Biblically Accurate Angels are a series of memes that compare angels as portrayed in western media to angels as described in the bible, memes painting the former as weak and the latter as terrifying. The disturbing qualities of angels as described in the bible were noted on the internet as early as 2010 while the memes centered around comparing the two vastly different depictions of angels did not spring up until 2020.
History[]
Internet origin[]
On October 19, 2010, the website Cracked made an article that noted the disturbing qualities of angels in the bible. On March 6, 2016, Tumblr user @revelation19 made a post about angels as described in the bible, the post gaining 420,000 notes within the span of 4 years.
Source[]
On their post, @revelation19 had cited the passages Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel 10, Issiah 6, and Daniel 10. Entities that are described in these passages include beings reminiscent of biblically accurate angels. The entities mentioned by name in the passages are the Cherubim and Seraphim, both of which are recognized as angels in Jewish and Christian theology.
Web usage[]
The Tumblr thread would be reposted on several websites, including Reddit and Imgur, although the emergence of the comparison between the two different depictions of angels wouldn't begin until 2020. On that year, the meme's explosion in popularity began with Reddit user CSGoose's post on July 3 on the subreddit r/me_irl that gained over 43,000 points, the post being a meme comparing angels in the bible to angels as portrayed in western media in the Buff Doge vs Crying Cheems meme template. 24 days later, Twitter user @agressive pet posted artwork of a biblically accurate angel that gained 11,000 retweets and 67,000 likes.
Another notable post includes artist Shen's comic posted on July 29 which features a biblically accurate angel, the comic gaining 9,900 retweets and 70,000 likes in less than 24 hours of its posting. In the replies, user @1_9_13_God posted a meme that is identical to the formerly mentioned Reddit post but in the Virgin vs Chad meme template, which gained 160 retweets and 1,900 likes.
External links[]
- Know Your Meme - Biblically Accurate Angels/Be Not Afraid