25 Peace Monuments with Biblical Quotations From around the World

Click here for monuments based on Isaiah 2:4 or Micah 4:3: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."

Click here for monuments based on Isaiah 11: 6-9: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play in the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

Click here for monuments with peace quotations NOT from the Bible. | Click here for other peace quotations not necessarily on monuments.

Following monuments presented in alphabetical order. Right click any image to enlarge.

2 Corinthians 13:11

Date? - Angel of Peace stained glass window, Church of St. Wendreda, March, Cambridgeshire (England). Inscription: "Be of one mind, live in peace" [2 Corinthians 13:11]. /// "The church is world famous for its magnificent double-hammer beam roof, & together with 120 carved angels it is regarded as one of the best of its kind."

Genesis 37, 19-20

April 4, 1968 - Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis, Tennessee (USA). Unintentional monument. Where Martin Luther King, Jr. [1929-1968] was killed. Motel sign & facade, King's room, his two cars & boarding house across the street from which the fatal shot was fired were preserved in 1991 as part of the National Civil Rights Museum (qv). Verse on plaque: "They said one to another, behold, here cometh the dreamer. Let us slay him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

Isaiah 2:4

1975 - Isaiah Wall, Ralph Bunch Park, East 43rd Street & First Avenue, New York City, New York (USA). Quotes Isaiah 2:4: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares." Shadow in image is cast by adjacent "Peace Form One." Entry #718 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

Isaiah 49:15

May 2008 - "Healing Hands," St. Peter & St. Paul Cathedral, Ennis, County Claire (Ireland). Pair of hands sculpured from Threecastles limestone by local artist Shane Gilmore. Six plaques give various interpretations, e.g. peace ("marking a new era of peace on the island of Ireland"), welcome ("acknowledging the presense of immigrants..."), cooperation, healing, and faith, and quoting Isaiah 49:15 ("I will not forget you. I have carved your name on the palm of my hand."). Info courtesy of Julie Obermeyer.

Isaiah 56

M U S E U M

1953 - Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Mount of Remembrance, West Jerusalem (Israel). A 45-acre complex containing Hall of Remembrance (Arieh Elhanani, 1961), Pillar of Heroism (Buky Schwartz, 1970), Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto (Nathan Rapoport, 1975-6), Children's Memorial (Moshe Safdie, 1976), Memorial to the Jewish Soldiers (Bernie Fink, 1985), Valley of the Communities (Lipa Yahalom & Dan Zur, 1992), International School for Holocaust Studies (1993), Holocaust History Museum (March 15, 2005, lower image), Museum of Holocaust Art, synagogue, archives, research institute, library & publishing house. Non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust at personal risk are honored by Yad Vashem as 'Righteous Among the Nations.'" See Video & Website. Click here separate webpage of Yad Vashem monuments.

V O C U B U L A R Y

"The Knesset law of 1953 establishing Yad Vashem was printed in Hebrew, English & French. The English version translates shoah as 'Disaster,' while the French version of the Knesset law uses 'l'Holocauste' on two occasions. In 1953-1955, shoah at Yad Vashem was usually translated into English as 'Disaster' (capitalized with few exceptions), 'the Great Disaster,' 'the Destruction Period,' and 'the European catastrophe' (this last usually uncapitalized)" (per Jon Petrie, jon_petrie@yahoo.com). /// Yad Vashem is from a Biblical verse: "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad Vashem) that shall not be cut off."

Isaiah 60:8, Micah 6:8, Psalms 67:6 & Revelation 6:8

November 11, 1926 - "Great Frieze of War & Peace," Liberty Memorial, 100 West 26th Street, Kansas City, Missouri (USA). "Carved into the limestone of the north wall (left image). 148 feet/45 meters wide & 18 feet/5.5 meters high. One of largest in the world. Sculpted by Edmond Amateis [1897-1981]. Depicts progress from war to peace." On north wall of Liberty Memorial (left image): "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land wasting nor destruction within thy borders." [Isaiah 60:8] "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God." [Micah 6:8] "Then shall the earth yield her increase and God even our own God shall bless us." [Psalms 67:6] "Behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed him." [Revelation 6:8]

John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." Is this on any monument?

John 20:21

1994 - Christo de la Paz/Christ of Peace, on road to Comalapa International Airport, San Marcos (El Salvador). "Since 1994, it would represent a momentous event in the history of El Salvador, in the framework of the Central American and Caribbean Games in the same year. This imposing sculpture was done by Ruben Martinez, who also produced the Monument to the Constitution. It symbolizes the reconciliation was achieved between the right and left movements politics. In addition, the message reads "La paz sea con vosotros" ("Peace be with you") and message to all the Salvadoran people. The material in this work was based on shell casings, brass and bronze. It says it also seized weapons used by both sides during the conflict. Around the square representing the Peace Accords in El Salvador occurred. -- Google translation.

Luke 2:7-14

P A R K

C A V E

C H U R C H

1954 - Shepherds' Field, Beit Sahour, Bethlehem (West Bank). "PAX" & "Peace on Earth, Good Well to Men" (Luke Chapter 2 verses 7-14) are inscribed in multiple places on the church & grotto. Both were designed by Antonio Barluzzi [1884-1960] in 1954. N.B. This is the Catholic field. The other two "Shepherds' Fields" are Greek Orthodox & Protestant. Holy Land Handicraft Cooperative Souvenir Shop is nearby.

Luke 6:31

January 2003 - One of a series of billboards erected temporarily by the Los Alamos Study Group on a highway in New Mexico (USA), probably between the Albuquerque airport & the City of Los Alamos. Click here for more informaiton.

Luke 15:11-32

2005 - Reconciliation: The Parable of the Prodigal Son, Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina (USA). By Margaret Adams Parker. See Luke 15:11-32. "Everyday on the terrace of the beautiful new addition Duke Divinity School added in 2000 I walk by a stunning sculpture titled 'Reconciliation.' Made by the North Carolina artist Margaret Adams Parker, the sculpture tells the Luke 15 Prodigal Son story. But what Parker captures is a deeper story of a Forgiving Father & Two Lost Sons, powerfully capturing both reconciliation resisted & embraced. Clarence Jordan [1912-1969] once wrote of the interracial Koinonia Farm in Georgia, 'This is what always baffles me -- Koinonia is forever dying & forever living. We should have conked out long ago, but somehow others came in the nick of time. This half-born condition is agonizing, and I could wish it otherwise, but there it is.' See the powerfully different faces, hands, and angles of the sculpture and the artist’s account. My favorite detail: the feet -- the 'deserving' elder son's work boots, the returning younger son's bare feet, the father's house slippers. And the pleading eyes of the one without whom a new future is impossible." /// Click here for artist's description.

Malachi 4:2

August 28, 1913 - Main Entrance & Large Vestibule, Vredespaleis / Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, The Hague (Netherlands). The floor mosaic is Italian marble. It is inscribed "Sol justitiae illustra nos / The light of justice shines upon us." The grand staircase is directly in front of the main entrance, i.e. to the right of the vestibule as seen in the middle image. Note reception desk just to the left of the main entrance, as viewed from inside. /// The motto of Utrecht University is "Sol Iustitiae Illustra Nos / Sun of Justice, shine upon us." This motto was gleaned from a literal Latin Bible translation of Malachi 4:2. Rutgers University in New Jersey (USA), having a historical connection with Utrecht University, uses a modified version of this motto: "Sol iustitiae et occidentem illustra / Sun of righteousness, shine upon the West also." /// Visited by EWL 3 Sept 2013.

Mark 5:41

S C H O O L

1853 - Talitha Kumi, King George Street, West Jerusalem (Israel). "The first school of girls in Jerusalem was given the name Talitha Kumi. That's an Aramaic term that occurs in Mark 5:41: When Jesus encountered a twelve-year old girl at the moment of death, he took her hand and said, 'Little girl, arise.' The name positioned below the clock and above an arch announced to all that education for young girls was important. The first Lutheran Missionaries came from a small village on the Rhine River of Germany called Kaiserswerth, where there was a school of Deaconesses. Their most famous graduate in 1853 was Florence Nightengale [1820-1910]. But three others came to Jerusalem that same year to establish Talitha Kumi. After the 1948 war, the school was demolished to make room for a new department store. Yet thousands of cars [still] drive by each day to see the arch with its clock & the words Talitha Kumi, left as a monument of earliers days. Talitha Kumi, however, did not die, but a new school was built in the West Bank town of Beit Jala [right image] -- now one of the top coed schools in the country, where Christians & Muslims study side by side, learning respect for each other's faith, & enhancing their academic work with strong programs in music, environmental education & peace studies."

Matthew 5:9

After 1557? - Grave (or monument on place of death?) of Michael Agricola, near Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast (Russia). "The text "Blessed are the peacemakers" is on his gravestone. The word Agricola means farmer. He was born in the village of Thorsby in Pernå (Finland). His teachers sent him to Vyborg (Russia) for Latin school. In 1557, he joined the delegation that was going to Russia negotiating a peace treaty, the Treaty of Novgorod. Karelia & Vyborg have always been multilingual. Inhabitants of the town probably understood at least Russian, Finnish & Swedish." /// "Mikael Agricola [c1510-1557] was a clergyman who became the de facto founder of written Finnish & a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden (including Finland). He is often called the 'father of the Finnish written language.' He died suddenly while returning from a trip during which he negotiated a treaty with the Russians."

Matthew 5:9

1820 - Temple de l'amite et de la paix / Temple of Friendship & Peace, United Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). Built by Count Jean-Jaques de Sellon [1782-1839] on his estate in Pregny, La Fenetre. Engraved on it (& repeated inside in several languages) were the words "Blessed are the peacemakers." Destroyed during a storm in 1946, but its stones remain in storage (as shown in lower image).

Matthew 5:9

November 1907 - "Blessed Are The Peacemakers," Arlington Street Church (Unitarian Universalist), Boston, Masssachusetts (USA). In galleries on the right facing the pulpit. Inscription: "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be be called the children of God" [Matthew 5-9]. A memorial to Boston lawyer Alexander Strong Wheeler & presented by his family. "The Tiffany windows in Arlington Street Church are famous for their beauty of design & execution & are believed to be the largest collection of Tiffany windows in any one church. They follow a general plan adopted in 1898 and were installed between 1898 and 1933. The windows represent the highest development of American art in glass. Special Tiffany techniques were used, such as painting certain details & multiple layers of opalescent glass to achieve desired shades of color and Tiffany’s unique creation of folds and drapes. The windows in the galleries, illustrative of the Beatitudes, were designed by Frederick Wilson [1858-1932]. All of the windows were made under the supervision of Louis Comfort Tiffany [1848-1933] & Edward S. George."

Matthew 5:9 (Beatitudes)

July 21, 1928 - William Ladd Boulder, Center Minot Congregational Church, Minot, Maine (USA). Monument created for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Peace Society & the 150th anniversary of William Ladd’s birth. Rests on granite from every state in New England, as well as stones from 14 other countries." Inscription on plaque: "In honor of William Ladd, the Apostle of Peace, born May 10, 1778, died April 7, 1841. Organizer and founder of the American Peace Society one hundred years ago. Citizen and resident of Minot, Maine, author of 'An Essay on a Congress of Nations' [1840], an outstanding contribution to world peace. This tablet erected July 21, 1928, in response to a joint resolution of the 83rd legislature of the State of Maine authorizing a commemoration of the memory and services of William Ladd. Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God."

Matthew 5:9

1938 - Roman Catholic Franciscan chapel, Mount of Beatitudes, between Capernaum & Gennesaret, northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Israel). Also known as Mount Eremos. Stained glass windows around the dome depict "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" [Matthew 5:9] & the other Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:9

June 24, 1990 - "Silent Witness" Memorial, Gander Lake, Gander, Newfoundland (Canada). For 256 victims who died December 12, 1985, when Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed while transporting Multinational Force Observers (MFO's) from the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt) via Cairo to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (USA). Depicts an unarmed soldier holding the hands of two civilian children, each with an olive branch of peace. Plaque says, "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9). Sculpted by Stephen Sheilds of Hopkinsville, KY (USA).

Matthew 5:9

June 1998 - Peace Wall, 29th & Wharton Streets (southwest corner), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). Mural by Jane Golden & Peter Pagast of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Inscribed "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" from Matthew 5:9. Note children in foreground of the image.

Micah 6:8 (also JFK, Mother Theresa, MLK, Mahatma Gandhi, an Oglala Sioux, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, John Lennon, Petrarch & Aristide Briand)

2002 - Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza, Perryville Bike Path, Riverside & McFarland, Rockford, Illinois (USA). "15 foot by 34 foot sculpture “Harmony Atlas” atop a 7 foot by 25 foot granite sculpture base...adorned with 10 peace quotes..." Includes peace poles in 61 different languages. Built by Jim & Pam Keeling: "The Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza celebrates the converging of all cultures of the world. In partnership with the Keeling family, we are proud & humble sponsors celebrating the life of Amarnath Puri, patriarch of the Puri family of Bombay, India, and Virgil Keeling of Rockford, Illinois..." The quotation from Micah 6:8: And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Numbers

1963 - "Hands of Peace," Chicago Loop Synagogue, 16 South Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois (USA). Abstract bronze work by Israeli sculptor Henri Azaz [1923-2008]. Welcomes visitors in both English & Hebrew, quoting a blessing from the Bible’s Book of Numbers: "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee… and give thee peace."

Psalm 122:6

B E L L

April 1996 - Peace Bell (Bonsho), Gan Sacker / Sacher Park, Nahlaot, Jerusalem (Israel). Engraved with the quote from Psalms: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee as well." (Posthumous plagiarism?) Inscription on ground beneath the bell: "This Bonsho has been placed here as a symbol of lasting peace over the City of Jerusalem. The concept of the bell welcomed by the late Prime Minister of Israel Mr. Yitzhak Rabin. This project was made possible by the donations of people whose names are listed in the scroll beneath the Bonsho, represented by Mr. Rikihiro Madarame, presented to the City of Jerusalem and accepted by the mayor M.K. Ehud Olmart. April 1996." English portion of inscription inside the bell: "Koto Oho Shiga Pref Japan, Kinjudo Co., Ltd., 1996.4" The Jerusalem bell has no external striker & therefore cannot be properly rung. Rikihiro Madarame founded Nemic-Lambda, a top producer of power-switching equipment, in 1970. N.B.: This bell was dedicated just days before the International Peace Bell in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Image by EWL 27June2011.

S I G N

Date? - Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem sign, inside the Garden Tomb, near Damascus Gate, Jerusalem (Israel). From Psalm 122:6: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee" [King James Version].

Psalm 122

May 8, 2008 - Olive Tree, Residence of President, Jerusalem (Israel). "In his closing address to the Holy Land, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI stated the following in reference to St. Paul's teaching on the Jews & the Church: 'Mr. President, you and I planted an olive tree at your residence on the day that I arrived in Israel. The olive tree, as you know, is an image used by Saint Paul to describe the very close relations between Christians & Jews. Paul describes in his Letter to the Romans how the Church of the Gentiles is like a wild olive shoot, grafted onto the cultivated olive tree which is the People of the Covenant (cf. 11:17-24). We are nourished from the same spiritual roots. We meet as brothers, brothers who at times in our history have had a tense relationship, but now are firmly committed to building bridges of lasting friendship."

May 8-12, 2009 - Pope Benedict visits Jerusalem. Like John Paul II on his pilgrimage to Israel in 2000, Benedict recites Psalm 122 (in Latin) - a prayer which was traditionally said by pilgrims who would come to Jerusalem three times a year - "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels." (Also translated "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.")

Revelation 22:2

T R E E

June 19, 2010 - Peace Fountain & Olive Tree, Cloister of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (England). "The Dean dedicated a new work of art in the medieval cloister. It comprises a fountain together with an olive tree, a traditional symbol of peace. The work is by sculptor Gary Breeze from Diss, Norfolk, who has been described as one of the most inventive letterers working today. The fountain & the tree together, with their inscriptions, mark the threshold of the cathedral’s sacred space. They stand on cross-of-Lorraine shaped paving which marks the foundation stones of what may have been a 16th century belfry erected after Cardinal Wolsey had demolished some of the Priory buildings to make room for his College. The inscription around the olive tree will welcome the 250,000 visitors who come to Christ Church each year with words from the Book of the Revelation (22,2): 'The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.'"