David Vatcher had a certain sparkle in his eye when he spoke with visitors at the new Museum of the Bible.
That’s because the Brit is thrilled to share the Washington Revelations attraction, a “ride” his company built to give people a five-minute flight around the District of Columbia to see scriptural references carved in stone across the city.
“There’s been a phenomenal reaction,” Vatcher told Breitbart News. “They expressed total surprise to find an experience like this in a museum.”
Vatcher’s business, the Vienna, Austria-based Dynamic Motion Projects, uses computer-generated imagery and special effects—including scents and mist—to give people “a dreamlike, seamless flight from the top of the museum to the Capitol.”
Vatcher said there are hundreds of scriptures carved in stone around the District, but for the Museum of the Bible attraction they focused on 15 texts in 12 locations.
“We wanted a good representation of the New and Old Testaments,” Vatcher said.
Those texts and locations include Union Station (“The truth shall set you free” John 8:32) and the Holocaust Museum (You are my witnesses” Isaiah 43:10)
After the flight, people return to the museum through the 16 ton, 37-foot bronze Gutenberg Gates inscribed with Genesis’ first chapter in Latin that serves as the front door.
Vatcher said the Washington Revelations project took three years to complete, including nine months just to get the storyline in place.
Visitors to the 430,000 square-foot museum, which opened earlier this month, can explore a vast number of exhibits, including 40,000 biblical antiquities.
The museum is focused around the Green Collection, the world’s largest private collection of rare biblical texts and artifacts, gathered since 2009 by museum founder Steve Green, who also is president of the Hobby Lobby franchise.
Artifacts include the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, first edition Bibles and Torah scrolls, and other objects, which are on loan from the Vatican Library and Museum, as well as the Israel Antiquity Authority. The Bible believed to be one that came to America on the Mayflower is also on display.
“We want this museum to be enriching and engaging to all people,” said Cary Summers, president of the museum. “To that end, we have tapped many of the world’s leading scholars with expertise across many subjects and faith traditions, including those with Jewish, Protestant and Catholic proficiency and perspectives, to help us craft the storylines and narrative themes of this museum.”
General admission to the museum is free but should be secured from the museum’s website, which provides visitors with a specific day and time to visit. Suggested donations are welcome.
Some attractions have a nominal fee, including Washington Revelations, which cost $8.
For more information, visit https://www.museumofthebible.org.
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