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• Bible basics;
  
  
• oh, I almost forgot: weaving its way in black type on a white background through the barrage of colorful splashes is the text of the New Testament.
  
  

8) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
Scattered throughout the biblezine are photos of broadly smiling girls. "You see lots of teeth," Whaley pointed out in our conversation. Why? "That's really what our focus is: showing girls that the Bible is fun, that there's a positive connotation with the Bible."

7) Ruth-less Theology
Once you get past the packaging, and start reading what the flashy blurbs are actually saying, you notice that they communicate definite viewpoints on various issues. Revolve's stance on gender roles caught my attention first.

In a sidebar titled "Top Ten Things to Know About a Revolve Girl," rule number one is that "Revolve girls don't call guys." In a September 14 interview in The New York Times Magazine, Whaley tried to defend this rule by saying: "There's no indication from Scripture that Mary Magdalene ever picked up the phone and called Christ."

It's a bad comparison however you look at it. But interviewer Deborah Solomon outdoes Whaley's anachronistic phone analogy. In an unmistakable sign that she got her Bible knowledge from that reliable historical source The Last Temptation of Christ, Solomon tells Whaley: "But Mary Magdalene, who was Christ's girlfriend, favored low necklines and loads of jewelry," and "You could argue that Christ was drawn to [Mary Magdalene] precisely because of her flamboyant clothing."

But at least one of Solomon's pronouncements is right on: "It's positively regressive for Revolve to suggest that God made men to be leaders in romance." Not only is it regressive; it's unbiblical. The "Revolve Girls do not call guys" rule sounds like something that belongs not in the Bible, but in a teen version of The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right," Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider's manual that teaches women how to deceive the men they want.

In one of the few examples available to us from the Bible, the protagonist of the Book of Ruth takes the initiative. At her mother-in-law's suggestion, she lies down at Boaz's feet to let him know she is, ummm, interested. If she lived today, I'm sure she would pick up the phone and invite him to dinner.

Another giveaway of a hierarchical view of boys and girls' roles is a Blab column with this tip:

Q: Hey, my question is how do you tell a friend that's your crush that you're into him without ruining your friendship?

A: You don't. Sorry. You just don't tell him without it ruining your friendship. God made guys to be the leaders. That means that they lead in relationships. They tell you they like you. It is just an all around bad idea for girls to take on the guys' responsibility.

Add to this a great sense of caution over girls and guys praying—yes, praying—together present throughout the book. The editors published the opinion of a boy in "Guys Speak Out" who believes that girls and guys should not pray together before engagement! Another boy, when asked if girls and guys can pray together, advises everyone not to "get carried away."

I asked Mimi Haddad, president of Christians for Biblical Equality, what she thought of such advice. She said that "it might be more fair to the consumer if Revolve offered both perspectives on gender roles, because evangelicals are split on the issue. I'm not sure that a teenager is in a position to discern predigested theology."

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September (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47