Why There Are Bibles in Hotel Rooms

Rhamit asks: Why are there Bibles in hotel rooms? When did this tradition start?

holy-bible“Hotel Bibles” are also called “Gideon Bibles” after Gideon International, a group of male missionaries and Christian businessmen who took it upon themselves to provide this work to hotels across the nation.

Here’s how it all started. In 1898, John H. Nicholson stayed at the crowded Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin. The place was so crowded that he had to share a room with another person named Samuel E. Hill. They got to talking, as you might do if you were sharing a room with a stranger, and discovered that they were both Christians. That evening, they prayed together and talked about creating an association of traveling Christian businessmen.

In 1899, they put the idea to practice. Adding another to their number—William J. Knights—the men headed a meeting at a YMCA with the purpose to create an association of men who wished to achieve “mutual recognition, personal evangelism, and united service for the Lord.”

Initially, the three men mentioned above were the only people in the association because they were the only people who actually attended the meeting. Hills was named President, Knights Vice President, and Nicholson took on the roles of both treasurer and secretary. With that done, the men decided their new organization needed a name, and what better way to come up with one than to pray to God to lead them to the best one? The prayer apparently worked, or Knights simply had an epiphany, because not long after the prayer he directed the other two men to the Old Testament story about Gideon and declared, “We shall be called Gideons.”

Gideon’s story is recorded in the Hebrew Bible’s Book of Judges, chapters 6-8. He isn’t the most obvious of namesakes for a band of Christian men—one translation of his name is “destroyer.” However, Gideon was a man who was charged by God to lead a relatively small number of men (300) against a drastically larger army, and he was able to beat them. Gideon was a fitting namesake for the tiny organization who had big dreams. Gideon International says that the organization tries to keep with Gideon’s mindset… No, not hunting down and killing a massive army of Midianites, but willing to do God’s work at any time and in any way He intends it to be done.

Over the next few years, the Gideon Association gained more members, almost all of whom were travelling Christian businessmen who spent a lot of time in hotel rooms. The topic of becoming more effective witnesses in hotels arose, and in 1908 The Bible Project was adopted. The project was proposed by one of the association’s trustees who believed that the Gideons should make it their goal to put a Bible in every hotel room in the United States because it “would be a gracious act, wholly in keeping with the divine mission of the Gideon Association.”

Though the Bible Project was adopted in Louisville, Kentucky, the first Gideon Bible was actually placed in a hotel in Superior, Montana in 1908. Since then, more than 1.8 billion Bibles have been placed in hotels throughout the United States and in over 190 other countries, written in over 90 different languages.

But how do all of these Bibles get into the hotel rooms, and who pays for them all?

The Bibles are paid for entirely by donations to the group, and donations likely stem from individuals or churches who support the Gideons’ cause. As for how the Bibles end up in the hotel rooms, the Gideons will ceremoniously present a Bible to a hotel manager upon the opening of a new hotel. They then provide more than enough Bibles for each hotel room, to be distributed by the hotel staff. The Gideons will also provide replacements for Bibles that are worn or “missing”—the Gideons don’t believe that any of their Bibles have ever been stolen from hotel rooms; they are simply taken by those in need, and that’s counted as a success in their mission to spread the word of the Lord.

Supposedly, it is estimated that about 25% of people who stay in hotel rooms actually read the Gideon Bible provided to them. As Gideon International estimates that each Bible has a lifespan of roughly six years, that means that each one is read by roughly 2300 people during its hotel room stay. The numbers are based on research conducted by Gideon through the hotel industry. The Bible Project has done so well that a number of other religions have started providing literature to hotels. As such, you may find a Koran or the Book of Mormon next to your Gideon Bible at your next hotel stay.

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Feed), as well as:

Bonus Facts:

  • The Gideons also provide Bibles to hospitals, prisons, and domestic violence shelters, among other places.
  • For several years, the Gideons distributed Bibles to fifth-grade students during class time in a Missouri School District. Needless to say, Bible distribution to children attending public schools ruffled a few feathers. The practice was ruled unconstitutional, though it was later amended to say that any literature approved by the superintendent was able to be distributed outside of class. Gideon Bibles are still distributed in many British schools, though some schools have banned the practice.
  • The covers of each Gideon Bible are colour-coded based on which group of people they’re meant for. For instance, white Bibles are provided to medical professionals, green to college and university students, and camouflage for people in the military.
  • Women are not allowed to join the Gideons; it is only open to men over the age of 21 who are in good standing with their church. However, wives of the Gideons are eligible to join the Gideon International Women’s Auxillary (who distribute light blue Bibles).
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124 comments

  • I am curious how they came up with the 25% figure.

    • The reason there in hotel rooms,,,is because people will bring drugs and alcohol In hotel,,,,,,so as the nite goes on there migh t be a glimpse of clarity and just maybe ,,,,they will open it,,

    • THE REAL QUESTION IS WHY SHOULDN’T THEIR BE BIBLES IN HOTEL ROOMS??? THERE IS TWO SIDES TO A COIN. IT ISN’T HURTING YOU TO HAVE A BIBLE TUCKED AWAY IN A HOTEL NIGHT STAND FOR STARTERS. BUT SHOULDN’T I HAVE MY RIGHT TO HAVE ACCESS TO A BIBLE JUST AS MUCH AS YOUR RIGHT NOT TO HAVE A BIBLE??? I TRAVEL A LOT AND OFTEN WANT A BIBLE. BUT A FEW TIMES I LEFT IT SITTING ON MY BED AT HOME AS I LOADED MY SUITCASE INTO MY TRUNK. LAST MINUTE RUSH I LEFT MY BIBLE HOME BUT FIGURED THEY WOULD HAVE ONE IN THE HOTEL. WELL, AS I WRITE THIS THAT VERY THING HAPPENED TO ME. I AM AT A HOLLIDAY IN (WEST IN PHOENIX) THEY HAVE OTHER THEIR MENUES AND ADS TO LOOK AT AND TRASH TV BUT NO BIBLE. I AM GOING TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ONE AT THE FRONT DESK…IF NOT I PLAN TO FIND A HOTEL THAT DOES. I PLAN NOT TO DO BUSINESS WITH HOLIDAY IN AFTER THIS. IT IS ALL JUST THE PLAN TO FADE GOD OUT OF OUR COUNTRY AND MAKE ATHIESTS, Muslims and Mormons Happy. MORMONS SAY THEY USE THE BIBLE…HARDLY EVER, THEY REFER TO THE BOOK OF MORMON THAT ACTUALLY TEACHES A WHOLE DIFFERENT GOD. Anyway, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE ONE AVAILABLE JUST AS YOU DON’T WANT ONE AVAILABLE….EASY FIX…MAKE THEM AVAILABLE AND I WILL READ….MAKE THEM AVAILABLE AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ IT!!

      • Calm down, no one said they shouldn’t be there… People are just curious how/why they are… And, I doubt you do much reading at all with your grammar and writing in all caps.

        • Allcapa generally indicates dyslexia. It’s a tool for distinguishing the letters. Leads to grammar and spelling errors which can’t easily be practiced away. Dyslexia can also lead a person to see ambiguous questions as threatening. Regardless… I know some awesome ppl with duslexia…get educated,.be a barrier to bullying not a cause. Kisses!!

          • Also my dystonia is messing with my typing accuracy. Siiiiiigh

          • Elizabeth- I’d like to see references that all caps increases letter recognition; what I know about comprehension and type (font) indicates that would lead to lower reading facility. Many (most?) brains recognize words based on changes in letter height and serif so all caps, a font with everything the same height, is usually harder to read.

        • Desiree vogelsang

          Haha I know right.. I was just curious too..

      • Fine with me! By your logic they should also place a Hustler magazine in the nightstand right under the “B”ible, and you can choose whether to leave it tucked in the drawer or if you want to explore its uplifting word and photos.

      • Sohayla Pourtadayoun

        yes no one can deny that you most def need a bible. and hopefully after you’ve read all of it you will understand that god doesnt care what religion you practice or whether you consider yourself a mormon or Christian, if you go around telling other people what they can or cannot believe in something that is different than you…well you mind as well be an atheist honestly. either way you’ve missed the most important part of what our creator wants us all to believe because its the one thing no matter what religion that is always the same in every single religion.

  • I’ve always found the Gideon’s Bibles to be quite valuable. It’s quite useful to always have some scrap paper available. I was going camping last April and was able to snag one from my hotel room to help as a fire starter. I do wish they would leave the pages blank though as it would make the book more useful as scratch paper.

    • I printed out your post, and it works great for toilet paper! I guess we’re both innovators!

    • You’re welcome. God loves folks like you. Forgive him for he knows not what he does. Have a blessed day!

    • I’ve found them particularly useful to correct wobbly chairs or coffee tables. I never steal them, I’m just someone who takes them out of need.

    • Hi Jim,

      Soon you will find out how each of those pages are GOLD, but for you I hope that day is not too late. Here’s a page you might have torn out for a fire starter. There is an appointed time for men to die and then comes the judgement. Heb 9:27

    • There’s another fire you’ll be experiencing one day! You’ll wish then that you had read this words and believed them…….but then it will be too late.

    • Love that jim gold!!

  • They are also responsible for preventing many from committing suicide. There’s a large number of people who have rented them to commit suicide.

    • I was an atheist for years till I came across a bible in a hotel room. It helped me see the light and turn to a life of child molesting and bigotry.

  • Fortunately, the practice of including bibles is no longer standard for hotel rooms.

  • The 25% is likely based on self-reports, which are typically inflated for questions like this. Researches have discovered that people exaggerate their church attendance rates by 100%. So in this case, you might guess that maybe 12% actually read the bibles.

  • I love learning new things and this article was very well written, thanks!
    -Scott

  • I throw them all out.

  • Would you like your room religious or non?

  • Now can you explain why hotels allow this in this day and age? It’s really offensive…

    • Well, if you find a Bible in the drawer of the nightstand in your hotel room, you are under no obligation to read it. Just as you are under no obligation to drink the complementary coffee, or use the complementary shampoo. Or, if you’re in a ritzy hotel, drink the little bottles of alcohol in the fridge. So why is it offensive?

      • Thanks for pointing this out, Nik. I love seeing the Gideon bibles in hotel rooms. The Bible has been appreciated by geniuses like Shakespeare and Faulkner as well as by the average person, but the lofty in spirit ridicule it.

    • Please elaborate as to how this is offensive because a lot of people say things like this without understanding what offensive means.

      You aren’t required to read it to stay there- it’s complimentary.

      Would this still be offensive if it was a Koran? Or a book about atheism? Jw.

    • It’s only offensive to small minded individuals who are discontent to allow others to have beliefs which differ from their own. The same is true of most other religious texts. There are a handful of religions which have texts that can truly be called offensive, but Christianity is not one of them.

  • I burn mine do my small part to rid the world of stupidity

    • Daven Hiskey

      @Kenny: The funny thing there, though, is that then another Bible will be purchased to replace the one you burned in the hotel. So your book burning ways, aside from wasting paper, actually help fund the Bible makers, which is probably not what you’re going for it sounds like. 🙂

    • Would you dare do the same to a Koran?

      • Dare? It’s a book. Of course I would.

        • It isn’t just a book. It tells you that Jesus has promised His believers will be getting the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I did. The entire process of ‘downloading’ it into my body was amazing. I could feel its strong presence. It appeared to me as a hot and bright sun. Followed by pressure acting on my head and shoulders. I could feel it making its way into my belly. I was also shaking uncontrollably. Some kind of electrical disturbances making my muscles to contract and relax at high speed especially the tongue. My tongue was actually moving on its own and it was violent. I spoke in tongue. A taxi driver said that mine sounded like Armenian.

  • A few years ago, during one of the most difficult periods in my life, a Gideon Bible helped bring me back from the many dark and hopeless thoughts that went through my mind that day in a lonely hotel room. I give thanks to my Lord and God for using such means to deliver me from my sins.

    • Yeah! The bible is always great when your at the end of your rope. That’s why it works so well for the simple minded, downtrollen and uneducated.

  • And here is Superior, MT we have the honor to have the first gideon bible place in a hotel.

  • Interesting how this article brought out several examples of that most interesting type of individual: the sort of person who both considers himself very enlightened and above such nonsense as religion, and who is also the sort of person who thinks there is nothing wrong with destroying books that contain ideas he doesn’t agree with.

    • I thought the same, cloudbuster.

      It’s kind of like seeing the tragedy of the commons in action.

      It’s also worth noting Brandon’s reply, where he remembers needing the Gideons while we see here that the spoilers wanted to prevent that. The Gideons need to work extra hard to overcome.

    • it really is interesting, but you can find their smugness everywhere. they love the peer-approval they get from taking free shots at christianity, and it’s safe. look for them when it comes to islam and they pull a dawkins ““well, um, the god of the koran i don’t know so much about.”

      it takes a fairly intolerant person to be stirred to destructive action over an entirely voluntary and non-intrusive act like this.

      as an aside i’d guess the percent that reads them closer to 5% or less. it rarely crosses my mind and i’ve never seen someone do it.

      • I read the bible cover to cover. That’s Why I’m an atheist. Fun book though. To each his own.

        • Your reading the Bible cover to cover and then saying your an atheist? just shows you can not retain anything you read, or believe in any fact that can be proven. There has been more than one atheist that has given up on such a foolish quest to try to prove that Jesus Christ was not real, and if you (really) ever do read AND understand AND retain what is written in the Bible, cover to cover, you will prove to yourself that God is real and Jesus Christ is our savior. Fun Book? you bet it is, better its a GREAT Book! Now, start reading again, there is still time for you.

    • I think you mean someone who believes in logic unlike faith based propaganda.

  • It’s not bad to have around if it’s the end of a loooong day, you’re sick of being tethered to electronics all day and you’re itching to read something.

    So I just open it and read something at random. Maybe it’ll be something inspiring, maybe it’ll be an endless list of who begat whom, maybe it’ll be Leviticus with advice on where to splash the blood when sacrificing a goat. ‘Dexter’ could hardly be more entertaining.

  • Yes, the well of hate runs deep for a book that some deem worthless.

    • Still doesn’t compare to the hate and atrocities brought on by religious baffoons over the centuries.

  • Park Slope Pubby

    The Gideon Bibles have gotten me, and many people I know, through very difficult times. Often, when you’re traveling, it’s becuase there’s some sort of problem in your life.

    What makes them so great is the page in front that lists the various problems you might be having, and gives suggested Bible readings.

    If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night in despair, and thought, “oh well, I may as well check out the Gideon Bible,” and found comfort there, you know what I mean. And if you haven’t, then leave the books there for the rest of us.

  • Funny thing is, I used newspapers to start my charcoal when I want to cook out. Since newspapers are all about bad news and the fire is what is waiting for those whom end up in hell, they seem to go together quite well. I’ve read the Bible well over 20 times and I can’t remember any bad news coming from it. Oh, bad things do come to bad people in the Bible, that should be a clear warning to everyone.

  • A more troubling question:
    Why are there hotel rooms around Bibles?

    • Probably because the religious will leave no stone unturned to make everyone as vulnerable as they are.

  • When I stayed at various hotels in Japan, there was always a bilingual English/Japanese Gideon bible, as well as a bilingual book of Buddhist writings. A couple of places I stayed at in California had copies of the Book of Mormon, but I haven’t run into any in the eastern US.

  • I still have the Bible I received in 1984 that was presented to all entering cadets at West Point – by the Gideons.

    I have used it now for almost 30 years.

  • curmudgeoninchief

    Just shows to go you that all you need to supply a comment in a forum such as this is a computer, not a brain. Kenny, Sok Pupette, Techni, and Jim, try growing a brain before your next submission. You don’t have to read the books, but you also don’t have to crap on them.

    • Anyone who tries to convert another human being to their way of thinking should be crapped on and often. The problem with you Americans is that you’re never satisfied with what you have and will stop at nothing to make everyone thin the way you do. Thanx to the internet religion like all fairy tales and myths will get it’s true come uppance.

  • I’ve read from many a Gideon Bible while traveling. Their presence keeps me from having to lug my own in my luggage. And sometimes a paper book is more enjoyable to read from than my iPad.

    I appreciate the Gideons supplying such good material. And I find the intolerance of those who would destroy Bibles to be quite sad.

  • I’ve read, even though, not most of the time. I’m glad to have them there.

    I’ve seen a Book of Mormon in the eastern US.

    Its not likely someone burned one because that would tend to set off fire alarms, and firefighters are not going to be amused by such vandalism.

  • Here in Japan you often find a Gideon Bible and a copy of the Buddhist scriptures. I’ve picked up and read the Bibles as literature when I didn’t have anything else to read…better than nothing, although I’m not religious. I’m not offended, and would not be offended to find a Koran in my hotel room on a trip to Egypt.

  • The haters do come out of the wood work. When I travel I regularly read the Gideon bible in my hotel room and I know several others who do to. Why ridicule or seek to suppress an innocent practice.

    • When I have to stay in a hotel/motel; once I get settled, I always sit down and look through the bible in my room. I often find hand written notes/thoughts that make me reflect on the scripture that is in front of me. A few years ago I began to write my own thoughts in a bible that appears untouched hoping that someone else does the same thing as I do.

    • Nobody hates more than a Christard. You for example do it and don’t even flinch!

  • Too bad there are so many critics of the Bible. Perhaps, if the time were taken to read this great book, and the advice given were followed, one would really benefit from its teachings. It works for me! Thanks Gideons!!!!

    • Thanx to the bible I’m an atheist. If you aren’t that’s your problem not ours.

  • THANKS FOR THE GREAT ARTICLE, EMILY. I WONDER IF THIS SOCIETY IS ALSO WILLING TO MAIL A HARD COPY OF BIBLE FREE TO SOMEONE INTERESTED, SINCE I WANT TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH BIBLE. RGDS.

    • Lovepareek, you can try to contact them . I have copied the following details from their website:
      The Gideons International is ready to serve you.
      You may contact our International Headquarters at (615) 564-5000, by emailing us at [email protected]

      • Brainwashing people should be made illegal.

        • Liberal college professors do that to our young people in college at or expense everyday. People with a closed minds are afraid to listen to both sides of the aisle and just mock those who think different from them. What happened to free speech and exchange of ideas in this so called democratic society?

      • @SAW YOUR COMMENT TODAY ONLY. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP BUT I EMAILED THEM AND WHAT TO SAY OF BIBLE, DID NOT RECEIVE EVEN A REPLY

      • @WIN — SAW YOUR COMMENT TODAY ONLY. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP BUT I EMAILED THEM AND WHAT TO SAY OF BIBLE, DID NOT RECEIVE EVEN A REPLY

  • I personally am very thankful for the bibles in hotel rooms. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have run out of zigzags in a strange place, and no-one misses one page, and I get free rolling papers.

  • It’s easy to bash the bible when your hiding behind your anonymous screen, wildly pecking away at the keyboard, in an effort to sound shocking, to gain some sort of attention that is apparently lacking in your life, and yes this is a run on sentence for those that feel they are grammar police. May God bless you all!

    • Which God? There are 1000’s. Personally I’ll take Zeus! He wasn’t as evil as yours.

  • It is really wonder how the word of God (Bible) reached every corner of the World and reform their life. Gideon is done good for the needy.

    • For the hopeless ya mean. Who but the hopeless turns to something of blind faith with no evidence to make them feel better.

  • There’s no proof of god, want to believe in ghosts and make believe creatures, good for you, just don’t shove that trash down everybody’s throat. And why a bible? Why not some other religion? How arrogant is that? What about a science book instead? That’d be a lot more useful.

    • I say we replace all the bibles with copies of Gray’s Anatomy. Then people would be reading some TRUTH

  • Ew, such passive-aggressive proselytizing, just ugh.

  • Hey guys I`ve got a revalution to share`how about we start an organization to spread a copy of Charles Darwin`s“The origin of species“in every hotel room around the world. The motive for this act would not be to save people from burning hell fire but to give people the opportunity to become more scientificly literate and become more educated about some of the most important ideas in science. No doubt this act would cause outrage among Christian fundamentalist` many people would be offended by it just as many people are offended by the Gideon Bibles in their hotel rooms but people have the freedom to spread ideas that are important to them. If these people don`t like the ideas presented in the book don`t read it simple as that` for all the people making posting comments here saying people shouldn`t ridicule and mock books that contain ideas they don`t agree with` well I agree that people should have the right to spread ideas that are important to them but so do other people who have alternative ideas then theirs. If religious groups have the right to do this then so do more secular groups.

  • I am a what you would call a fundamentalist CHRISTIAN. It would not offend me in the least what you want to place in a hotel room or any other room.God gives us a free will to choose to believe in HIM or not.After all why would he not ,he created us .Where do you think we came from ? The bible is GODS instruction book on how to live in this world with LOVE and Compassion for others. WOW that must be a REALLY BAD BOOK I GUESS. For all the folks who want to take shots at the bible try actually reading it before jumping to conclusions.Why is it the most read book in the history of the world? HMM ? HMM
    I wonder if there is more to the bible than the from cover Choose what you want to read God gives you that freedom, but choose wisely because when this world comes to an end as it talks about in the bible there will be consequences. HAPPY READING.

    • When all you know is God God is all you have. For the rest of us there’s Science and education something the narrow minded and ignorant know nothing about.

  • I was not a christian till October 2013, but before that whatever hotel room I was in I always used to have a look through a Gideons Bible if I was on my own and it would always help me find some peace…

    It is a good thing what the Gideons do, because I suspect most people do not carry bibles and I often wondered where and how all these bibles came to be in hotels and how it was paid for…

  • If so much of you are such dedicated believers in god, you should travel with your own bible and not enforce the thinking that you should have a book in a hotel room that “save lives” or helps you have “lighter luggage”. All religions based on the governance of supreme beings give reason for the weak minds to hide themselves behind poor excuses for their way of life. Hard believers cannot understand, and do not give themselves the opportunity to understand, the logics that really govern their surroundings, be it tiny or universal. Ask yourself, what is more scary : one who thinks there is heaven and hell and who will gladly die for it, or thinks that when you die, you vanish into nothingness? The great majority fear the second, thus vote for the first. When you finally catch that the greatest instincts of all and every form of life on earth is survival and procreation, you start to understand why intelligent beings, humans, find all ways imaginable to explain the unknown and thus calm down their instinctual fear of meaningless lives and nothingness. Someone above asked why atheists prefer to stay anonymous? Easy answer, the greatest atrocities in human history are all born from the stupidity of large groups of people thinking themselves superior under their radical beliefs, aka, religions. As an atheist, my instinct of preservation makes me fear throngs of idealogical yet empty minded followers. Brand the unbeliever! Burn the heretics! Destroy everyone who does not agree with you! Yay for religions!…

  • The Bible is left in a drawer to be available to anyone who may want to read it. It couldn’t be less intrusive. I’m sad to read that people get so upsetabout something that others find a source of comfort

    • What’s sad is that people believe in a bronze aged tale about people who thought the world was flat, virgins had babies, snakes talked and men walked on water. Now that’s sad!

  • It always amazes me how many people are offended by the beliefs of complete strangers. I don’t get it. Why would you be offended by something that does you no harm and brings comfort to someone else?

    I guess some people just need to hate on something. And that makes me sad.

  • @zach: I already do that — I have a stack of cheap copies of Origin of Species, and every time I stay in a hotel, I leave one behind 🙂

  • ” it is estimated that about 25% of people who stay in hotel rooms actually read the Gideon Bible provided to them. As Gideon International estimates that each Bible has a lifespan of roughly six years, that means that each one is read by roughly 2300 people during its hotel room stay.”

    Let me count: 6 years x 365 days each = 2190 days (or nights)
    25% of 2190 gives about 548 people… where’s the rest of 2300? You must have really big dorms in these hotels!

    Yes, I have counted single people staying in each rooms, not all the rooms are hired all the time, couples probably have other things to do.

  • I always call ahead to make sure the hotels I stay at have a Gideon Bible in the room. Extremely handy as a source for rolling papers. If you haven’t smoked a Genesis joint, you have not lived.

  • The Bible is probably the most important book ever to have existed. It has influenced nations for hundreds of years and frankly I find it fascinating that people can believe the bonkers stuff that’s written in there. Love the story of the gideons. Amazing how they stock every single hotel that is built. A lovely piece of history in each room! As an atheist I suggest everyone reads it. It will only deepen your atheism or make you feel warm and fuzzy if you are a Christian I guess

  • I travel a lot and whenever I find a bible I discard it. I have removed over 300. In most cases, I replace it with a book I had recently finished. some include: Lord of the Flies, the whole Harry Potter series, The Vanishing Forest, etc. To my delight, I have been in rooms where previous occupants appeared to have done the same thing. Thankfully, most hotel chains don’t allow this prostletizing to occur.

  • God bless all of you people who want to get rid of the Bible by burning a Bible. It’s been 2000 years and it’s the only book that has survived all of this over and over again. So as you continue to hate on a book that is so unimportant and so stupid according to you, all you do is to point to the fact that God is alive and well and has/is surviving your irrational hate. We still love Jesus and He still loves you and Jesus is Lord! The Holy Spirit lives in us, not in a Bible that you can burn! Have a great and blessed day!

  • If you read the Bible you will find that all of what has happened in the past and is happening today is foretold in the Bible. Your are free to dismiss or accept. All will have at least one chance and it could possibly be the only chance you will have to accept it. You who deny have no proof to back your atheist views, only opinions. Christians have a book of records. We all make mistakes but you who call yourselves atheists, are going straight over cliffs into hell, if you are wrong! Nothing in the Bible about an offer of a second chance to disbelievers! A burning and eternal punishment. You were warned. This may be that one and only chance to accept the Bible. Ever make a mistake?

  • Gideon’s, like all religious types, posses deep insecurity in their beliefs. The body of knowledge we now have flies in the face of archaic dogma, so of course they seek to recruit as many converts as possible.

  • So, a book that advocates the subjugation of women is placed in the rooms of places that provide shelter to victims of said subjugation? Brilliant.

    • @Jon J: Can you give me the Bible verses where *you* think you’ve read that it is allowed for a man to hit his wife or yell at her, where God approves of rape, where God specifically says that women are not allowed to work etc. etc.? If you’ll read the Bible well, you will see that the men who believed in God were way ahead of their time when it comes to treating women well etc. Compare how the men in the Bible treated their wives back then to how most muslims and even atheists treat their wives today, and your ridiculous case goes out the window.

  • According to what I understand it is often individual hotel owners that are more responsive to having Gideon Bibles placed in hotel drawers while the chains may not be quite as open. Since they are donated the hotel guest does not pay for it being there.

  • The Truth remains the Truth, regardless of who, or how many, accept or reject it. Jesus said “I am the way, the Truth, & the Life. No one comes to the Father, except thru Me.” We must each choose. We must each decide for ourselves. The Bible says that God has created us, given us a soul, & we will live forever. At death, we are not annihilated & cease to exist. Jesus said there is life after life. We must each decide. Choices have consequences. No greater issue in anyone’s life, than what am I going to do with the Gospel, which is the Good News. We have a sin issue, & stand guilty before a Holy God, according to the Bible & Jesus. No religion except Christianity, which is based on the Bible, tells us the solution. John 3:16. Please read the book of John, especially Chptr 3. To not decide, Is to decide not to. God’s heart is shared in Deut 32:29: “oh that they were wise, that they would consider their latter end.”

  • And why does anyone find it necessary to degrade and make fun of anyone who is different from them? Whether it’s their chosen faith, clothing, music, friends, careers or their ethnicity, native language or their physical and/or mental challenges or the way they express themselves in writing. Instead, look in the mirror and figure out why someone is degrading you. Or do you foolishly believe you’re perfect?

  • Christians are positive their religion is true because they were born around other Christians. Had they been born in Muslim nations they would be Muslim. The problem I have with the Bible is that it only provides proof that ancient Jews knew diddly about electricity, germs, or anything scientific. If the plagues happened you can bet every person that passed through Egypt would have noted it. You bet every firstborn in a country dying would have made news far and wide as it was a world trading hub. I was a Christian till I woke up one day and saw it as historical nonsense.