My friend died recently after a lengthy battle with cancer. Lenny was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church (Reformed Church in America) and an active & enthusiastic member of The Gideons, International. When I joked that he spent his time slipping Bibles under hotel pillows, Lenny assured me The Gideons do that & much more.
Formed in 1898, its founders originally considered calling the new organization the Christian Traveling Men of the United States of America but abandoned the idea because, as one later noted, “traveling men don’t have time to use such long names.” So they settled for the simpler calling card, a name inspired by an Old Testament judge who led a small band of faithful Israelites to victory over a vastly larger force. The Gideons was a Protestant evangelical voluntary association of traveling businessmen. In the tradition of 19th century American revivalism, they sought to bring a greater Christian influence to American society.
In 1900, the first local chapter (called a “camp”) was formed, the first edition of The Gideon Quarterly published, and the first national convention held. The convention members passed this significant resolution: “That every hotel, which Gideons patronize, furnish a Holy Bible for the benefit of its patrons.”
At the national convention in 1908 the Gideons committed themselves to “The Bible Project,” an ambitious plan to furnish a Bible for each bedroom of the hotels in the United States. Soon they began ordering thousands of Bibles. At first, The Gideons preferred the American Standard Version of the King James Bible, first released in 1900; in later years they began distributing the Authorized (King James) Version solely.
From the inside cover of a Gideon Bible: This Bible Is Placed by The Gideons. Our purpose winning others for Christ. Placing Bibles in Hotels, Hospitals, Schools and Institutions. This Book Not To Be Sold.
The Bible shown here was published by the National Bible Press, Philadelphia.
This Authorized (King James) Version contains some elements that make Gideon Bibles distinctive: a brief description of the association (Who are the Gideons?); a listing of Bible verses on various topics; a guide to The Names and Order of the Books of the Old and New Testaments, with the Number of Their Chapters; and a Synopsis of the Books of the Bible.
By the late 1920s bible distribution had become the best-known—often the only known—aspect of the Gideons. As one member notes in the December 1928 issue of The Gideon: “Many think still that our Bible work—placing Bibles in hotels—is our only aim. To be sure, this is a most important branch of our work, and the work for which we are chiefly known to the public at large. But the Gideon organization was founded with this object in view: ‘Winning Commercial Traveling Men for Christ.”
5000 GIDEON BIBLES FOR D.C. HOTELS. 1913. Source: Library of Congress
It’s been more than 100 years since The Gideons International placed the first Bible in a hotel room in Montana. Today, Gideons are organized in more than 190 countries around the globe. Bibles and New Testaments are printed for distribution by The Gideons International in more than 90 languages; over two billion have been distributed to date. Learn more about The Gideons here.
Video Link: History of The Gideons
Sacred Objects 