Museum of the Bible Opens New Exhibits Tracing the Bible's Role in America's Founding

By Pastor Duke Taber

In This Article

As America prepares to mark its 250th birthday this July 4th, the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. is doing something that deserves far more attention than it has received: it is telling the story that the nation’s textbooks have spent decades trying to bury.

The Museum of the Bible has launched a sweeping initiative called “The Bible & America 250,” featuring new permanent exhibits, a lecture series, and a live theatrical production — all centered on one foundational question: what role did the Bible actually play in the founding of the United States?

The answer, as anyone who reads the primary sources already knows, is: an enormous one. And for the first time in a long time, a major institution in the nation’s capital is saying it out loud.

What the Museum Is Launching

Beginning July 3, 2026 — the day before America’s historic Semiquincentennial — two new exhibits opened at the Museum of the Bible, with programming extending through March 2027.

The first exhibit, “Sacred Liberty,” explores the Bible’s role and presence in the American Revolution and the Founding Era. Museum of the Bible Curator Anthony Schmidt explained in an interview with the Christian Post that the exhibit will show how the Bible “was used by people on both sides of the American Revolution to justify their cause, to rally support and to make claims about the political system and their observations about the political climate.”

That framing is important. This is not hagiography. It is history. And Schmidt acknowledged that the items on display — drawn from the museum’s own collection as well as key loans from private individuals and institutions — include many pieces that have never been publicly exhibited before.

“This is an opportunity to tell new stories and to show those works for the first time,” he told the Christian Post.

The second exhibit will display items from the museum’s collection highlighting “biblical roots in the Puritan imagination,” including paintings that have remained in storage because of limited exhibit space. Schmidt said the exhibits will showcase the “human side of some of these towering historical figures” who “struggle with the same questions and uncertainties that everyday people struggle with.”

“The Bible was just such an immense cultural authority during the Founding Era,” Schmidt said. He pointed specifically to Patrick Henry’s famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. “It’s just dripping with biblical imagery and allusions,” he observed.

A Lecture Series with Serious Scholarship

The exhibits are accompanied by a lecture series that began June 7 and will continue through December 2026, exploring the central question of “The Bible & America 250”: What was the Bible’s role in the founding of the United States, and what does it mean for us today?

The lectures feature scholars from some of the most respected universities in the country, including Thomas Kidd of Baylor University, Robert George of Princeton University, Daniel Dreisbach of American University, Catherine Brekus of Harvard University, Vincent Phillip Muñoz of the University of Notre Dame, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Yeshiva University, Esau McCaulley of Wheaton College, Thomas Albert Howard of Valparaiso University, and Mark David Hall of Regent University.

According to the Museum of the Bible’s website, the lectures will examine “the biblical rhetoric of revolution, the spiritual framing of independence, and the scriptural foundations of early American political thought.”

Future lectures are scheduled for July 12, July 26, August 9, August 23, September 20, September 27, October 4, October 11, November 9, November 22, and December 6. Events are available both in person and virtually, and they are free with registration. This is an extraordinary resource for pastors, teachers, students, and anyone who wants to understand the genuine relationship between biblical faith and American liberty.

“A General’s Prayer”: George Washington on Stage

Alongside the exhibits and lectures, the Museum of the Bible’s World Stage Theater hosted a live production of “A General’s Prayer” from June 12 through July 19, 2026. The play tells the story of George Washington during the American Revolution through a one-man theatrical experience.

Actor James Denton, known for his television work, portrayed Washington in 70-minute performances that took audiences into what the production synopsis describes as “Washington’s private world: his doubts, his resolve, and his dependence on God in the face of overwhelming uncertainty.”

The synopsis continues: “Through moments of reflection, memory, and prayer, we encounter not the distant legend: but the man, a leader shaped as much by faith as by strategy, and a struggle that may feel closer to home than you expect.”

That last phrase matters. George Washington’s faith has been debated and minimized by historians for generations. A theatrical production that dares to take it seriously — that presents Washington not as a deist monument but as a man who prayed and depended on God — is itself a form of historical recovery.

Why America 250 Matters for the Church

July 4, 2026 is not simply a big birthday party. It is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — one of the most consequential documents in human history, and one that would have been incomprehensible without the biblical worldview of the people who wrote it.

The celebrations happening across the nation are enormous in scale. President Trump has described the signing as the moment when “America began the greatest political journey in human history.” The White House’s Freedom 250 initiative has commissioned six mobile museum “Freedom Trucks” traveling all 48 contiguous states. The National Archives has opened exhibitions of the documents that forged the nation. The U.S. Navy will host an International Fleet Review in New York Harbor on July 4th with 60 ships from 30 countries. America250, the nonpartisan congressional organization overseeing the commemoration, has set a goal of engaging all 350 million Americans.

In the middle of all of this, the Museum of the Bible is making the essential argument: you cannot tell the story of America without telling the story of the Bible.

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” — Proverbs 14:34, NKJV

The men and women who built this nation understood that. Benjamin Franklin, at the Constitutional Convention, called for prayer. George Washington prayed at Valley Forge. John Adams wrote that the Constitution was “made only for a moral and religious people.” Patrick Henry’s most famous speech pulsed with the cadences of Scripture.

These were not incidental details. They were the framework within which a new kind of nation was imagined. And the Museum of the Bible is spending the summer and fall of 2026 making sure that framework is visible to anyone willing to come and look.

What the Bible Actually Said About Liberty

Here is something worth considering on the eve of America’s 250th birthday: the biblical foundations of the American experiment are not simply historical curiosities. They speak directly to our moment.

The Declaration of Independence opens with the claim that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” That language does not come from the Enlightenment alone. It comes from a worldview saturated in Genesis 1 — that human beings bear the image of God, and that this image is the source of their dignity and rights.

The concept of liberty that animated the Revolution was inseparable from a biblical understanding of sin, conscience, accountability, and covenant. The colonists’ arguments against tyranny were not merely political. They were theological. They believed that unjust rulers violated the law of God, and that they were accountable to a higher authority than any king.

That is why the exhibits at the Museum of the Bible are not nostalgic window-dressing. They are a reminder of what happens when a civilization forgets where its convictions about human dignity and freedom actually come from.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17, NKJV

As believers, we do not worship a nation. We do not confuse patriotism with piety. But we do recognize that God has worked in history, that He has used nations and peoples for His purposes, and that the freedoms Americans have enjoyed for 250 years are not self-generating. They have roots. Those roots run deep into the soil of Scripture.

If you want to go deeper on what the Bible says about America’s founding convictions, What Tacitus and Josephus Reveal About Jesus — The Historical Record Outside the Bible is one relevant touchpoint, as is Standing For Truth in an Age of Spin and America’s Defining Spiritual Awakenings: A Look at Revival History.

Practical Information: Visit, Watch, and Learn

If you are anywhere near Washington, D.C. this summer, the Museum of the Bible’s America 250 programming is worth a visit. The exhibits run through March 2027, which means there is plenty of time. The museum is located at 400 4th Street SW, Washington, D.C., directly south of the U.S. Capitol.

For those who cannot travel, the lecture series is available virtually, and registration is free. You can find the full schedule at museumofthebible.org.

This is an opportunity to bring your family, your church group, or your small group into direct contact with the historical evidence that the Bible is not an intrusion into American public life. It is the source of the ideas that made American public life possible.

For more on the Bible’s role in history and culture, and for resources to deepen your own study of Scripture’s impact, see How to Study the Bible: A Practical Guide for Deeper Understanding, America’s 10 Most Impactful Spiritual Awakenings That Shaped a Nation, and The Purpose of Bible Study: Why Opening God’s Word Changes Everything.

Download: To build your personal understanding of how Scripture has shaped civilization, explore the How to Study the Bible download available at AnsweredFaith.com.

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Sources

The Christian Post — “Museum of the Bible launching new exhibits as part of ‘The Bible & America 250′” — Ryan Foley, May 29, 2026. christianpost.com
Museum of the Bible — “America 250” programming page. museumofthebible.org
The White House — “Freedom 250.” whitehouse.gov
America250 — Official Semiquincentennial Commission. america250.org
Newsweek — “US 250th Anniversary: 2026 dates, events and celebrations” — December 29, 2025. newsweek.com
Wikipedia — “United States Semiquincentennial.” en.wikipedia.org