This traveling exhibit showcases over 300 Biblical artifacts.  There are ancient fragments of Scripture from the Dead Sea Scrolls, papyri, early translations in many languages, rare and beautifully illuminated manuscripts, early copies of the Pilgrim’s Geneva Bible and John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Wycliffe’s New Testament, a Coverdale Bible (the first legal printing in English) and so many more.

This fascinating exhibit is very interactive, and it held my children’s attention.  As you move through the exhibit, you get the feeling of moving through time, as each room is decorated to reflect the time period of the manuscripts it contains.

There were many animatronic figures which moved and spoke, including St. Jerome, Queen Anne Boleyn, John Knox, and William Tynedale.  There were also several activities for children, such as writing with quill and ink, using a block print to make a Bible page, and (my kids’ favorite) turning a replica of Gutenberg’s printing press to produce a page from the book of 2 Samuel in Latin.

An audio tour on iPod is included with the children’s tickets (it costs an additional $3.00 for the adult audio).  My children really enjoyed wearing the iPods and listening to the audio tour.  The children’s audio program includes a scavenger hunt which kept them moving forward, listening and looking for answers to questions regarding the exhibits.  There were also many videos throughout the exhibit, creatively done to introduce each room’s theme.  In one room, video technology was used to portray Martin Luther debating with Erasmus and Johann Eck. Videos and animatronics were very lifelike and realistic.

Watch this brief video for a visual introduction to Passages:

Each of us took away favorite memories from the exhibit.  It was rewarding for me to see my oldest son translate a portion of Scripture from an ornate copy of the Latin Vulgate. My favorite parts of the exhibit focused on the Reformation and the translation of the Bible into the language of the common man.

I wish this wasn’t a traveling exhibit, as I would love to take my kids there again and again.  The owner of this exhibit (Steve Green, President of Hobby Lobby) has built his collection to include over 40,000 exhibits, which will become a permanent exhibit at an as-yet undisclosed location.

If you live near Atlanta, you have one more week to see this amazing exhibit.  It will be in Atlanta through June 30th.  A staff member told me that the next location for Passages will be Charlotte, NC, so watch for it if you live in that area.  The website has not yet been updated with the Charlotte information, but more information should be posted there soon.  The exhibit will likely be in Charlotte for a few months, so the next location after that has not yet been announced.

This field trip was encouraging, inspiring, and educational. Thanks to Carrie at Our Full House for this awesome give away!

I just had to let you know about what my friend Homeschool Dawn is doing to celebrate the Reformation this week. She has great ideas about teaching the 5 “Solas” within a family or to a group of kids.

Dawn writes, “The five Solas are five Latin phrases which summarize the Reformers’ theological beliefs in contradicting the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of their day.” Her ideas will make it easy for you to teach these key truths to your kids this week! Why not rent Martin Luther, whip up a simple batch of Kaesspaetzele (German mac and cheese!), play a few games and make a night of it!

I highly recommend the movie Martin Luther with Joseph Feinnes. My husband and I watch it every year at this time with our oldest son. It’s rated PG-13 for graphic violence, and there are a few swear words in the movie, as well…so our younger children don’t watch. Here is the trailer.

The movie tells the story of Luther, who gave up a life of promise and privilege to become an Augustinian monk. He was wracked with guilt and spent hours confessing every piccadillo of sin in his life, yet he could find no peace with God.

Luther made a pilgimage to Rome, where he was shocked by the sale of indulgences, the lack of purity in the church leaders and an institution that was selling salvation, literally, to raise money for a new cathedral.

The Lord revealed himself to Luther through the Bible, when Luther came to realize that salvation was through grace alone by faith alone, and not by works. He posted his theses and was tried as a heretic at the Diet of Worms, where he refused to recant his writings. It was there he said those famous words, “I cannot–I WILL NOT recant….Here I stand: I can do no other.”

If you have a Netflix subscription, there are two Luther videos available for live streaming from your computer. I haven’t watched either one, so I can’t recommend them per se. The first is the 1953 Martin Luther with Naill MacGinnis. The other is the 2002 documentary Here I Stand.

This is also a good time to read a book or two about Martin Luther. My favorite Martin Luther book to read with the kids is from the Heroes of Faith and Courage series. We have several books in that series and they are all excellent, with colorful pictures and a detailed biography on each page, as well as side bars detailing the practices and theology that Martin Luther was opposing.

Our family loves German food. We eat it all the time! I was blessed to go to school in Austria where I learned to cook several yummy favorites. Here is our favorite German menu. It’s perfect for a Reformation Celebration feast night!

Wiener Schnitzel
Kaesspaetzele (Cheesy noodles)
Apple Strudel

Wiener Schnitzel
Traditionally, Wiener Schnitzel calls for veal, but pork is more readily available here, so that is what I use. I buy the thin breakfast cutlets, so that I don’t need to pound the pork thin with a mallet. If you don’t buy the thin cutlets, you may need to slice the pork chops thinner, and you will definitely need to pound them flat with a meat mallet.

Ingredients:
Pork or veal cutlets
2 eggs, 2 TB milk, vegetable oil, salt
flour
breadcrumbs

Directions:
In a plate, mix together 2 eggs, 2 tbsp milk, a few drops of vegetable oil and a dash of salt. After pounding the pork chops thin, season with salt and dredge them in a dish of flour. Dip them into the egg mixture, and then press them into the breadcrumbs. Shake off any surplus crumbs and fry immediately in hot vegetable oil. Serve with hot German potato salad or Kaesspaetzele.

Kaesspaetzele (Cheesy noodles)
Traditionally these noodles should be home-made, but I sacrifice a little traditional flavor for ease and simplicity. I recommend boxed elbow macaroni or, alternatively, packaged egg noodles, according to preference.

Ingredients:
1 box or bag of pasta
sliced or shredded swiss cheese
onions, butter

Prepare pasta according to package directions and drain. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Dice the onion and fry in the butter until it is blackened (not just carmelized, it should be almost burned). The amount of butter you use depends on the amount of onion…for a batch for my family I use one large onion. For a potluck sized batch use 3 or 4 onions, with enough melted butter to coat the onions (a few tablespoons for a large batch).

Layer the pasta in a casserole dish or crock pot (one layer of pasta, one layer of cheese, one layer of onions). Repeat. Bake or warm in a crockpot until the cheese is melted. You can add smoked kielbasa or sausage to turn this into a main dish.

Apple Strudel
This recipe makes about 2 strudels. I usually make this for a crowd, quadruple the recipe (4x) and get about 7 or 8 strudels out of it.
Ingredients:
Strudel pastry: I prefer to purchase Phyllo Dough (sometimes spelled Fillo) from the frozen fruit section of my grocery store. It makes a wonderful flaky pastry, it’s perfect for apple strudel and it is fast and easy.

Filling: 2 pounds ripe apples, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 cup raisins (optional), 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, cinnamon to taste (about 1/2 tbsp).

Slice the apples as thin as possible (I use a food processor, but it isn’t necessary). You can choose to peel or not, according to taste. Mix the apples with the sugar and cinnamon to taste. Add raisins if using.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Fry the breadcrumbs in the butter until golden brown.

The Phyllo dough box will have two packaged rolls of dough in it. ONE roll of dough makes about 6 to 8 strudels. Keep one frozen for future use. Thaw the other roll at room temperature for about 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge. When it is thawed, open the package and unroll the dough. You’ll have a stack of about 15 sheets. Lay a dishtowl out flat on your work space and place one sheet of phyllo on the towel. Brush about a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil onto the phyllo sheet with a pastry brush or your fingers. Then lay a second sheet on top and brush more vegetable oil onto the sheet. Place a third layer on top (do not brush with oil). Cover the remaining phyllo with a slightly damp dish cloth, as it dries out very quickly.

Scatter the fried breadcrumbs in a line over the top and middle of the pastry (from left to right)…so the pastry should be empty at the bottom, with the entire top and middle covered with a stripe of breadcrumbs about 2 inches wide. Make sure it covers the entire pastry left to right so that the end pieces aren’t “empty” of filling!

Next, scoop up some of the apple/raisin filling and spread it over the breadcrumbs.

Now, this part is easy once you get the hang of it. Roll the strudel together with the help of the cloth so that the bare 1/3 is rolled in last. Place it on a baking tray and brush with butter. Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cherries can be substituted for the apples; omit the cinnamon and raisins.