Pray.com decided the Bible needed more explosions and lens flares, so they're making AI videos of biblical stories that look like rejected Marvel pitches. They're cranking out multiple episodes weekly, turning ancient scripture into cinematic spectacles with crumbling buildings, seven-headed dragons, and apocalyptic events that have racked up 750,000+ views. Theologians are predictably losing their minds.
"The Marvel Universe of Faith" (Yes, They Actually Said That)
CTO Ryan Beck literally called this "the Marvel Universe of faith," which tells you everything you need to know about their approach. They're treating the Bible like source material for action movies. When Beck says they're "bringing these stories to life in a way that people have never seen before," he apparently means adding CGI explosions to the Book of Revelation.
The production mixes AI visuals with voice acting, custom music, and pastors reading scripts. Beck says it's "edutainment" tilted toward entertainment because biblical content is "over-indexed to educational." What he's really saying is "Reading is boring, let's make Jesus look like Thor." They pump out about two videos weekly, focusing on Old Testament and Revelation because those translate best to fantasy action sequences.
Who's Actually Watching This Stuff
The audience is mostly guys under 30, which makes sense because this is basically biblical content aimed at people who grew up on video games and superhero movies. Beck says viewers claim the videos are "transforming their life," which could be genuine spiritual impact or just the same feeling you get from watching a really good action movie.
Here's the thing though - if it takes terrified people, floating angels, and fantasy creatures to get young people engaging with scripture instead of scrolling TikTok, maybe that's not the worst thing? The visual approach turns ancient texts into something that connects with modern audiences who expect entertainment value from their content.
The Theologians Are (Predictably) Pissed
Religious scholars are having the exact reaction you'd expect to "Bible: The Marvel Edition." Brad East from Abilene Christian University says the videos "rob the Bible of its power by reducing it to an action movie" and calls them spiritually useless. He's not wrong - turning scripture into superhero content does feel like missing the point.
Jeffrey Bilbro from Grove City College worries about treating the Bible as "entertainment, as content to be titillated or amused by" instead of "divine revelation intended to transform lives." Both professors are raising legitimate concerns about turning sacred texts into popcorn entertainment.
But here's the counterpoint: if the choice is between young people watching AI Bible videos or not engaging with scripture at all, which is better? The theologians prefer contemplative study of ancient texts, but that approach clearly isn't working with digital natives who grew up on visual media.
The Tech Solution to an Ancient Problem
Pray.com is basically treating the Bible like any other content problem tech companies solve - low engagement, accessibility issues, outdated presentation. AI lets them create visual spectacles cheaply that would cost millions to film traditionally. Want seven-headed dragons and apocalyptic landscapes? AI can do that for the price of some GPU time.
The real question is whether AI interpretation of biblical narratives has any theological authority. When an algorithm visualizes scripture based on its training data rather than religious tradition or scholarly consensus, whose version of Christianity is it representing? Probably whoever had the loudest voice in the AI's training set.
The Business of Faith
Let's be honest - Pray.com is a for-profit company, which means their priority is engagement metrics and growth, not spiritual development. They're creating content that gets views and shares, not material that encourages deep theological reflection. It's religious content optimized for the attention economy, and that feels kinda gross.
Look, I'm torn on this. If kids actually want to watch biblical stories that look like Marvel movies instead of ignoring scripture entirely, maybe that's not the end of Christianity. The old guard wants quiet contemplation and ancient texts, Gen Z expects explosions and CGI dragons. Maybe both approaches can exist without the world ending.
The real test isn't whether theologians approve, but whether people actually engage with biblical content they otherwise would have ignored. If AI Bible videos are a gateway drug to deeper spiritual engagement, they might serve a purpose. If they're just religious-themed entertainment that substitutes for actual faith exploration, then the critics have a point.
Other religious tech companies like YouVersion with their Bible app and Faithlife are taking more traditional approaches to digital scripture. Meanwhile, apps like Hallow focus on prayer and meditation without the CGI spectacle. The question is whether Pray.com's Marvel approach will attract new audiences or just alienate existing believers.