God and Mammon: Virtue®, the Bible Perfume

From the Chicago Divinity School website:

Combining ingredients such as frankincense and myrrh, Virtue® is a perfume inspired by Biblical ingredients and marketed as a tool for spiritual attainment. The product's literature advises the consumer to "hold it in Sacred regard as a means to train yourself to readily contact your Spiritual Self," so as to "serve both your worldly fragrance needs and provide a means of focusing your Spiritual Intent." Pioneered by Vicki Pratt and Rick Larimore, Virtue retails for $80 a bottle.

That's a lot of cash to smell like 2,000 years ago. Of course, the Gospels give us precedent for using expensive perfume in Christ's name (John 12:1-8). But Mary of Bethany doesn't use her costly fragrance as a "tool for spiritual attainment"—she pours it out for the Lord.