■ The Museum of the Bible, three blocks from the U.S. Capitol, opened Saturday.

WASHINGTON — Eight years ago, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green found a new way to express his Christian faith. His family’s $4 billion arts and craft chain was already known for closing stores on Sundays, waging a Supreme Court fight over birth control and donating tens of millions of dollars to religious groups.

Now, Green would start collecting biblical artifacts that he hoped could become the starting point for a museum.

On Saturday, that vision was realized when the 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible opened three blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The $500 million museum includes pieces from the family’s collection from the Dead Sea Scrolls, bronze gates inscribed with text from the Gutenberg Bible and a soundscape of the 10 plagues, enhanced by smog and a glowing red light to symbolize the Nile turned to blood.

It is an attempt to appeal to people of deep faith and no faith and to stand out amid the constellation of museums in Washington. The Bible exhibits are so extensive that administrators say it would take days to see everything.

Green said the institution he largely funded is meant to educate, not evangelize. Museum administrators have taken pains to hire a broad group of scholars as advisers. Lawrence Schiffman, a New York University Jewish studies professor and Dead Sea Scrolls expert, called the museum a “monument” to interfaith cooperation. Exhibits are planned from the Vatican Museum and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“There’s just a basic need for people to read the book,” Green said. “This book has had an impact on our world, and we just think people ought to know it and hopefully they’ll be inspired to engage with it after they come here.”

Jacquelyn Martin The Associated Press An exhibit on slavery in the U.S is displayed inside the Museum of the Bible in Washington. The museum opened Saturday.