Thursday, September 18, 2003
God's Word Goes Glossy
Instead of fawning over a hot young actor in Tiger Beat, teen girls are now going ga-ga for Jesus’ teachings in Revolve, a magazine that’s slicked up the New Testament for girls ages 12 to 17.
Christian bookstores are selling out of the $14.99, 388-page magazine, in which Holy Writ is jumbled alongside sassy sidebars, splashy headlines and color photos — all minus the sexual titillation of other teen mags like Seventeen.
“We wanted to make sure that it was something that teen girls liked and could identify with, but we wanted to make sure it was theologically in line with what pastors are teaching," Laurie Whaley, editor of Revolve, told Fox News.
Revolve employs a casual writing style and takes inspiration from today's hot commercial products including David Letterman's Top Ten list and magazine-like sidebars on dating, faith and peer pressure.
One sidebar on relationships gives the advice: "Remember to be friends first; put the romance second. That way you know it will last longer than the come-and-go emotions."
While some may consider Revolve "dorky" rather than "way cool," the glossy version of the good word appears to be a hit. One teenager enthusiastically told the Twin City's Pioneer Press that her peers were all impressed with the magazine.
"My friends, they don't like to read the Bible, but once they saw it they were, like, 'I'm going to have to get me one of those,'" Brooke Nichols, 15, told the paper.
The magazine, put out by the teens' publishing division of the Nashville-based Thomas Nelson, has even impressed media-savvy critics. New York's Daily News proclaimed the magazine "clever" and "funky."
Some experts say giving girls a choice to read about God in a way that's easily accessible will benefit them.
“We came to realize we need an avenue, a venue to be able to tell teen girls ‘You're special, you're worthwhile, you're valuable,’” said Susie Shellenberger, author of "Girl Talk With God."
Adding splash to the Bible’s message isn’t a new idea, Lynn Clark, a sociologist and author who has written about teens, Christianity and pop culture, told Fox News.
“Since the very beginnings of Protestantism there's been a relationship between trying to reach people through commercial means and using whatever products are available at the time to do that," she said.
Between all this teeny-bopper talk, Revolve does provide the entire New Testament, all 27 books. Each biblical book begins with a brief introduction written in chatty magazine style.
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