It’s like the sequel to “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
The Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn is spending $60,000 on a new ad campaign billing the Son of God as “The Original Hipster” — an add that features Christ in a pair of red (and untied!) Converse sneakers poking out from under his robes.
The goal is a resurrection even niftier than Jesus’ original one: getting young urbanites to stop saying “P-eww” to the pews.
“Why is that an image of Jesus in Converse sneaks so shocking to us?” said Diocese spokesman Msgr. Kieran Harrington. “The Church is countercultural. … The Church is accepting of all people.
“What is a hipster? It means a lot of different things,” Harrington added.
The ads have started popping up on phone booths throughout trendy areas of Brooklyn and Queens — and a version with Jesus on a treadmill will appear in New York Sports Club and Bally Total Fitness gyms.
It’s not the first time Catholics have backed giving the world’s most famous holy man a modern day twist.
Religion experts pointed out the popularity of “Godspell,” a Broadway play made in the 1970s based on the Gospel of Matthew, was created to stir young people’s interest in a handsome, but scruffy, fisher of men.
Calling Jesus a hipster isn’t a stretch, experts said.
“He wasn’t ironic, but he was certainly countercultural and spoke the truth no matter what,” said Paul Moses, a professor at Brooklyn College and author of “The Saint and the Sultan” about St. Francis of Assisi.
Moses added that Jesus was a radical when he asked people to love their enemies.
But can turning the other cheek become the mantra of the bearded, plaid-wearing, skinny-jeaned men of Williamsburg?
No way, dude.
“Religion is a business,” said Alex Morton, 36, head chef at Cafe Moto, a stylish haunt on Broadway.
One of the “The Original Hipster” posters by Cafe Moto is covered with red graffiti.
“They are trying to recruit because we are in a hipster neighborhood,” Morton said. “It’s not for me.”
Even Williamsburg grandmother America Ruiz, 64, wasn’t a fan.
“It’s a waste of money. They should use the money to lower the tuition in schools,” said Ruiz, a high-school teacher.
“These kids won’t pay attention to these signs. They will keep putting graffiti on it.”
simonew@nydailynews.com
