Once again, Hobby Lobby and its Museum of the Bible is in the news.  This time, Hobby Lobby is suing former Oxford University Dirk Obbink over Obbink’s alleged sale of stolen papyri to the Museum.  According to the complaint,  Hobby Lobby paid Obbink $7 million US dollars for the fragments.  To date, over 32 of the fragments have been identified as stolen from the Egyptian Exploration Society collection at Oxford.  Obbink stands accused of stealing more than 120 fragments.  Obbink claims that the accusations are based on fraudulent documents in an attempt to destroy his career.

Hobby Lobby’s owner and chairman of the Museum, Steve, Green, stated that the Museum should have done more due diligence regarding the ownership of the fragments.  Yes.  They should have.  Sadly, this is a tune that is on repeat when it comes to items held by the Museum that turned out to be stolen or fake.