Harnessing AI-generated videos for Bible teaching: a case study of TikTok content
TL;DR
It is argued that, for Bible teaching within school-based Christian religious education, such materials should not function as straightforward visualizations of Scripture but as interpretive artifacts requiring critical biblical-hermeneutical and media analysis.
Abstract
This article presents a qualitative case study of AI-generated biblical videos published on the TikTok account @holyvlogsz. It examines how generative AI (GenAI), in interaction with platform logics, reshapes biblical narratives and reconfigures their theological meaning. A corpus of 25 high-visibility videos (≥ 50,000 views) was analyzed, revealing four recurring mechanisms of transformation: psychologization, scenic condensation, functional anachronism, and genre formatting. Reinforced by the aesthetic optimization of generative systems and TikTok’s algorithmic curation, these mechanisms shift authority from canonical textual coherence toward affective legibility and visibility-driven logic, while reproducing culturally dominant patterns. The study argues that, for Bible teaching within school-based Christian religious education, such materials should not function as straightforward visualizations of Scripture but as interpretive artifacts requiring critical biblical-hermeneutical and media analysis.