Bible Magazines: Big Sellers

A Christian concert in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that sounds like any other rock concert is part of a weekend festival that proclaims Christianity is cool. Not just the music, but the merchandise, as well.

Visitor Chelsey Stroh of Fargo, N.D., tells The Saturday Early Show's Gretchen Carlson, "They have tons of great T-shirts and sweet jewelry that you can use to talk about God with your friends and other people."

It's part of a growing phenomenon in American culture. At trendy clothing stores from New York to Los Angeles, T-shirts that say, "Jesus is my homeboy" are flying off the racks.

But, says Carlson, the biggest trend in making Christianity more mainstream is the reshaping of the Bible into a contemporary format: "Biblezines," the entire New Testament inside the covers of magazines. Just like other women's magazines, there are articles about love, career, and clothes. Only this time, the articles relate directly to what the Bible has to say about them.

Laurie Whaley, the spokesperson for Thomas Nelson Publishing says, "We, as Bible publishers, want to help people understand how they can understand the Bible."

Whaley says the Bible in a magazine concept came out of research done with teens - starting with one simple question, "How often do you read the Bible?"

"And the response we got," Whaley continued, "was that they don't read the Bible because they find it to be too big. It's intimidating. They don't have a clue where to start. And my favorite response: 'It looks like something my parents would carry!'"

And so the biblezine was born, to explosive success. In its first year, 2003, "Revolve" - the biblezine for teenage girls - was the No.1 selling Bible in America. "Refuel," geared toward teenage boys, has also been a hit. Bookstores like Davis Kidd in Nashville say they've been hard to keep on the shelves.

Tony Mize of Davis Kidd Booksellers says, "We continue to have people ask about it every day. And in fact, people come in and want to know when the next issue comes out."

Soon, Thomas Nelson figured out it wasn't just teens intimidated by the old-fashioned Bible, so they created "Becoming" for women this past July.

Festival visitor Hannah Crockett says, "It encourages you, rather than putting the standard up like so many magazines do. You have to look like this; you have to wear this; you have to be this thin."

Deonne Beron says it is about time Christianity is seen as cool. "I read about Kabbalah and all these other faiths that people are embracing or at least not dissing. And I feel like it's about time that, for once, what I believe is valued in our culture," she says.

Having questions about money? Refer to the book of John. Questions about relationships? Luke might have something to say.

For example, inside the magazine - just like any copy of the New Testament, you'll see the book of Philippians – on page 278, there's a sidebar article about relationships and learning how to listen better. When you get caught up in your day and forget to ask how your husband's day was, it recommends reading Philippians, Chapter 2, Verse 4 which says, "Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others."

There's even an index to find a passage about what part of the Bible best addresses your concerns of the moment.

Whaley says, "You know what? Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that you're wearing long skirts and stuck in the pre-modern days. It should tell people that there's a vast majority of people out there that want something good. And when you give it to them, they are gonna eat it up."

Religion expert Steven Waldman says some may be put off by the radical restructuring of the New Testament, but Christians have always looked for 'new' ways to convey the 'age-old' message of the Bible.

Waldman explains, "When you go to a lot of modern churches and they have electric guitars and rock bands as part of the worship service, it's an effective way of drawing people into the pews. And these biblezines are really just a kind of print version of that same phenomenon."

A few other interesting facts about the biblezines: New issues come out only once every 18 months and there are no ads in them. Thomas Nelson says they believe the word of God stands on its own and doesn't need any endorsements.

Thomas Nelson is already working on an Old Testament version for teenaged girls. And because so many women are attracted to these magazines, they've been begging them to start a magazine for men.

Thomas Nelson Publishers will be releasing Old Testament editions of both "Refuel" and "Becoming" next year.