"It's Giving Holy Spirit": AI Bible Stories Flood TikTok

How was the vibe check at the Last Supper? Was the crucifixion pretty mid? Did Jesus eat up the Sermon on the Mount? Have we completely lost you? 

If so, you might not be spending much time on TikTok, where these kinds of reimaginings of Bible stories are all the rage. What started as niche memes and slang-filled rewrites of scripture has evolved into something much bigger: a flood of AI-generated Bible content made for Gen Z and by Gen Z (or, at least, by their algorithms).

Gone, apparently, are the days of Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments. The new way to spread scripture is meeting young people where they already are: online, scrolling. And right now, that means TikTok, where biblical characters are being reimagined as influencers, livestreamers, and walking, talking slang machines, using phrases that would have been downright alien thousands of years ago (at least, we don’t think Jesus ever called Judas "totally cringe" in the gospel). 

With scores of videos racking up millions of views, they’re definitely bringing the Bible to the internet generation. But at what cost?

Gen Z Jesus

Think of these new TikTok videos as the AI-driven evolution of past accounts which retold the Bible in Gen Z slang. They’re humorously bringing the Bible to life for a new generation, as AI-generated versions of Jesus, Moses, and nearly every other biblical character you can think of talk directly into the camera straight from classic Bible tales. 

One video, which has been viewed more than a million times, has a smiling Jesus doing a vibe check at the last supper as if he were a livestreaming influencer. “Judas said he’s got a big opportunity coming up,” a smirking Jesus says into the camera. “Love that for him.”

Another depicts Jesus right after the resurrection. “Just woke up from a three day nap,” Jesus says. “Y’all still doubted me!”

The Future of Faith?

Many may balk at the idea that the Bible needs to be repackaged into humorous bite-size TikToks to appeal to Gen Z. After all, can a smirking, AI-generated Jesus really convey the depth and gravity of sacred scripture? But many reported in the comments that the videos actually inspired them to look deeper into the biblical tales, and AI advocates in the faith realm say that if that is what is needed to get the youth interested in Jesus, so be it.

Critics, however, wonder about the environmental cost of cranking out scores of resource-heavy AI-generated videos for likes on TikTok.

As Guardian contributor Betsy Reed pondered, “how many litres of water did it take for me to witness Mary dabbing? How many finite resources were burned so an AI Jesus could make a joke about dropping the water to wine tutorial?”

Perhaps the most potent criticism is a moral one: What happens when a faith tradition built on genuine reflection is flattened into a punchline? These videos reduce sacred narratives to trendy soundbites, seeking virality over meaning. They’re making scripture accessible, but also disposable, critics say. 

Whatever your thoughts on the impact of AI, the intermingling of the seemingly disparate worlds of faith and artificial intelligence will only continue to grow. From these videos, to AI-generated sermons, to AI Jesus taking very real confession… the world of religion – like most other things – is being forced to contend with an artificial intelligence revolution.

The question is, when religion is filtered through AI, are we bringing it a new life… or just feeding it to the algorithm?