# Steve Green Eldest son of [[David Green]] and the principal architect of the Green family's **religious-cultural-philanthropy program**, distinct from his father's corporate-business legacy. Long-serving president of [[Hobby Lobby]] (since 1992) and founder/chairman of the [[Museum of the Bible]] (2010–) — the $500M+ Washington D.C. museum project that opened in 2017. Where his father David built the corporate apparatus, Steve has built the religious-cultural infrastructure that operationalizes the Green family's theological commitments at the level of public-cultural production. Steve Green's signature project — Museum of the Bible — is the most ambitious religious-cultural philanthropy effort by a contemporary American evangelical-business family. The museum's eight-floor 430,000-square-foot facility two blocks from the U.S. Capitol opened November 17, 2017 with extensive opening-event coverage; the Green-family commitment includes the building, the antiquities collection, and ongoing operating support. The same project has been the source of substantial controversy: the **2017–2020 smuggled-artifacts case** (federal forfeiture of thousands of looted Iraqi and Egyptian artifacts [[the Greens]] had purchased), the **Dead Sea Scrolls forgery determination** (2020 authentication study finding museum's "Dead Sea Scrolls fragments" were modern forgeries), and broader academic critique of the museum's curatorial practice (most prominently Joel Baden and Candida Moss's *Bible Nation*, 2017). Steve Green has been the public face of the family's response to each of these. For the Right Wing KB, Steve Green is the **second-generation religious-cultural-philanthropy architect** of the Green family operation — distinct in role and emphasis from his father's corporate-religious legacy and from his brother Mart's business-leadership role. The combination of corporate religious-liberty litigation ([[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby]]), museum-and-cultural-infrastructure ([[Museum of the Bible]]), Bible-curriculum-in-public-schools projects (Mustang Public Schools 2014; post-2024 revival), and broader family-foundation philanthropy makes the Green family one of the most strategically-leveraged Funders-layer entries in the [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]. ## Biography and Early Career **Steve Green** was born in **1963** in **Oklahoma City, Oklahoma** — the eldest son of [[David Green]] and Barbara Green. He grew up working in the family business from childhood. After attending college in Oklahoma, Green joined [[Hobby Lobby]] full-time and was named **president** of the company in **1992**, overseeing the company's national expansion from a regional chain to the largest privately-held arts-and-crafts retailer in the United States. ## Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) Steve Green was one of the most publicly visible members of the Green family during the ***Burwell v. Hobby Lobby*** litigation — serving as a public spokesperson for the family's position that the ACA's contraceptive mandate violated their religious convictions. The **5-4 Supreme Court victory** on **June 30, 2014** (argued by the [[Becket Fund]]) established corporate religious-personhood doctrine under RFRA. ## Museum of the Bible (2010–2017) Steve Green's signature project. He began assembling a **major biblical-antiquities collection** in **2009–2010**, spending an estimated **$200 million or more** on acquisitions over the next several years — purchasing manuscripts, cuneiform tablets, papyri, and artifacts through a network of international dealers. He formally organized the **[[Museum of the Bible]]** project and served as **chairman** of the museum's board. The museum — a **430,000-square-foot, eight-floor** facility at **400 Fourth Street SW** in Washington, D.C. (two blocks from the National Mall) — opened on **November 17, 2017** at a total project cost exceeding **$500 million**. ## Smuggled-Artifacts Case (2017–2020) The antiquities-acquisition program became the source of the Green family's most significant legal controversy. In **July 2017**, Hobby Lobby agreed to **forfeit ~5,500 Iraqi artifacts** and pay a **$3 million civil penalty** after federal investigators determined the items — cuneiform tablets and clay bullae primarily from Iraqi archaeological sites — had been purchased through dealers who smuggled them out of Iraq with **falsified customs declarations** (labeled as "tile samples" shipped to "Hobby Lobby Stores Inc."). Steve Green publicly acknowledged that the family's early collecting practices had been insufficiently rigorous and stated the museum had reformed its acquisition policies. ## Dead Sea Scrolls Forgeries (2020) In **March 2020**, the Museum of the Bible announced that **all 16 of its "Dead Sea Scrolls" fragments** had been determined to be **modern forgeries** — confirmed by an independent study conducted by Art Fraud Insights. The fragments had been among the museum's most-publicized holdings. Steve Green acknowledged the findings and the museum removed the fragments from display. ## Bible-in-Public-Schools Curriculum Steve Green has been the principal Green-family advocate for **Bible-curriculum-in-public-schools** projects. A pilot program at **Mustang Public Schools** (Oklahoma, 2014) drew ACLU objections and was scaled back. Post-2024, Bible-curriculum legislative efforts have revived in **Oklahoma**, **Texas**, and **Louisiana**, with Green-family-affiliated curriculum materials positioned as potential content providers. ## Published Work Green authored ***The Bible in America: What We Believe About the Most Important Book in Our History*** (2013, with Todd Hillard) and ***Faith in America*** (2019) — both articulating the case for biblical literacy as foundational to American identity. He has been a frequent speaker at evangelical conferences and Bible-museum events. ## Leadership Transition With brother [[Mart Green]]'s assumption of the **CEO role** at Hobby Lobby in the mid-2020s, Steve Green's primary focus has shifted toward the museum and the family's cultural-philanthropy portfolio. He remains **chairman** of the Museum of the Bible board and chairman of the Hobby Lobby board. ## KB Significance Steve Green is the **second-generation religious-cultural-philanthropy architect** of the Green family operation — the figure who translated the family's corporate-religious vehicle ([[Hobby Lobby]]) into a cultural-infrastructure program ([[Museum of the Bible]], Bible-curriculum projects, antiquities collecting). The museum's controversies (smuggled artifacts, forged Dead Sea Scrolls) illustrate the risks of rapid religious-cultural-institution-building without adequate provenance controls, while the museum's continued operation and the Bible-curriculum revival demonstrate the durability of the underlying cultural-production strategy. ## See Also - [[David Green]] - [[Hobby Lobby]] - [[Museum of the Bible]] - [[Burwell v. Hobby Lobby]] - [[Christian Nationalism Ecosystem]]