Why You Should Absolutely Go See the Bible Museum

Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.

New Museum

This past year a new museum opened up in downtown Washington, D.C., in between all the federal buildings, metro stops, and Starbucks. In fact, this museum shares brick with the Federal Center Southwest Metro stop, making it an extremely convenient destination!

The Museum of the Bible is only a few blocks away from the United States Capitol building!

Alan and I discussed visiting it, but we weren’t overly motivated. After all, was it literally a museum full of Bibles? I mean, we love God’s word and all, but how do you make a museum out of books? That sounds more like a library.

Well, last week, I finally realized that I was about to lose ALL of my freedom. Alan was headed back to work, and all four children are out of school for the summer for two MORE months.

I suddenly knew I HAD to get out right away!

At the first opportunity, I made my escape, not even sure where I was going. I only knew I was headed to downtown Washington, D.C. Somewhere between my house and the metro station, I decided upon the Bible museum, rather than visiting any of the Smithsonians, which I’ve seen a dozen times.

Metro Stop

Federal Center Southwest. It’s on the blue, orange, and silver lines, and it literally puts you out on the opposite end of the same building that houses the Bible Museum. At the top of the escalator, round either corner. Don’t cross any streets. Walk to the end of the building. You are there.

Pssst… you can download this app to help you navigate the D.C. Metro system. It’s also available for Apple devices.

Ticket Prices

Adult: $15

Kids 12 & Under: $10

No, I did not buy tickets in advance. I went inside and purchased at the counter, and I only had to wait behind 2 people.

How big is this place?

Much bigger than I thought. And thankfully, it was much more than just a giant museum of Bibles. Ha! I’m going to tell you what my favorite parts were, so if you only have a couple of hours you can cut right to the chase.

I have to admit that most of my favorite parts were the ones I couldn’t photograph. Sorry!! I did see one man cheating with his phone at his hip to take the forbidden photos, sort of like a certain one of Alan’s aunts always does….but y’all know I’m actually not much of a rebel..

But I will do my best to TELL you about those not-to-miss exhibits, even if I didn’t get a photo.

Let’s start with the first exhibit you come to after getting ticketed..the room of paintings and displays that are:

On loan from the Vatican

(!!! Wow. Sounds so official, right? These have to be good.)

circa 1209

So much of this room was lost on me because I did not find this display key until after I had walked around and looked at the paintings, not knowing what they meant.

Lesson learned: In the Vatican room, find the key to the RIGHT of the doors (I tend to always go left) before you peruse the gallery.

key that explains what each of the paintings are about

While I was in the Vatican room, I kept hearing loud bumps and such, and I thought, “What is there, a daycare above my head??”

No. Turns out it was this:

I actually don’t know what all goes on in here, but it sounded like fun. I was child free that day, so I passed on this.

Obviously, when I do take my children to the Museum of the Bible I will be spending plenty of time in the children’s experience wing, which I can tell you with strong certainty is adjacent to the Vatican gallery. Ha!!

The next exhibits I went through were about how Bible affects our culture, how the Bible has affected America (greatly), and the history of printing Bibles.

Those were three different large galleries.

This is a huge interactive computer display where you can take polls and see the results.

Freedom is a major theme throughout the Bible as well as American history. People on both sides of these issues have often sought to use the Bible to back up their views, but the people in this Freedom display used the Bible in the name of freedom.

The Bible & How it Affects Us

George Washington Carver is a big deal where I grew up (in the deep south where growing peanuts became profitable in place of cotton). He was a godly man dedicated to science and the Bible.

This section had hundreds of personal testimonies of how the Bible affected their lives as well as stories of important historical figures and their faith.

History of the Bible

I thought it was cool to see this replica of the Gutenberg press:

painting of the shepherds visiting baby Jesus

Naturally, I enjoyed this exhibit of Christianity in fashion. I love clothes.

In the elevator, there is this beautiful moving photo. I mean it actually moves.

What do you call that? Like a mini-video..a gif?

How I miss Israel. Someday let’s go back!

The Cafe!!!

The Mediterranean Clam Chowder!!!! LOVE!!! This is what I ordered. Photo from the Museum of the Bible.

Okay, I don’t know what this says about me, but the museum cafe was one of my FAVORITE parts of the museum. You can find it on the top floor. They had a variety of Mediterranean food, some things I had not seen since my trip to Israel, as well as regular American options. I found the food to be affordable and delicious.

On that same floor (the 6th), I took a stroll around and came upon this beautiful room, which I didn’t even realize the museum had:

This loooong window provides views of the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the National Monument.

That dome-like thing on the right is the Library of Congress. The one on the left is the Capitol.

Those domes are Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

the Washington Monument

I thoroughly enjoyed soaking this in and taking pictures for my fellow tourists.

Right next to the long window on the 6th floor I found this exhibit of antiquities from Israel.

The long-term exhibit is called History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel, and it was my 2nd favorite part of the museum.

This is a real, Egyptian-style mummy found in Canaan, estimated from around 1100 BC.

I took photos of a few other ancient artifacts, to include altars, coins, and ancient writings, both Biblical and non Biblical.

The one in the center with the 4 corners is an Israeli altar. I can’t recall what the others are.

Egyptian account of the same stories found in the Bible. I love this sort of archaeological find!!

Oops!! So interesting, but I didn’t get a photo of the actual amulets. The description was exciting to me, so I focused more on it.

You can read more about the silver scrolls, which are even older than the Dead Sea scrolls, at this article I wrote here.

Next I went through the Hebrew Bible Experience.

No photos were allowed in this video/exhibit tour. It was a retelling of the high points of the Old Testament. This tour takes 30 minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Old Testament tour.

The Jesus of Nazareth exhibit, New Testament Theatre, and the Washington Revelations attraction are all on the 3rd floor, and I was running out of time. The museum was about to close!!

Washington Revelations

So I paid the $5 fee to see the Washington Revelations. I figured if it cost extra, it must be good, right???

It was SO fun. This is not for babies and toddlers, though, sad to say. It is more like a simulator/ride like you’d find at Disney or Universal. In fact, it reminded me of the Soarin’ ride at Epcot.

You stand and hold on to this fly board in front of you, but you never leave your spot. It’s just that the floor tilts around with what’s showing on the screen so that you feel like you are flying through Washington, D.C., looking at the many scripture references throughout the monuments and buildings in the city.

It was exhilarating. Two thumbs up here, but I don’t think John David (my youngest) will be big enough for it yet.

What I Missed!!

I was rather dismayed in researching for this post to realize that I missed some of the best stuff. Here’s what I wish I’d made it to:

•  New Testament Theatere, lasts 8 minutes, on the 3rd floor
• Stations of the Cross, by artist Gib Singleton, the crucifixion story illustrated in miniature statues

I think the Stations of the Cross is temporary too.

Make sure you don’t miss these!!

1. Washington Revelations– It was my favorite just because it was fun. (floor 3)
2.  Actually ALL of the 3rd floor. Just go there first.
3. 6th floor: That’s where I found the enormous viewing room, the restaurant, and the antiquities exhibit!

So basically hit the 3rd and 6th floors first, in my humble opinion. I think the basement actually had the Stations of the Cross, which I missed.

To learn more, see the webpage for the Museum of the Bible.

I did leave time to browse the gift shop by the exit, of course. I bought a cute little blue and white dish that was exactly like the ones we saw when we were souvenir shopping in Israel last summer.

Then I took a sweltering walk over to the Capitol building since it was so close.

…and I let a nice tourist take my photo for me.

I hope you get to visit the Museum of the Bible soon too!

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