The Museum of the Bible

This afternoon we braved the freezing cold . . .

. . . to visit the Museum of the Bible, which opened last month a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building. 

One interesting room contained a copy of the Bible for every language it has been completely translated into.  The shelves of yellow books on the right represent languages for which only a portion of the Bible has been translated.  There was also a section for languages (including some sign languages, which would need a video translation) which currently have no portion of the Bible translated at all.

Nearby, there was a display of some unique Bibles such as a "teen study" Bible, a colorfully illustrated Russian Bible, and The Brick Bible whose illustrations are made with Legos.  That last one seemed really weird to me at first, but I have to admit, it would be a very effective way to teach lots of kids about the scriptures.

The museum also had a recreation of a Nazarene village from Jesus's era.  A robed actor demonstrated a worship service in the synagogue, and this table is laid out with a feast including olives, pomegranates, dates, and boiled eggs.  Anna and Todd were intrigued by the plastic "water" in the ceramic pots.

Our favorite exhibit was a presentation on the Old Testament, where we walked from room to room learning about major themes and stories from that book.  We strolled through Noah's Ark full of squawking and bleating animals . . .

. . . then passed through the Red Sea (made of blue, lighted strings that stretched from floor to ceiling).  That room was probably one of the easiest to create on this tour, but it filled me with wonder at what it would have been like to walk along the floor of a sea with huge walls of water towering on either side of me.