Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Passages Exhibit Combines Rare Biblical Texts and Artifacts in Interactive Settings with Hands–On, Family–Friendly Fun
SPRINGFIELD, MO.—Inviting people to engage with the Bible, the Green family, founders of national arts-Ââ€and-Ââ€crafts retailer Hobby Lobby, has amassed one of the world’s largest private collections of rare biblical artifacts. Four hundred pieces of that massive collection are now on display at the Museum of the Bible in Springfield, Mo. Passages—a 30,000 square-foot, interactive living history exhibit that chronicles the remarkable story behind the Bible—runs through January 3, 2015 and gives Missourians and Kansans a rare opportunity to view a collection usually associated with the world’s greatest museums or Israel itself.
“Our goal is to make the Bible accessible like never before,” said Hobby Lobby President Steve Green. “Passages brings the pages of the Bible to life and allows people of all interests to experience the creation of the book that has altered history, shaped culture, inspired minds and changed lives, including my own.”
A rare Gutenberg Bible highlights how fragile the written Word is and the debt we owe to those who dared to print it. The Passages Exhibit promises to amaze visitors.
Guests at the Passages exhibit experience the Bible’s story through contextual settings such as an ancient Jewish synagogue, the Jerusalem chamber at Westminster Abbey and Israel’s Qumran Caves. Historical figures that played an integral role in the Bible’s preservation and translation, hands-Ââ€on activities, digital technologies and living-history presentations are also featured. Artifacts and texts that chronicle the evolution of the Bible’s format from early cuneiform tablets to today’s digital Scriptures are on display throughout. Docents, guides throughout the exhibit, are available to answer questions and help your experience come alive.
What will guests experience at the Passages Exhibit?
- A working replica of the Gutenberg printing press
- “The Wilde World of the Bible” kids’ adventure, featuring a special Noah’s Ark experience and multimedia developed by VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer
- iPod Touch audio tour for laymen and scholars alike
- St. Jerome’s Cave, where guests imitate 4th-Ââ€century monks transcribing the Bible by candlelight
- Holograms and video screens that re-Ââ€enact historical scenes related to the Bible
- A kids’ scavenger hunt guided by iPod Touch and led by Louie the Lion
- Animatronics of historical figures like Queen Anne Boleyn and William Tyndale, who played major roles in preserving and translating the Scriptures over the centuries
Springfield is the fifth U.S. city to host Passages, which features around 400 items from the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox faith traditions.
Highlights in the exhibit will include:
- First-Ââ€century BC Dead Sea Scroll fragments
- First editions of the King James Bible
- Codex Climaci Rescriptus, containing the most-Ââ€extensive early biblical texts in Palestinian Aramaic, similar to Jesus’ household language
- Torah scrolls that survived the Nazi Holocaust
- Cuneiform tablets dating to the time of Abraham
- A first edition of the Rheims New Testament, the first Catholic English translation
- Rare letters and Bibles from Martin Luther, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale
- The original, handwritten manuscript of the biblically inspired Battle Hymn of the Republic
“Passages provides the casual visitor and the intellectually curious—those of faith and those of no faith at all—with a one-Ââ€of-Ââ€a-Ââ€kind opportunity to go behind the scenes of the most influential work that humankind has ever labored to capture, preserve, translate and study,” said Dr. Jerry Pattengale, executive director of the Green Scholars Initiative, which is overseeing advanced research on items in the collection.
Senior group tours, student field trips, homeschool days and church small group excursions are encouraged.
Artifacts from Passages will eventually be part of an international Bible museum in Washington, D.C., opening in the spring of 2017.
Passages Exhibit
Dates: April 12, 2014 — January 3, 2015
Location: 3534 E. Sunshine, Springfield, MO 65809 Website: www.explorepassages.com
Ticket Pricing:
Adult $15.95 | Senior $13.95 | Military & College Student $11.95 with ID | Youth (ages 6-†17) $11.95 (includes audio) | Children (ages 5 & under) FREE
Season passes & group pricing available
Hours of Operation:
Tues.-Ââ€Sat. 10 a.m.-Ââ€6 p.m., Sun. 1-Ââ€6 p.m.
Closed Monday
Closed: Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s
Connect: 888.297.8011
Tickets at ExplorePassages.com
Facebook.com/PassagesExhibit
Twitter: @PassagesExhibit
