.”
The Museum of the Bible, instead of taking the contemporaneously-recorded account from God’s Word, chooses to follow what they call “the archaeological evidence.” If someone dug up what was left of our society in 3,500 years (hypothetically–we are still looking for the imminent return of Jesus Christ), would anyone choose to believe the “archaeological evidence” over an eyewitness historical account preserved by God and confirmed by fulfilled prophecy?
The panel text concludes, “Official religious activity…was held in temples, sanctuaries, and near city gates…. At the end of the eighth century BCE, King Hezekiah of Judah initiated major religious reforms, followed later by his great-grandson, King Josiah…such measures likely spurred the progression of monotheism in ancient Israel.”
Monotheism was spurred by religious reforms? Monotheism was mandated in the first two of the ten commandments (Exodus:20:1-6) and in what Jesus called the very first commandment, “…thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy:6:5), leaving no room for polytheism. The one true God revealed himself repeatedly to Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17, 22, etc.); to Rebekah (Genesis:25:23); to Jacob (Genesis 31, 32, 35); to Joseph via interpretation of dreams (Genesis 40, 41); dozens of times to Moses (Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; and Deuteronomy); to Joshua (Joshua 1, 3, 4, etc.); to Samuel (1 Samuel 9, 16); to Nathan (2 Samuel 7); and to many others. The Bible includes the accounts of the rebellion of the children of Israel, and they were punished accordingly, but the nation was always monotheistic from its founding.
An interpretive panel with the heading “The People of Israel” says, “After the collapse of the great powers of the Late Bronze Age around 1200 BCE and the wholesale destruction of the Canaanite city-states, a new political order was established in the land. This period, known as the Iron Age (1150-586 BCE), witnessed the consolidation of several territorial states in the southern Levant: Israel, Judah, Philistia, Aram, Ammon, Moab, and Edom. In a gradual process, the dispersed communities of the hill country crystalized and shaped their unique identity. This people would soon become a dominant power in the land….”
Not only do they use the liberal late dating (the conquest of Jericho was around 1450 BC according to Ussher’s chronology), they say that the great powers just collapsed? There is no mention here (and little to none elsewhere in the Museum of the Bible) of Israel’s 400 years in Egypt, the plagues overseen by Moses and Aaron, the death of the firstborn in Egypt, the 40 years wandering during the Exodus, or of the conquest of the land of Canaan under Joshua. If this inaccurate IAA “history” was true, Israel would have no more right to the land than any other nation.
The basement (during my 2023 visit) featured an exhibit titled “Scripture and Science.” Each visitor entered the display area, funded by the John [Marks] Templeton Foundation4, walking past brightly-colored artwork highlighting four (presumably) scripture-based scientists, identified as: Catholic Priest and Father of the Big Bang Theory Georges Lemaître; Devoted Catholic, Astronomer, and Scientist Galileo; Catholic Nun and Computer Science Pioneer Mary Kenneth Keller; and Revered Astronomer and Church Canon Nicolaus Copernicus. The exhibit, like the rest of the museum, omitted quotes from, or references to, modern creationists like hydraulic engineer Dr. Henry Morris, biochemist Dr. Duane Gish, or medical doctor and professional engineer Dr. Randy Guliuzza from the Institute for Creation Research; founder Ken Ham or stem-cell geneticist Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson from Answers in Genesis; mechanical engineer Dr. Walt Brown from the Creation ScienceCenter; or geneticist Dr. John Sanford, inventor of the gene gun. Instead, it chose to include quotes from modern political figures Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., neither of whom was notable as a scientist.
Nothing in the “Scripture and Science” displays took the Bible literally as they allegorized the creation account, the Tower of Babel, and eschatology. An interpretive panel on Lemaître said, “…some believed that [the Big Bang Theory] sounded too much like the biblical account of creation.” Those people must not have been familiar with the biblical account. The Bible says that God created the earth, and even the plants, before the sun, moon, and stars. All flying and swimming creatures were created before any land animals. Man existed from the first week of creation, not after billions of years. The Big Bang Theory, like every other non-biblical cosmogeny, contradicts the Biblical creation week in every detail.
Elsewhere in the MotB science is addressed similarly. There are six individuals identified as “Voices in Science Today” influenced by the Bible, but not one believes in the Bible’s account of creation.5
The fourth floor features what the MotB says is the History of the Bible. Among the persons and things highlighted are Eugene Nida (the man who replaced word-for-word translation with “dynamic equivalence”), Constantine Tischendorf, the Sisters of Mt. Sinai, and Eberhard Nestle, promoters of the manuscripts that have led to the modern translations. Some of those manuscripts, including Codex Climaci Rescriptus (which they fail to note includes the unbiblical Dormition of the Mother of God) and Codex Vaticanus, about which the learned John Burgon stated, “…[Codex Vaticanus and the recently-discovered Codex Sinaiticus] have, within the last 20 years established a tyrannical ascendency over the imagination of the critics, which can only be fitly spoken of as a blind superstition. It matters nothing that…[they] differ essentially, not only from ninety-nine out of a hundred [manuscripts]…but even from one another.”6
The MotB chooses to omit from their history that the Roman Catholic Church forbade the laity to read the Bible or that the Roman Catholic Church anathematizes those who do not accept the Apocrypha as part of the Bible.7 They omit William Tyndale’s comment when conversing with a local clergyman, as quoted in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, that “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.” There is no mention of the godly John Bois, Launcelot Andrews, Miles Smith, or any of the other 44 translators of the King James Bible, a team assembled at a time when the greatest minds in the English-speaking world were learned in Hebrew and Greek and dedicated to translating the Bible into English. The MotB provides no account of John William Burgon, FHA Scrivener, or any of the other brilliant men who revered the Bible and dealt with its translation as handling the very Word of God.
Hebrew scholar Robert Dick Wilson was a Princeton professor who learned 45 languages and spent 45 years studying the Old Testament. Museum visitors would benefit from his conclusion that, “As to the text, or written form, of the documents of the Old Testament…it is my endeavor to show from the evidence of manuscripts, versions, and inscriptions, that we are scientifically certain that we have substantially the same text that was in the possession of Christ and the apostles and, so far as anybody knows, the same as that written by the original composers of the Old Testament documents.”8 Such quotes are absent from the MotB.
Floor two is supposed to cover “The Impact of the Bible.” There are many events/items in our society that one would immediately associate with the Bible, but the MotB chose to include:
·Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as a story of resurrection that references two Bible verses and has themes of good versus evil. They neglect to mention that the protagonist is a wizard, and that the Bible says, “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death…” (Leviticus:20:27).
·“The Death Sentence and the Bible,” which includes a painting of a cosmic Christ figure with the face of the son of murderer Khristian Oliver placed on that “Jesus.” The text says that Mr. Oliver appealed his death sentence because the jurors had read the Bible out loud, including “The murderer shall surely be put to death” (Numbers:35:16). The appeal failed and Mr. Oliver was executed 10 years after his initial conviction. God ordained capital punishment as part of human government after the flood (Genesis:9:5-6) but the exhibit, featuring art from Trinity Episcopal Church in Houston, implies the biblical position is to oppose capital punishment (as the Roman Catholic Church does in paragraph 2267 of the catechism, updated by Pope Francis one month before the opening of the MotB in 2017). 9
Finally, the first floor features another tribute to Rome, a “Treasures of the Vatican” exhibit, along with a bookstore that greets the visitor with a colorful display full of books, videos, and merchandise from The Chosen.
Paul exhorted Timothy, “…[charge] them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy:2:14-15). Many of the expensive, beautiful displays in the Museum of the Bible are subverting those who visit. We are to study God’s Word, not merely as an academic endeavor, not even to achieve academic mastery, but to know Him and to serve the One who sent His Son to die for our sins, to rise from the dead for our justification (Romans:4:25), and to ascend to the right hand of the Father where He ever lives to make intercession on our behalf (Hebrews:7:25).
Endnotes:
4: See past TBC newsletters, e.g., 8/93 and 12/94, for information on Templeton and his Prize for Progress in Religion.
5: Evolutionist Alister McGrath, evolutionist Ard Louis, evolutionist Bethany Sollereder, evolutionist John Lennox, Chemist Kelly Chibale, and Templeton Foundation employee Sarah Lane Ritchie.
6: John William Burgon, The Revision Revised (London: John Murray Albemarle, 1883), pp. 11-12.
7: Council of Trent, Session 4, Decree Concerning The Canonical Scriptures, www.bit.ly/44TIsvM
8: Robert Dick Wilson, A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament (Philadelphia, PA: The Sunday School Times Company, 1926), p. 8.
TBC
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Rainbow Trout 