Yo, Where's My Bible?

Gir

ls spill it all! And how to make cash fast may sound like headlines from the latest issue of Maxim. But they're actually among the features in Refuel, a new Bible for teenage boys that's packaged like a skateboarding magazine. The "Bible-zine" covers topics as diverse as plantar warts (duct tape works wonders) and pornography (check out exxit.org to fight the temptation)-- alongside the complete New Testament. "The main criticism we get is that we have trivialized scripture by putting images of girls on the same page," says Laurie Whaley, a brand manager at Thomas Nelson Inc., the Bible publisher behind Refuel. "But if Jesus was here today, he'd be hanging out at the Clinique booth with teen girls. He went where the people were, and that's the message of the Bible — it's about understanding the connection between the Bible and the world that we live in."

Religion certainly seems to be connecting with the consumer these days. Sacred motifs are turning up on everything from face creams to T shirts. John Galliano's scented candle for Diptyque is meant to evoke the aroma of a Russian Orthodox church, and Santa Maria Novella, a line of skin-care and fragrance products created in an Italian monastery, recently opened up a shop in New York City's SoHo. Subscriptions to Heeb, a magazine for Jewish hipsters that bills itself as "a sweaty prizefight between hip-hop and sushi in this corner and klezmer and kugel in the other," spiked recently after Jon Stewart plugged the quarterly on The Daily Show. For those more hungry for irony, there are T shirts emblazoned with EVERYONE LOVES A CATHOLIC GIRL (although celebrities seem to favor JESUS IS MY HOMEBOY) at the retail chain Urban Outfitters. The trend seems likely to grow later this spring when Mandy Moore brings religious irony to movie theaters in Saved!, a dark comedy about a girl at a Christian high school whose gay boyfriend gets her pregnant.

Now if Jesus could just help Clinique come up with the perfect shade of pink.