A bible for Britney Spears

Christian Century, Oct 4, 2003

A BIBLE FOR BRITNEY SPEARS? Revolve is a new Testament for teenage girls designed to resemble a fashion magazine. According to Laurie Whaley, Thomas Nelson Publishers did some research and discovered that teens don't read the Bible because "it is too freaky and too big and it doesn't make sense." So they decided to make the Bible look like a magazine that teens would read, and for girls that is something like Seventeen or Glamour magazines.

When asked whether packaging the Bible as a fashion magazine, with sidebars on fashion and romance, is a case of the medium nullifying the message, Whaley said: "God is not at all opposed to a fashion magazine or its format. All we have done is said that teen girls are reading magazines, so we're going to put the Bible into the format of a magazine. We have removed the obstacle of the black-leather packaging." She was quick to add that "a Revolve girl makes a point of dressing modestly. She might wonder to herself, Would God find this too revealing or too suggestive?" (New York Times Magazine, September 14).