The PBA Visit to the Museum of the Bible
May, 2024 by Bob Gerstmyer
On Monday morning, May 6, 2024, more than three dozen students, faculty and staff from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida arrived at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. While we arrived at the Museum of the Bible that morning, our trip—and our experience—had actually begun the previous night.
We arrived in Washington, DC late afternoon on Sunday. After settling into our hotel and getting dinner, we left for the Washington Monument and the National Mall. Many of our students had not visited DC before and the spring evening gave us a chance to explore a bit and chat. That evening, as we walked along the National Mall, we saw the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.
This brief walking tour of part of the National Mall set the tone for our next two days in DC. The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial reminded us of the legacy our great presidents have left us. The World War II Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial reminded us of the courage and sacrifice needed to safeguard and preserve our freedoms. Our nation has weathered great storms and we have the courage and perseverance to face the future. The monuments and memorials of the National Mall reminded us of our historical grounding.
It was with a sense of gravitas and expectancy that we arrived at the Museum of the Bible the next morning. Just as the previous night had reminded us of our historical grounding, we felt that now we would be reminded of our Biblical grounding. Before we had even entered the museum, our trip to DC had already created in us a sense that we were about to enter a space that would call to mind themes that were just as important to us as the memorials on National Mall. The Museum of the Bible would help us renew, re-engage and reclaim the great narratives of the Bible: narratives of God’s love, a love willing to reach out to an estranged humanity. The people whom God had created had willfully chosen to turn away from the God. Yet God’s love was undeterred and undiminished.
Since we had arrived before the museum open, we had some time to wait outside the museum. This gave us time to step back and look at the bronze exterior doors. These doors are large and impressive—nearly 40 foot in height. But perhaps what was most striking was that the doors are covered in an ornate typescript in very precise rows. You could immediately tell that the letters were old-fashioned and from a bygone era. There were spaces between the letters as if the spaces separated words. But all of the letters seemed backwards, so the letters didn’t seem to proceed left-to-right but rather right-to-left.
And as we wondered about this strange script, that looked like it might possibly make sense to read but that we couldn’t, our students did what students around the world do. They reached for their smart phones and started doing their internet searches, trying different search phrases and even different internet search engines.
These doors that initially mystified us actually spurred our curiosity and people started talking with one another about what they had discovered.
These doors were a replica of the original type for the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. These doors replicated the type set for printing the first pages of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. These doors were not a replica of a page from that Bible, but rather a replica of the type for printing the first major book ever printed. The letters seemed backwards since that is how type is set for a printing press to print the book. The type resembled the handwriting of the mid-15th century, an ornate script hundreds of years old. The words seemed unfamiliar to us since the Gutenberg Bible is printed in Latin.
Before we had even entered the museum, PBA students were talking with one another about what they had learned from considering a puzzling question: what was the story behind those massive bronze doors leading into the museum ? Now students were talking about the Gutenberg Bible and Latin and ancient printing techniques before we had even crossed the threshold into the museum.
Once inside the Museum …
One of the strengths of the Museum of the Bible is the variety of exhibits. The Hebrew Bible Experience is a walk-through that narrated some of the significant narratives of the Old Testament. Many of our students stated this was one of their favorite sections of the Museum. The stories of Noah’s ark, the burning bush, and Passover were recounted with multimedia. The brief Biblical narrative of Ruth was particularly moving; less dramatic than the burning bush or Passover, students were drawn into the quiet faithfulness of one woman in ancient Israel who was an ancestor of Jesus.
The New Testament exhibit centered on a cinematic retelling of the Emmaus story in Luke 24. The brief narrative in the Bible is given a backstory so that the disciples traveling with Jesus are given a history and a context. This history and context of these two disciples helps us realize the impact of recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread as they were still experiencing the death of Jesus whom they had followed.
The Museum offered two other opportunities to our students which we couldn’t imagine finding somewhere else. The first I’d like to highlight is the manuscript exhibit with its incredible number of Bibles and scrolls on display. PBA students had the firsthand opportunity to see the wonderful history of centuries of Bible production and translation. It is one thing to read about the King James version of the Bible; it is something else to see one with your own eyes.
The second opportunity is the virtual reality tour of the Biblical Lands. None of our students have had the opportunity to travel the Middle East to see the sites mentioned in the gospels. The virtual reality tour with its 360-degree images allowed students to catch a glimpse of what it would be like to be there in person. Several students remarked on how immersive the virtual reality tour was—and their hopes to visit there in person one day.
The final exhibit was a fitting finale to the whole day. We finished our tour with the exhibit “All Creation Sings.” This exhibit was comprised of art surrounding us on all four walls, with song and spoken text accompanying the imagery. It many ways this was interactive, as students walked inside the room, touching the walls, changing the imagery. The images changed from abstract to realistic back to abstract while music filled the room. “All Creation Sings” provided an artistic and musical background for students both to enjoy and to reflect on their day at the Museum of the Bible.