How has the Bible become a....?

Question

tradition in a Hotel Room. EVERY time i stay @ a hotel, there's always a bible. how did that come to be? do hotels HAVE to have the bible in the room? i dont mind it one bit, i thinks its kinda cool. but im just wondering how it came to be?

to "Beckers" i accidentally gave u a thumbs down. i meant to give u a thumbs up. SORRY! :D

Answer 1

The astute motel-room observer will notice that all of these bibles come from the same place -- The Gideons. An evangelical organization founded over 100 years ago by two traveling salesmen, Gideons International now distributes more than 59 million bibles every year. That's about one million every week, or 112 per minute. That's a lot of Word.

According to its web site, Gideons International is the "oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States of America." The two founders, John Nicholson and Samuel Hill, met while sharing a room in the over-crowded Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin. They named their association after the biblical figure who submitted himself to the will of God, regardless of his own judgments.

Initially conceived as a Christian organization of "traveling men," in 1908 the group dedicated itself to providing a bible for every hotel room in America, a step towards fulfilling their mission of "distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life." As the numerous copies of the book found in hotels and motels across the country can attest, they've pretty much completed their goal.

Besides placing the Bible in hotels, the Gideons also provide the "Good Book" to nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, schools, prisons, as well as the military, law enforcement personnel, firefighters, and EMTs.

Answer 2

First, no matter what Christian tracts say, The USA is 58% Christian.

Way back, hotels and tourist courts (motels) had neither television or telephones. Some had radios that you fed in a quarter for thirty minutes of radio programs. Therefore there was little to do to entertain yourself until you went to sleep. The Gideons showed up with free Bibles and businesses seldom turn down free merchandise. The people renting the rooms had something to read, which the Gideons banked on to get converts.

Answer 3

The astute motel-room observer will notice that all of these bibles come from the same place -- The Gideons. An evangelical organization founded over 100 years ago by two traveling salesmen, Gideons International now distributes more than 59 million bibles every year. That's about one million every week, or 112 per minute. That's a lot of Word.

According to its web site, Gideons International is the "oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States of America." The two founders, John Nicholson and Samuel Hill, met while sharing a room in the over-crowded Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin. They named their association after the biblical figure who submitted himself to the will of God, regardless of his own judgments.

Initially conceived as a Christian organization of "traveling men," in 1908 the group dedicated itself to providing a bible for every hotel room in America, a step towards fulfilling their mission of "distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life." As the numerous copies of the book found in hotels and motels across the country can attest, they've pretty much completed their goal.

Besides placing the Bible in hotels, the Gideons also provide the "Good Book" to nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, schools, prisons, as well as the military, law enforcement personnel, firefighters, and EMTs.

Answer 4

Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible to those who might not otherwise encounter it, most famously in hotel and motel rooms. Bibles are given away in over 80 languages and more than 180 countries of the world

The organization was founded in 1899 in Boscobel, Wisconsin as an early American parachurch organization dedicated to Christian evangelism. It began distributing free Bibles, the work it is chiefly known for, in 1908, when the first Bibles were placed in the rooms of the Superior Hotel in Superior, Montana.

Answer 5

Go to wikipedia & look in Gideons International. In 1908 the 1st free bibles were placed in the rooms of Superior Hotel in Superior Montana. It was a way to spread the word of God. Interesting info. Good luck!

Answer 6

The Bibles are from an organization called the Gideons. I would suspect that since there have been people who choose to commit suicide in hotel rooms (perhaps out of loneliness?), maybe they thought that the presence of Bibles might cut down on it? I don't honestly know...but I remember that the Gideons used to give us all free Bibles in public school...when that was allowed.

Answer 7

They are most always placed there by a group called the Gideons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gideons...

Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization dedicated to distributing copies of the Bible (in either the King James Version or the New King James Version in the United States, but other translations in over 80 languages in more than 180 countries of the world) to those who might not otherwise encounter it, most famously in hotel rooms. The organization was founded in 1899 in Boscobel, Wisconsin as one of the first parachurch organizations dedicated to Christian evangelism. It began distributing free Bibles, the work it is chiefly remembered for, in 1908, when the first Bibles were placed in the rooms of the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Michigan.[1]

In addition, this practice has inspired other religious organizations to distribute their sacred texts in similar fashion, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints with the Book of Mormon.

The organization describes its link to the story of Gideon thus:

"Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him to do, regardless of his own judgment as to the plans or results. Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character. This is the standard that The Gideons International is trying to establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God's will at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads."
In keeping with this symbolism, the symbol of the Gideons is a two handled pitcher and torch, recalling Gideon's victory over the Midianites as described in Judges chapter 7.

In addition to their well-known hotel-room Bibles, the Gideons also distribute Bibles to members of the military of various countries, to hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and also to students.

Answer 8

I believe the Gideons started this tradition. They started leaving Bibles in hotel rooms, and it caught on.

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Answer 9

There's a religious group called the Gideon bible society (or something like that) which buys bibles for hotels and puts them in the rooms.

What I thought was cute was when I stayed in the Japanese national hotel in San Francisco, they had a book of Shinto sayings in the drawer instead of a bible.

Answer 10

Well the Gideons distribute the Bibles to the hotels and that is there ministry to distribute as many Bibles as can be done.