Materializing the Bible: Scripture, Sensation, Place

289 Pages·2021·17.634 MB·English

by  James S. Bielo

Materializing the Bible
Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion
Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion is the first book series dedicated
exclusively to studies in material religion. Within the field of lived religion,
the series is concerned with the material things with which people do religion,
and how these things—objects, buildings, landscapes—relate to people,
their bodies, clothes, food, actions, thoughts and emotions. The series engages
and advances theories in ‘sensuous’ and ‘experiential’ religion, as well as
informing museum practices and influencing wider cultural understandings
with relation to religious objects and performances. Books in the series
are at the cutting edge of debates as well as developments in fields
including religious studies, anthropology, museum studies, art history,
and material culture studies.
Christianity and Belonging in Shimla, North India, Jonathan Miles-Watson
Christianity and the Limits of Materiality, edited by Minna Opas and Anna
Haapalainen
Figurations and Sensations of the Unseen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam,
edited by Birgit Meyer and Terje Stordalen
Food, Festival and Religion, Francesca Ciancimino Howell
Islam through Objects, Anna Bigelow
Material Devotion in a South Indian Poetic World, Leah Elizabeth Comeau
Qur’anic Matters, Natalia K. Suit
The Religious Heritage Complex, edited by Cyril Isnart and Nathalie Cerezales
Museums of World Religions, Charles D. Orzech
Materializing the Bible
Scripture, Sensation, Place
James S. Bielo
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © James S. Bielo, 2022
James S. Bielo has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgments on p. x constitute an extension of
this copyright page.
Cover design: Toby Way
Cover image © Rory M. Johnson, PhD
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correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience
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responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021938959
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3500-6504-8
ePDF: 978-1-3500-6506-2
eBook: 978-1-3500-6505-5
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For Sara, Simon, and Charlie
vi
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
Section I: Variations on Replication
1 1:1 21
2 Miniaturizing 31
3 Reenacting 39
4 Imagineering 49
5 Plastic Jesus 59
6 Ways of Remaining 67
Section II: The Power of Nature
7 Flora 81
8 Fauna 91
9 Ingesting the Word 99
10 How Stones Do Things 107
Section III: Choreographing Experience
Circulation 119
11 Miracles and Lavatories 123
12 Greetings From . . . 131
13 Like-able Me, Like-able There 141
Design 149
14 In Place, In Motion 153
15 Interactivity 165
16 Engulfed I 175
17 Engulfed II 187
viii Contents
Classification 195
18 In the Garden 199
19 Rev. Ruth’s Yard Poetics 209
20 Four Crosses Over Waterbury 219
Conclusion 229
Notes 239
Bibliography 254
Index 270
Figures
1 Tabernacle replica 20
2 Model of Jerusalem at Clear Creek Bible College 30
3 The book of Job 38
4 Ark Encounter, exterior view 48
5 Biblical Sand Sculpture by Randy Hofman 58
6 Inside the World of Jesus of Nazareth at the Museum of the Bible 66
7 Entry to Biblical Garden at Paradise Valley United Methodist
Church 80
8 Sign at Creation Museum Petting Zoo 90
9 Print for sale at Biblical History Center gift shop 98
10 Holy Land stone on display at the Garden of Hope 106
11 Brochure for Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré shrine 122
12 Postcard for Tabernacle replica 130
13 Instagram “selfie-spot” at Museum of the Bible 140
14 Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane at the Shrine of
Christ’s Passion 152
15 Inside the Hebrew Bible Experience at the Museum of the Bible 164
16 Postcard of the Cyclorama of Jerusalem 174
17 Virtual Reality at the National Geographic Tomb of Christ
Experience 186
18 Tour group at Garden of Hope 198
19 Rev. Ruth in his Bible Park 208
20 Holy Land, USA 218