A new exhibition at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., is delving into the influence of Scripture on the birth of the United States as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The collection showcases original documents and historical objects, aiming to provide insight into how biblical language and ideas shaped early American discourse on liberty, education, and public life.
"The Bible has been an integral part of this nation's founding and history," Anthony Schmidt, the museum's director of collections and curatorial, told Fox News Digital. "That's not a theological claim; it's what the documents show. The founding fathers referenced Scripture, argued from it, and built political frameworks on its language about human dignity and liberty."
The exhibition includes the first Bible printed in English in America, family Bibles that belonged to several founding fathers and other prominent early Americans, and an original letter from Thomas Jefferson concerning religious freedom. These artifacts are intended to illustrate the Bible's impact on religious life, as well as on early American art, education, and politics.
Schmidt highlighted that the collection's primary sources are designed to encourage visitors to directly engage with historical evidence. "We want visitors to encounter the history of this country and see, in the primary documents, what impact the Bible actually had on the people who built it," he said.
The display also features Revolutionary-era printed materials that contributed to colonial unity, documents tracing early Jewish civic life in America, portraits of George Washington and other colonial figures, and a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. These items are part of an effort to present a comprehensive view of the Bible's influence on America's founding generation, acknowledging that while the founders held diverse religious views, many were shaped by biblical language and arguments.
