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Contemporary Bibles
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AUTHOR: David Crumm, Free Press Columnist
Nine out of 10 Americans tell pollsters they own a Bible; half of Americans say they read it once a week.
While cleaning off my desk recently, I threw away a brand new Bible, because I mistook it for a fashion magazine that I figured someone had left lying around the office. . .
The irony is that this is exactly what the creators of this strange new edition of the scriptures hoped would happen. Well, not that a middle-aged guy would throw it away -- but definitely that their wild new edition of the Bible would be mistaken for a glitzy magazine for young women.
For years now, marketing gurus have been trying to improve on the world's best-seller, creating dozens of new niche Bibles filled with special inspirational messages for everyone from pregnant women to recovering substance abusers.
But, frankly, I had never seen a Bible like Revolve, the name that Thomas Nelson Inc. has given to this magazine edition of the New Testament.
I wondered whether Nelson, in its search for fresh customers had gone off the deep end with cover lines like: "Are You Dating a Godly Guy?" and "Beauty Secrets You've Never Heard Before!"
I called in a couple experts to evaluate it: two teenage girls from Kensington Community Church in Troy who agreed to road-test Revolve for a week.
I asked the girls to give me their verdict: good, bad or silly.
Ashley Verville, 17, and Nancy Andrews, 16, both of Rochester Hills, took their journalistic mission seriously.
"At first, I was really skeptical," Ashley said as she gave me her final report Monday. "But, then, I got a really good vibe. It's got the Bible in there, but it's also got all this great stuff on the sides of the pages just like a magazine: Q and As, advice boxes, top-10 lists. And I really liked these Bible Bios on women in the Bible.
"Then, I showed it to my friends, and they started whipping through the sections. Then, they asked me where they could pick it up, too. So, it's definitely cool."
Ashley's friend Nancy agreed. For her first and second years in high school, Nancy attended Rochester Adams High, where she said once in a while people treated her like a geek because of her faith. This fall, Nancy is joining her friend Ashley at Oakland Christian School in Auburn Hills where Bibles are not only accepted -- they're required.
Nancy said she wishes she'd had Revolve last year at Adams. "You wouldn't look completely ridiculous pulling this out at lunch. It's not like some big, black Holy Bible you're pulling out. It's a magazine. A lot of people read magazines."
In fact, devout Christian girls surveyed by the Nelson marketing staff said they read Glamour, Teen People and Seventeen more than the Bible. That's what Nelson spokeswoman Laurie Whaley in Nashville, Tenn., told me when I called her to find out more about this strange product.
"The response we got from girls was: 'We actually don't read the Bible much. It's too freaky and intimidating,' " Whaley said. "They told us, 'We want magazines, magazines, magazines.' "
That's also true for teen guys, Whaley said. An edition designed to look like a guy's magazine is set for next year.
I had to ask: "You mean like we're going to see 'The Bible: The Swimsuit Edition'?"
Not on your life, Whaley said. Every one of the hundreds of teens pictured in the girls edition is tastefully dressed. The same will be true in the one for guys.
"After all," she said, "this is still the Bible."
Revolve Devotional Bible: The Complete Bible for Teen Girls is $16.49 and currently is available in Christian bookstores and at Amazon.com. You can go directly to its page on Amazon.com from the link provided here. |
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"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,from whence cometh my help."
~Psalms 121:1 |
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