The Biblical Heritage Exhibit is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching the history of the Bible in a visual and engaging manner. The exhibit is currently located on thesecond floor of Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, Washington, with a second location at the Bible Education and Missionary Service headquarters in Gulfport, Mississippi. At both locations we encourage our visitors to step in and interact with the exhibit, handling the artifacts and holding each facsimile Bible as they read about the various historical texts.
In 2009, Pastor Mark Smith of Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA began working with his staff to create The Heritage Collection, a series of framed artwork to tell the story of the Bible’s translation into English. Each piece focused on one translator or major Bible text, beginning with the Latin Vulgate of 345 and culminating with the King James Bible in 1611. Notable features included a brief historical write-up, a facsimile recreation of an original page from the text being presented, and images representing that period of history or a key event in the life of the translator.
The Heritage Collection proved to be a valuable tool, but Pastor Smith felt there was still a need for a more hands-on learning approach. Original antique Bibles and ancient manuscripts can be difficult to find, and have become prohibitively expensive as a result, often selling for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars apiece. Thus, they have proven to be an extremely limited tool for the purpose of connecting and engaging people with the history of the Bible. Facsimiles, on the other hand, provide an accurate depiction of the original text at a substantially reduced cost.
With this thought in mind, the team created a commemorative portfolio set for the upcoming celebration of the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, along with a spiral-bound book that explained the history of the English Bible in greater detail, and a packet of facsimile Bible pages so that people could see and feel the pages as they learned more about their history.
Pastor Smith was invited to present the collection on The National Mall on this historic anniversary. The portfolios were enlarged and hung behind each table so visitors could learn at their own pace while viewing the corresponding facsimile pages, and collectors displayed several first-edition Bibles and even a replica Gutenberg press. This event was a major catalyst for the exhibit, as its high visibility brought invitations to travel and present at several locations around the country, and eventually led to the creation of the Biblical Heritage Exhibit as a full-fledged 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization.
Today, our team continues to produce quality facsimiles for the exhibit to better tell the story of the Bible through a painstakingly detailed process of sourcing, digitizing, correcting and enhancing, printing, and binding. Due to the many requests we've received, we have made these facsimiles available for sale to others who are interested in preserving and teaching the history of the Bible as well.
