His Way, Your Way

By Harriet Barovick, Tam Gray, Daniel Levy, Lina Lofaro, David Spitz, Joel Stein and Flora Tartakovsky

In the beginning was the word, but these days it doesn't seem to be enough. Hot on the news that Pat Robertson and pals are embarking on a three- year, $7 million advertising blitz for a modern translation of the Bible called The Book comes word that Johnny Cash recorded more than 400 scripture passages for a handheld electronic Bible. Makers of the Good Book have discovered niche marketing and it is good. There are Bibles for women, recovering addicts, children and Promise Keepers. There are Bibles with such names as The Rock and WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). There are even Bibles for the hip: slim volumes of individual books with introductions by nonreligious figures like singer Nick Cave, writer Will Self and biologist Steven Rose, who explains helpfully in his introduction to Genesis that it pretty much sounds like hooey to him. Seek and ye shall find...