NEWS

How a Hoosier's Bible caused a stir 8,600 miles away

Will Higgins
will.higgins@indystar.com

The Rev. Gene Hood, a longtime Indianapolis preacher and tireless, globetrotting missionary, handed out a lot of Bibles in his life time — in Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Korea, South Africa. He oversaw the dispensing of more than a million of them in Russia alone, according to his obituary.

But his gifts never before got a reaction like the one late last month in Papua New Guinea. In Port Moresby, the capital of this small, historically isolated island nation where most people still lack telephones, about 20,000 people came to the airport to cheer the arrival of a single Bible donated by Hood, according to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation report.

"Hallelujah, let the drums roar!" a preacher bellowed, according to the report.

The book was carried through the crowd. People reached out to touch it. Prime Minister Peter O'Neill called the gift a national treasure.

It was not just any Bible. Rather, it was a King James first edition believed published in 1611. Earlier this month Hood gave the calf-skin-bound book to a delegation from the government of Papua New Guinea, led by the nation's parliamentary speaker Theodore Zurenuoc. They had come to Indiana to receive it. One expert told the ABC the Bible is worth $63,000 to $95,000.

Hood's rare Bible was welcomed noisily in the the Southeast Asian nation, where some government leaders are promoting Christianity while downplaying traditional tribal beliefs. According to a CIA report, 96 percent of the population identifies itself as Christian.

But the Bible also has created controversy. The Catholic archbishop of Port Moresby, John Ribat, criticized the state's involvement, telling Radio Australia that such an effort should be "solely the church's and not the government's."

Union leader John Paska questioned the use of government funds to pay for the trip. Some 40 people traveled the 8,600 miles to Indiana to receive the Bible from Hood.

But other people said the expenses should be considered a legitimate "tithe given to God," according to the website of Papua New Guinea's largest newspaper, the Post-Courier.

Prime minister Peter O'Neill received the 400-year-old Bible from speaker Theodore Zuorenuoc. The Bible is enclosed in the wood and glass case on the stage.

The Bible will be displayed in the parliament building, replacing some traditional artifacts that were recently removed. That decision, too, is controversial in a nation where the constitution "makes mention of PNG's Christian heritage but also guarantees freedom of religion and carries special language recognizing the place of indigenous Papuan beliefs," said Gregory Poling, an expert on Southeast Asia with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

While most PNG citizens identify themselves as Christian, mainly protestant, "indigenous beliefs remain popular in places and are often combined with Christianity in practice," Poling said. "There is significant concern about the propriety of an elected official spearheading an effort like this, and explicitly doing so to promote a more Christian PNG, just as you would find were the U.S. speaker of the House to do the same."

Hood did not live to see the fuss. He died suddenly last week of a heart attack, just days after handing over the Bible on Tuesday. He was 77 and had been in the pulpit two days before being stricken. His funeral was Friday.

He was pastor of a Nazarene church in Beech Grove for 42 years and last year left to start a new Nazarene church in New Palestine.

Hood also was in the insurance and real estate businesses. He owned and operated a half dozen radio stations in Central Indiana and Colorado, including 95.9 FM, which at one time aired the right-wing talk show host Sean Hannity.

The politically conservative Hood told The Indianapolis Star in 2008 he got into radio because "cussing the liberal media" wasn't enough for him. "It's one thing to curse the darkness, and it's another to light a light," he said.

Where Hood obtained the 1611 King James first edition Bible is unclear. Efforts to reach his family members for comment were unsuccessful.

Clearly he touched many lives, including Gary Rothenbush's.

"Of all the men I've met in my life, he was the most positive and encouraging," said Rothenbush, a retired Indianapolis police officer who attended Hood's Beech Grove church. "He wasn't a guy who said, 'I can't.' He said, 'Let's do it.' He was an inspiration."

Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.