Does Scripture Speak for Itself? The Museum of the Bible and the Politics of Interpretation

Religious studies professors Hicks-Keeton (Arguing with Aseneth) and Concannon (Profaning Paul) deliver a scathing examination of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Studying the museum’s exhibits and funding, the authors contend that it “produces and advertises a white evangelical bible, one which authorizes white evangelical privilege in the United States.” Hicks-Keeton and Concannon provide a meticulously researched account of how the evangelical Green family, who own Hobby Lobby, used their fortune to found the museum and amplify what the authors describe as the family’s “capitalist,” “patriarchal,” and “white supremacist” interpretation of the Bible. The museum presents an overly rosy view of the Bible’s historical role in U.S. politics, the authors suggest, noting, for instance, that exhibits downplay slaveholders’ uses of scripture to justify slavery. Describing a “theme-park-style ride” at the museum that points out biblical inscriptions on D.C. monuments, Hicks-Keeton and Concannon posit that it “teaches” visitors to view the country as a “Christian nation in need of restoration to its ‘biblical’ roots.” The sharp analyses of the exhibits are as convincing as they are disconcerting, and the exposé of the Green family serves as a stark warning about the outsize power of the wealthy to influence biblical interpretation by “building institutions, funding missionary work, or sponsoring evangelical preachers.” The result is a damning critique of the Museum of the Bible. (Oct.)