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 the Top Ten lists are Letterman-like, they avoid the late-night talker's witty jabs.
According to the magazine, among the "Top Ten random things to know about being a 'Revolve' [magazine] girl" are "don't call guys" and "don't kiss and tell." And on Revolve's Top Ten list of fun ways to date are going on "a double date with your parents" and taking cookies to a nursing home.
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."
But not everyone agrees that having questions and answers like the ones in the "Blab" section of the magazine are helpful. Among the Q&As: "Was Jesus a vegetarian? No: Plenty of fish, some lamb. What's wrong with following horoscopes? It's condemned in Scripture."
"The danger there is that they're not reading the Scripture for itself," Russell Dalton, author of "Video, Kids and Christian Education" told the Pioneer Press. "Having those sort of statements next to the Scripture changes the way they read the text and what they think they're reading it for."
But 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.
Revolve's text is also sprinkled with statistical factoids, like this one nestled next to Jesus' talk with the Samaritan woman who had many men (John 4): "Didya Know: 63 percent of teens who have had sex say they wish they had waited."
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.
For instance, the editors give an explanation of the differences among the four Gospels: "In Matthew, you won't find as much dramatic action as you'll discover in Mark, or as many spotlights on compassion as in Luke, or even as much proof of the deity of Jesus as you'll uncover in John. But in Matthew, you'll find the most complete record of what Jesus taught."
Matthew's message, the editors add, is: "Totally complete. Totally true."