In 2010, the owners of retail giant Hobby Lobby started buying something that would never grace the shelves of its crafting megastore: biblical artifacts. Since that time, the Green family has accumulated over 40,000 items that range from fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls to Elvis Presley’s personal Bible. Much of their collection—one of the largest private collections in the world—will be displayed at their new Museum of the Bible, set to open in Washington, D.C. this November. But biblical scholars Candida Moss and Joel Baden question the ethics behind some of the Green’s acquisitions and the way the museum is being presented as a nonsectarian “Christian Smithsonian.” Their new book, Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby (Princeton University Press, Oct.), provides an investigative look into the Green’s collection and their Museum of the Bible, making a case for how the powerful evangelical family is trying to dominate the story of the Bible.A brief interview with the authors follows. And follow the link in the excerpt above for a brief review.
For past PaleoJudaica posts on Hobby Lobby, the Museum of the Bible, and the Greek Collection, start here (cf. here and here) and follow the links. For a recent article by the authors, see here.
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