GENEVA, Switzerland — The visitor climbs the steep hillside paved with unforgiving cobblestones and follows the looming image of Saint-Pierre Cathedral, the church of John Calvin. Located hard by the cathedral is an imposing three-story mansion of classical architecture. It was built in the 1720s as the home of a wealthy banker. Today it is the home of the International Museum of the Reformation.
In some ways, the museum houses the earliest history of the branch of Christendom known as the Baptists. There is an age-old trick question which goes something like this: “Are Baptists Protestants?” There are yes and no answers; but in a sharp division of Catholic or Protestant, Baptists are more inclined to fall into the latter category. Alright, maybe they were not around with the protestors. Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses in 1517, a full century before John Smyth and Thomas Helwys gathered baptized believers into a church. Of course, there probably are still some Baptists who insist upon the Trail of Blood back to Jerusalem, claiming that there always has been a Baptist church. It is fanciful thinking.
Fred Anderson
And so this columnist made a solitary journey to the International Museum of the Reformation in hopes of touching the earliest history of the Protestant movement. Opened in 2005, the museum is state-of-the-art with its audio guides, high tech and hands-on exhibits. It is obvious that someone has masterminded the experience, that a top flight museum designer has had free reign and that money, imagination, creativity and passion have been poured into the place.
As in any museum worth its salt, the first and last stop is the gift shop. A visitor can buy almost anything imaginable — umbrellas, busts of Calvin, books, and trinkets — and be assured that the museum's logo is stamped somewhere on it. There was one thing not for purchase. Alongside all the sale merchandise was a large old key. When pressed as to the story of the key and as to whether or not it was for sale, the person on duty reckoned that it was just the key to the front door and that it certainly was not for sale. This visitor could understand. After all, the key to the Culpeper jail in the Virginia Baptist museum is also not for sale!
The first exhibit is on the Bible, that often-fussed over yet seldom-studied volume. Access to the Bible and allowance for individual interpretation of it was at the heart of the Reformation. On display was a copy of Luther's translation from 1521. There also is a model of a printing press. It was the availability of the Bible to the masses which helped spark and fuel the Protestant movement.
In the old mansion's “grand salon” there are portraits of the various key figures in the Reformation: Luther, Calvin and Zwingli. Scattered about the handsome room are clear plastic chairs of a classical shape and small wooden tables which a salon visitor in times gone by might expect to hold some refreshments. Instead they hold video screens. The visitor gets an engaging description of the times of the reformers. Suddenly in a mirror on the wall, an image of Luther appears and the lips — in Disney technique — actually move. The man in the mirror is talking to me!
In another room there are actual documents of the Reformation. The labels interpret what the manuscripts represent and let the visitor know about the price paid for protesting. The crowned heads of Europe recognized that the protesters were a threat to the establishment. In 1562 the Protestants were allowed to gather for worship but it had to be outside the city walls. The museum reminds the visitor of the price paid through the ages for religious freedom.
Music offered religious and spiritual expression; and the museum devotes a small room to hymnals and to emphasis upon the contribution of Protestants to hymnology. The sounds of music fill the air.
In the mansion's dining room, the solitary visitor shares a “theological banquet” with some of the great movers and shakers of the Reformation. There are chairs about the table but the visitor quickly notices that the seats are really exhibit cases holding objects while the tops of the chairs are slanted to allow space for labels. Through the use of the audio phones, the visitor can eavesdrop upon the dinner conversation which is a heady dialogue between theologians of old. There is no chance for the visitor to enter into the conversation except with solitary thoughts.
Scattered around the museum are plenty of hands-on activities to keep a fidgety visitor occupied. There are drawers to open where objects and documents are shielded by Plexiglas and there are numbers to punch on the audio phone for further information.
In one fireplace there is a button to push which opens a cover to reveal a scorched Bible within imaginary flames.
The basement of the mansion is reserved for telling the story of Protestants in the 20th century. These include the obscure and the famous, including Karl Barth, Albert Schweitzer, Paul Tillich, Martin Luther King (now, there's a Baptist) and Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army.
The International Museum of the Reformation is a good place for a solitary journey. If Geneva is not on your weekend itinerary, another solitary journey can be arranged at your convenience by visiting the museum's website, www.musee-reforme. ch. In person or on the Web, the museum provides education about a major part of our Christian heritage.
Fred Anderson is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies. He may be contacted at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.