Description
Book SynopsisBringing together nationally and internationally-known scholars, The Museum of the Bible: A Critical Introduction analyzes the newly opened Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., from a variety of perspectives and disciplinary positions, including biblical studies, history, archaeology, Judaic studies, and religion and public life. Nominally eschewing ties to any particular religious tradition, the Museum of the Bible is poised to wield unparalleled influence on the national popular imagination of the Bible’s contents, history, and uses through time. This volume provides critical tools by which a broad public of scholars and students alike can assess the Museum of the Bible’s presentation of its vast collection and wrestle with the thorny interpretive issues and complex histories that are at risk of being obscured when private funds put a major museum on the National Mall.
Trade ReviewThis volume is remarkable not only for the depth of its analysis, the close scrutiny of the Museum’s exhibits, and the rhetorical strategies and structures it intends to expose. It is singular in its effort to critically resist the efforts of an institution that habitually co-opts and commandeers the research and pedigrees of individual scholars and the institutions they represent...Hicks-Keeton and Concannon show that the academy will not be so easily dismissed or purchased, and that even if the Museum of the Bible seeks to control the meaning of the biblical texts it presents, it will not succeed in controlling the narrative about itself. -- Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden, authors of Bible Nation
When billionaire mega-donors with strong ideological leanings can buy their own scholars and create their own historical and cultural narratives, the scholarly enterprise is in peril; perhaps no more so than when the subject matter is religious truth and authority. With this collection of essays, Hicks-Keeton and Concannon have marshalled a forceful response to the most well-funded of these religious programs, the Museum of the Bible. The book exposes the museum’s Christian supersessionism, the disingenuousness of its ecumenical posture, and its disinterest in cultivating thoughtful biblical readers and interpreters. These essays should find an audience among those who love the Bible in all of its multi-vocality and complexity; among students, educators and religious leaders alike; and also among those engaged in the work of interreligious understanding. -- Shelly Matthews, Brite Divinity School
Table of ContentsForeword Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden Introduction Jill Hicks-Keeton and Cavan Concannon I. What’s the Bible Good For? Chapter 1 “It’s Complicated.” “No It’s Not.” : The Museum of the Bible, Problems and Solutions Margaret M. Mitchell Chapter 2 Exploring Race, Religion, and Slavery at the Museum of the Bible Terrence L. Johnson II. The Museum of Whose Bible? Chapter 3 Christian Supersessionism and the Problem of Diversity at the Museum of the Bible Jill Hicks-Keeton Chapter 4 Looking at the Bible Sideways: One Jewish Scholar’s Perspective Marc Zvi Brettler Chapter 5 Smoke and Mirrors: The Hebrew Bible Exhibit at the Museum of the Bible Mark Leuchter III. Archaeology, Israel, and the “Reliability” of the Bible Chapter 6 Theopolitics, Archaeology, and the Ideology of the Museum of the Bible Cavan Concannon Chapter 7 The Land of Israel and Bodily Pedagogy at the Museum of the Bible Sarah F. Porter IV. Materiality, Text, and the Production of Scripture Chapter 8 Editing Without Interpreting: The Museum of the Bible and New Testament Textual Criticism Jennifer Wright Knust Chapter 9 The Green Papyri and the Museum of the Bible Roberta Mazza Chapter 10 Christian Dead Sea Scrolls?: The Post-2002 Fragments as Modern Protestant Relics Ludvik A. Kjeldsberg V. Christian Nationalism and the Bible in America Chapter 11 Letting the Bible Do Its Work on Behalf of Christian America: The Founding Era at the Museum of the Bible John Fea Chapter 12 Religious Freedom for a Christian America: “Don’t You Agree?” Stephen L. Young VI. Religion, Politics, and the Museum’s Hidden Partners Chapter 13 The Creationist Museum of the Bible James R. Linville Chapter 14 Museum of the Bible’s Politicized Holy Land Trip Mark A. Chancey
