Bible Museum Closes $50 Million Deal for D.C. Spot

Planners of a Bible museum in Washington, D.C., closed a $50 million deal July 26 on a building two blocks from the National Mall, the Religion News Service reports. The Museum of the Bible, a nonprofit group planning the yet-unnamed museum, announced it would be housed at 300 D Street SW, in what is now the Washington Design Center, a series of showrooms of luxury home furnishings. "Our intent is for this museum to showcase both the Old and New Testaments, arguably the world's most significant pieces of literature, through a non-sectarian, scholarly approach that makes the history, scholarship and impact of the Bible on virtually every facet of society accessible to everyone," said Mark DeMoss, a member of the museum's board. The museum, which will likely open in 2016, will highlight the collection of the billionaire Green family of Oklahoma -- more than 55,000 items including biblical artifacts ranging from Dead Sea Scrolls to Torah scrolls that survived the Holocaust. Museum officials also expect to showcase other prominent collections from around the world.