Bible and Science Exhibit Comes to Washington
The Museum of the Bible in Washington DC is opening
a new exhibit in January called “Scripture and Science”
The large and elaborate Museum of the Bible, which opened in November 2017 just two blocks from the Mall in Washington DC, contains a small exhibit about the impact of the Bible on science. It includes statues of Galileo and George Washington Carver with video displays by current scientists who believe that the Bible is supportive of sound research into nature.
A new larger exhibit is opening next month. Here is the announcement:
Statue of George Washington Carver at the Museum of the Bible, Oct 2021 (DFC). See our Biography of Carver.
Scripture and Science Opening Event
Join Museum of the Bible on January 19, 2023, for the opening of our new exhibition, Scripture and Science: Our Universe, Ourselves, Our Place.
This exhibition will bust the myth that science and biblical faith have been diametrically opposed to each other throughout history and will invite people to discover the Bible’s impact on the scientific world. In fact, the Bible encouraged curiosity. Its big ideas provided a framework for the way some of the greatest philosophers, scholars, and scientists thought about their work and understood their discoveries. The Bible certainly provoked intense debate at times, but far from being an obstacle to scientific progress, biblical theology actually played an important role in the development of science and our understanding of the world around us.
To celebrate the opening of this new exhibition, astronaut Jeffrey Williams and Laura Shepard Churchley, chair of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Board of Trustees and daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard, will present on the intersection of scripture and science from firsthand experience. Guests may also join our curators for tours of the exhibition.
This is an opening you will not want to miss.
Astronaut Jeffrey Williams is a devout Christian who has served on four missions to the International Space Station and has spent 534 days in space. He has shared his testimony at leading Bible-teaching churches such as Grace Community Church in California where John MacArthur is pastor. He has also spoken at the Institute for Creation Research.
Laura Shepard Churchley followed her famous father’s steps into space last year. Alan Shepard was the first American in space 60 years earlier, on May 5, 1961. Ten years later he walked on the moon for Apollo 14. Last year, his daughter Laura was selected by Jeff Bezos to fly in Blue Origin’s “New Shepard” space capsule on December 11, 2021 (see before flight interview and recording of the flight with post-flight interview). Alan Shepard had been raised by parents involved in the Christian Science cult founded by spiritualist Mary Baker Eddy, but Alan rarely talked about his own beliefs in public. Laura Shepard Churchley is mentioned as “Christian” on some biographical websites but her testimony and stance on the Bible and science is not clear in sources we have searched. The fact that she is joining Jeff Williams at the Museum of the Bible for this program is an indication that she shares his beliefs.
The Museum of the Bible has an active website with videos by curators and virtual tours. If anyone has an opportunity next month to see the new “Scripture and Science” exhibit, please leave a comment.
Update 23 Jan 2023: John West gives an inside look at the exhibit at Evolution News.
“The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), this statue of Galileo indicates at the Museum of the Bible (DFC). See our Biography of Galileo.
I was very impressed on my visit to the Museum of the Bible in October 2021. It is beautiful and extensive; one can spend a whole day there. I highly recommend it. Their website is also informative, engaging, and well worth exploring. Unfortunately, the Museum of the Bible doesn’t garner the public influence of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History that is right on the Mall a few blocks away. The Smithsonian is totally saturated with Darwinism (see my reports with photos at Evolution News from 2021 on Nov 17, Nov 19, and Nov 24).
While touring the Museum of the Bible, I saw a small exhibit about the influence of Darwinism, with an original 1859 copy of Darwin’s Origin of Species adjacent to a photo of William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes Trial of 1925. The 100th anniversary of that “Trial of the Century” is sure to raise a stir a couple of years from now. Our frequent contributing author Dr Jerry Bergman told me he is working on a new book about the Scopes Trial (see his journal article from 2010). There are many myths about the trial, particularly as a result of the fictional movie Inherit the Wind that made creationists look like ignoramuses and bigots. Those familiar with the trial know it was the Darwinians who acted like intolerant, name-calling obscurantists. It will be urgent in 2025 to counter expected Darwinian propaganda by opening the historical sources and sharing what really went on in that hot summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. Read Phillip Johnson’s analysis for an introduction into the “Inherit the Wind stereotype” that must be debunked. See also Carl Wieland’s review of a book by Edward J. Larsen, and David Menton’s account of what actually happened at the Scopes Trial.
