The Contenders

A while back my wife and I traveled to the Passages Bible Museum in Santa Clarita. This museum was filled with different exhibits and collections all dedicated to the history and transmission of the Scriptures. It served as a great apologetic to the veracity and historical integrity of the Bible.

The trip was a delightful blessing to the both of us who were looking for a nice “date place” that we both could enjoy. At the museum, there were a wide variety of Bibles throughout the different eras of church history, like replicas of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  We even saw handwritten letters from heroes of the faith like Martin Luther and John Wycliffe. My church history mind was refreshed through the flood of historical information coupled with the engaging displays. There was much to learn at this museum!

I wanted to give a more detailed review along with a recommendation, but we had found out during our trip that the museum was closing down. Here is a summary overview of their short history in Santa Clarita:

Passages was a 30,000-square-foot, interactive traveling exhibit presented by Museum of the Bible that chronicled the remarkable history of the Bible. The exhibits one-year run in Santa Clarita came to a close in early April. Many of the artifacts on display at Passages are now in transition to their permanent home in Washington, D.C. at the Museum of the Bible, slated to open in fall 2017. (From explorepassages.com)

The close is bitter-sweet for us Christians in Southern California. It is better because believers lose the opportunity to be encouraged, informed, and refreshed by such a wonderful museum. But it is sweet because those same displays and artifacts will be headed to our nation’s capital, and they will act as an encouragement to our brothers and sisters in the area.

So if you are in Washington D.C. during the Fall of 2017, keep checking to see if the museum is up and running. According to the descriptions, what they’re putting together is something you cannot miss.

Here is a good video summary of its collection:

Here is a fly-through of the museum they’re constructing in Washington D.C. It will be open November, 2017.

Here is an excerpt from their YouTube Channel:

“We exist to invite all people to engage with the Bible through our four pillars: research, traveling exhibits, education, and a museum currently under construction in Washington, D.C. In 2017, Museum of the Bible will open its 430,000-square-foot nonprofit museum in Washington, D.C., located just two blocks from the National Mall and three blocks from the Capitol. As of 2015, our traveling exhibits have visited six U.S. cities and four other countries, with new exhibits and locations continually being planned. We support scholarship and academic research through the Museum of the Bible Scholars Initiative and through development of a high school Bible curriculum for domestic and international use.”

You can learn more about this organization from their website.