‘Biblical illiteracy is something I think that the current generation is struggling with and I therefore appreciate museums like this that host evidence of the reliability of scriptures,’ says Maxine Harrison.
The Museum of The Book is a Bible museum based in East London dedicated to the history of the Bible. The visit to the museum is complemented by a guided tour led by a family who runs the museum and also the church held in the same building.
Eva-Lotta Hansson runs the museum alongside her husband and daughter who also helps with the tour. Explaining how long the Museum of the Book has been around, Eva said: “The genesis of the Museum of the Book dates back to 1977 with the acquisition of a second edition of the Roman Catholic New Testament in English published in 1600. The collection has been growing ever since. The mission of the museum is about proclaiming the accuracy, authenticity and authority of the Word of God believing it to be the answer to all the basic issues of life.”
The mission of the museum is about proclaiming the accuracy, authenticity and authority of the Word of God believing it to be the answer to all the basic issues of life.
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After reading the Bible from front to back last year, I was more interested in learning about the contextual history of my faith. In particular I wanted to know about the different translations of the Bible and how it has been maintained over time.
This prompted me to search online for Bible museums that I could visit to learn more about. I discovered the Museum of the Book, registered a visit and went a few weeks later with a fellow Christian friend who was equally as interested in learning more about the history of our faith.
Upon arrival, the tour guide, Eva, explained that the museum is based in an area with a significant Muslim population. And as some visitors of the museum and church are ex-muslims, they have requested to take their shoes off before entering the museum as a mark symbolising it is a holy place - something that is practiced in Islam. Visitors are therefore asked to take off shoes or wear covers over their shoes during the tour. I opted to remove my shoes and in doing so, I had a sense of the holiness of the Bible, and how it is God’s word to us.
The tour started with explaining the original language the Bible was written in.
The tour started with Eve explaining the original language the Bible was written in - the earliest extant manuscripts of the Old Testament were in Greek. We were then told about how the Dead Sea Scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956.They contained ancient Jewish manuscriptures and Old Testament books including Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and more. When these scrolls were discovered what was written on them was almost identical to previous publications of the Bible, much to skeptics’ chagrin.
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As a writer and English language and linguistics graduate, details like this are incredibly fascinating to me. I found it incredibly interesting to learn how the scriptures were taken very seriously when being written and it could take years to write a whole complete copy.
The honest approach of the tour was also refreshing as it noted moments where printing errors of copies had been noted but that they were swiftly dealt with accordingly. Overall, the tour showing the journey of how the Bible was translated into English helped my confidence in seeing how the early scribes of the scriptures saw the text as sacred and that God’s sovereignty has ensured the message of the gospel has been maintained throughout the years despite the challenges it faced in translating to English.
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I left the tour feeling more confident to defend my faith and give a reason for the hope I have as it says in 1 Peter 3:15. Biblical illiteracy is something I think my current generation is struggling with and I therefore appreciate museums like this that host evidence of the reliability of scriptures throughout centuries.
As well as the museum helping enrich the faith of its visitors, Eva said giving tours also helps her: “The blessings lie in sharing the Word of God with others. Often, our visitors return with family and friends. It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
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