AI Generated Images of Jesus... Is it Ethical?

Are Christians free to create whatever images they want whether sacred or secular?

AI image generation has become really good. A person can use AI image generators to create pretty much any image they want limited only by their prompting skills and their imagination. It should not be surprising therefore, that Christians have been generating millions of pictures of Jesus. Somehow, when one sees a picture it can land differently than simply reading words in the Bible. The question must therefore be asked, is it ethical and right to be generating images of Jesus and biblical scenes in general?

Depending on your faith tradition, how you answer this question will differ. Recently, at an internal AI conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated, “We know artificial intelligence cannot replace revelation or generate truth from God,” he said, “nor should we allow AI to come between us and our personal relationship with God.”

In the same presentation, he later made clear that AI is not God and even if AI companies achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) or Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) it will never be God or replace God.

Why are you generating a sacred image?

I believe that the motive behind wanting to generate AI images matters as a Christian. What is the purpose of generating images of sacred people or of sacred scenes?

Some might respond by saying that these scenes help them better visualize what might have happened back then and to relate better to the original story. Many would respond by saying that they see nothing wrong with doing so since they do not worship the images they are creating.

I’ve personally seen preachers using images of Jesus in order to get people to make decisions to follow him. An image of Jesus is often on the screen as the last image of a presentation when the preacher asks the congregation to bow their heads and pray. I’m uncomfortable with using images of Jesus this way. It feels more like emotional manipulation.

Are you Ready for an AI Jesus?

Recently, I was one of the first on OpenAI’s new platform called Sora. ChatGPT already knows I’m a Christian minister. As I scrolled through the videos generated on that app, the For You section was playing non-stop videos of Jesus doing everything under the sun. Jesus taking a selfie, Jesus on a skateboard, Jesus throwing the tables in the table. Seemingly hundreds of these videos were being generated by people and launched into the void for anyone to consume.

Do we have the freedom to use Jesus as we would a puppet and make him do or say whatever we want him to say? In the early days of Sora, many were creating videos of celebrities. Some people decided to make videos of deceased comic and actor Robin Williams. Then, a number of these people sent these generated videos to his daughter thinking this would be something she would appreciate. Instead, she considered it disturbing and made a public call for people to stop using her father’s likeness in that way. Is it any different with the likeness of Jesus?

Is Jesus Christ our Lord? Isn’t he God Almighty? Therefore, I would strongly urge Christians and Christian leaders in general to reject this usage of AI. Not only should you reject it, I urge you to instruct your people to avoid doing so as well.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

We live in an irreverent era. This is the age of anything goes. Christians really should be pushing back against this trend, this is especially true when talking about the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Doesn’t Look Like the Popular Image of Him

You know Jesus didn’t look anything like the popular image of him known universally in the general culture today? For one, men in the first century had short hair. Long hair was not considered appropriate for men. Don’t believe me? Notice the words of Paul himself:

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:14-16)

We find no description of Jesus’ physical characteristics in the Bible, not in the Old Testament, neither in the New Testament. The only description we find is in Isaiah 53.

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2)

This isn’t much of a description of his physical features except to tell us that he almost surely was not a handsome man. God did not want people following Jesus like he was a celebrity. God wanted people to follow Jesus for who he was and what he did. Therefore, when popular artistic renderings of Jesus show a handsome man with blow dried hair and beautiful features, this would be inaccurate according to Isaiah 53:2. The same holds true for any movie made that depicts Jesus.

Does it Even Matter if Images and Videos Aren’t Accurate?

Place yourself in Jesus’ shoes for a minute. How would you feel if people were making images and videos of you that were nothing like what you actually look like or doing and saying things you would never do. Most people would be offended. It wouldn’t be hard for you to see it as deceitful and inauthentic.

Why then do we feel it appropriate to make images and videos of Jesus? Whenever any artistic work is done depicting God, whether as a human or as divine, we should be taking off our shoes because we are walking on holy ground.

In the Old Testament, the second commandment in Exodus 20 clearly prohibits the making of images.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me. (Exodus 20:4-5)

Now, when you read the entire commandment, you’ll notice that in verse 4 it first prohibits making any image, then in verse 5 it prohibits bowing down to the image or serving them. You may say to yourself, “That’s easy! I’m not worshiping the images or videos I generate so I’m good.” Fair enough. What about the ninth commandment?

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)

If you are making images and videos of Jesus when you know full well that Jesus looks nothing like the images you are creating, can you still say you are not bearing false witness? Also, while you might know that Jesus doesn’t look like the popular images of him, does everyone who will see your generated images and videos know that?

Jesus is popularly shown as being a white European male. This is clearly wrong since he would have been born in the Middle East. He is much more likely to have had black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes. Yet, most would not recognize an image that looked that way unless you also gave that man long hair, a short cropped beard, and a white robe with a red sash.

Ethics Matter.

I challenge you to start severely restricting the images and videos you generate of Jesus. For about 2,000 years, people have worshipped and served Jesus Christ without needing AI or AI generated images. I encourage you to treat Jesus Christ as God and be very careful to guard his likeness and not join in when the general culture takes a very cavalier attitude towards Jesus’ likeness.

What do you think? I do realize that many won’t share my reluctance but I do hope you will at least consider the merits of the arguments I’ve outlined here in this article. I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.

Joseph Duchesne is the creator of The Church AI Guy, a space where faith meets innovation while discussing the long-term impact of AI. A pastor, autodidact, and author of two books—The Last Crisis and Discover the One—he’s passionate about showing how Jesus-centered discipleship can thrive in a digital world. When he’s not experimenting with the latest tech, he’s reading theology, building church community, or spending time with his wife.