Religion
Today
January 30-February 5, 2005
Extreme Makeover:
Bible Edition
A recent CBS news article reported on "the biggest trend in
making Christianity more mainstream": the "reshaping of the Bible into a
contemporary format" ("Bible Magazines: Big Sellers," Thomas Nelson Inc.), is
the vanguard of this new wave in biblical fashion, having published, under their
"Extreme for Jesus" imprint, such blockbusters as "Extreme Teen Bible."
Among other recent makeovers of the Holy Scripture is
"Revolve: The Complete New Testament," a slick piece of biblical merchandising
that, at first glance, is indistinguishable from a teen fashion magazine. This
is just the point. Responding to adolescent angst about being caught toting a
"freaky and intimidating" (that is, more traditionally packaged) Bible,
"Revolve" gives teenage girls what they want: "magazines, magazines, magazines."
This "BibleZine" has been momentously successful, moving more
than 30,000 copies in its first month of sales, making it a best-selling Bible
in 2003. A teenage guy's version of the Bible called "Refuel," modeled on
popular men's magazines, is also available from Nelson, as is a growing number
of other niche BibleZines.
"Revolve," whose target audience is females from 12 to 18, is
adorned with a glossy cover graced by the manifestly beatific faces of three
grinning girls. Reminiscent of countless other teen-oriented magazines, the
cover is decked out with eye-catching swatches of text. But there's a
difference. Revolve's headlines convert the titillating into the pious ("Are You
Dating a Godly Guy?") and appropriate edgy teen lingo into the rhetoric of
Christian commitment ("Radical Faith: What Scripture Really Means").
Among many other noteworthy features of the glitzy BibleZine
are the following: first, "Revolve" offers Thomas Nelson's copyrighted New
Century Version (NCV) of the New Testament, a thoroughly contemporary rendition
of the scriptures that, as editors "Kate and Laurie" explain in their
orientation note, "avoids difficult words" and "puts figures of speech and
idiomatic expressions in language that even children understand."
"Revolve" is -- mercifully -- devoid of ads (though in a very
real sense, the whole magazine is an ad for itself and other products in its
line). But also conspicuously absent are explicitly religious images.
The precocious teenage sexuality exploited in other fashion
mags geared toward this age group is also neutralized in "Revolve." Guys and
gals alike are fashionably attractive without appearing overtly salacious.
Similarly, the advice featured in the "Blab" sidebars punctuating the pages
attempts to be at once conservative and hip, condoning male dominance and
condemning homosexuality in language that is 'totally cool': "God made guys to
be the leaders. That means they lead in relationships"; "the Bible clearly says
that homosexuality is wrong ... It's against God"; "try being a contagious
Christian."
What are we to make of a work that so blatantly mixes the
sacred with the secular? Focusing on American religious life, Colleen McDannell,
author of "Material Christianity," points out that while today's vigorous
Christian retailing campaigns have reached new heights in merchandising
religious paraphernalia, this kind of thing is really nothing new. "American
religious life" has always exhibited a thoroughly "material dimension"; the
sacred has never been rigorously 'set apart' from the profane. Indeed, refuting
Durkheim's claim that "the religious life and the profane life cannot exist in
the same place," McDannell insists that religious devotional practices are
largely characterized by the "scrambling" of the sacred and the profane.
Religion and popular culture are not separate realms; they
are thoroughly enmeshed in American life.
Debates may abound as to whether religious zeal or profit
margins drive innovations such as extreme Bible makeovers. But beyond dispute is
that -- whatever the motivation, and for better or worse -- the venerable
tradition of scrambling faith and fashion, the sacred and the secular, is
thriving.
Jeremy Biles holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and
is the managing editor of "Sightings."