EDMOND — One of the perks of my job is that I often get to see things before the general public. That was the case with “Passages: 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible,” which opened at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art on May 16. The bad news is press visits are usually fairly short. A week would have been too short to see everything in this amazing exhibition!

The artifacts on display represent a tiny portion of the collection of Steve Green — of the Hobby Lobby/Mardel Green family. About 300 items make up the heart of the exhibit but the care that has gone into presenting the items, setting them in their historical context, and explaining each one in depth magnify the impact of each piece many times over.

Curator Dr. Scott Carroll and a team of scholars and technicians have incorporated the latest in technology and media to immerse guests in the experience. It would be easy to dismiss some of the displays as Disney-esque — and they do make use of animatronic figures familiar to Disney park visitors — but the scholarship behind the exhibits kick them up several notches.

Purists might quibble at the talking lion — but this clever device will captivate young children and lead them into learning opportunities they won’t even realize they are having. There are so many levels on which to enjoy this special presentation that the museum expects visitors to come more than once in order to appreciate the experience.

The exhibition space is a 14,000-square-foot maze of rooms that take the viewer through many centuries. The first area delves into the roots of Scripture and the Jewish world. Docents dressed as sofers — Hebrew scribes — are available to answer questions about the items in the room. In keeping with the high-tech trend, guests, before entering the exhibition area, are given earphones and iPods rather than the bulkier audio devices usually used in museums. The do-not-miss item in this room is a fragment of Genesis from one of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Moving to the left, visitors leave ancient Israel and find themselves in a monastery cloister, complete with monks. Michael Branson of Edmond, a minister and musician moonlighting as a monk, was my guide in this section. This area holds early Christian texts, but Michael was quick to point out a giant hand-written and illuminated song book made to be shared by a choir.

Continuing on, I was surprised to see a life-sized talking lion. The docent explained that this is Louie, the children’s special docent. His images appear throughout the exhibits to call attention to and explain to young visitors the history and importance of each area. It made more sense when I turned around to see a cave where the animatronic figure of St. Jerome was telling about translating the Bible into Latin. In legend, St. Jerome’s companion was a lion.

Walking along, visitors get to eavesdrop on two peasant women chatting through their open windows.  One tells the other she has just heard that a man named Wycliffe has translated the Bible into English.  “Imagine, hearing the Scriptures in your own language,” she says.

The introduction of moving type by Johannes Gutenberg was a milestone in the history of the Bible.  Previously, texts had to be painstakingly copied by hand. Now they could be produced much more quickly. On display is a working replica of the Gutenberg press and a portion of a Gutenberg Bible.

I wished that I had had time to sit in the Reformation Theater and listen to the debate between Martin Luther, Desiderius Erasmus and Dr. Johann Eck. High-resolution video screens bring the characters to life. One of the treasures of the Green collection is in this room — a hand-written letter by Martin Luther written on the eve of his excommunication from the Church.

Coming around a corner, visitors encounter a queen on her throne. It’s Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII’s unfortunate wives. In another tableau you’ll see Anne imprisoned before her beheading. In a nearby cell is William Tyndale, an important reformer and translator, who was martyred.

Entering a small chapel, we were shushed by the docent — the animatronic doppelganger of Scottish preacher John Knox was about to preach. In this room are several early English Bibles including a first edition of the first legal printing of an English Bible.

Prepare to be transported to London as you enter a re-creation of the Jerusalem Chamber in Westminster Abbey where scholars completed work on the translation of the Bible authorized by King James. The room is haunted by the ghosts of squabbling scholars working on the translation.

The next room contains another replica printing press — this time the kind that was used to print the first King James Bibles. And around the room are Bibles with typos including one called the “Wicked Bible.” It seems the printer neglected to set the word “not” in the commandment about adultery. A thousand Bibles were printed this way before the printer caught the error. All but eight were destroyed. You can see one of these rare Bibles here.

The remaining areas delve into adornment — illumination, fore edge painting and other techniques — and into contemporary discoveries. Outside the formal exhibition area is a display which will be changed frequently. The current display features Judaica — elegant scroll covers and crowns, etc.

This world-class exhibit will be on display through Oct. 16. Part of the exhibit will then travel to Rome to be put on display in the Vatican.

If you thought this exhibition was just going to be display cases of books, you’re wrong — it’s so much more. The books, manuscripts and other artifacts are stunning and important on their own but the technology and design of the exhibition brings them to life.

Tickets to the exhibit are not inexpensive — $25 for adults — but that includes the exhibit and the rest of the museum plus use of an iPod. Discount coupons are available at Hobby Lobby and Mardel. Tickets are issued by times, so check ahead. For more information, go to www.explorepassages.com or www.okcmoa.com or call 236-3100.



ELAINE WARNER is an Edmond resident.