NEW YORK (RNS) -- The simplicity of the exhibit -- copies of the Bible resting in glass cases -- can be deceptive.
But the Museum of Biblical Art's exhibition, "Finding Comfort in
Difficult Times: A Selection of Soldiers' Bibles," is American religious
history come alive.
The exhibit showcases three dozen copies of Scriptures published for
members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the Civil War onward, from
leather-bound, 19th-century copies to contemporary Bibles clothed in
camouflage.
But more than the Bibles themselves -- on long-term loan from the
American Bible Society -- the exhibit tells the stories of the men and
women who read them, their struggles with hardship, and the place of
religion in their lives.
Given the personal histories they contain, "every scripture in the Rare
Bible Collection at MOBIA has its own unique story," said the New York
museum's executive director, Ena Heller.
Efforts to supply Bibles to American troops began in the waning years
of the American Revolution. Decades later, in 1817, the one-year-old
American Bible Society began supplying Bibles to the crew of the frigate
USS John Adams.
Eventually, the society became the most prominent, though not the sole,
distributor of Bibles to members of the U.S. military. While most of
the Bibles have been intended for Protestants, Catholic versions, as
well as Jewish Scriptures, have also been provided.
An early challenge was distributing Bibles during the Civil War. The
New York-based American Bible Society opted to supply Bibles to both
sides of the conflict, but distributing them to Confederate troops
proved daunting. Some were intercepted as contraband by Union forces.
During World War I, General John J. Pershing and President Woodrow
Wilson penned messages that accompanied a 1917 copy of the New
Testament. In his preface, Wilson, a Presbyterian elder, declared that
"the Bible is the word of life" and urged soldiers to read the
Scriptures and "find this out for yourselves."
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