# Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion built around Jesus of Nazareth that also feeds one of the internet's longest-running meme families, from Buddy Christ to Raptor Jesus to the Botched Ecce Homo fresco. Its centuries of public-domain art and instantly recognizable iconography keep giving image-macro creators fresh material to remix. ## Overview Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the worship of a single God and his son Jesus of Nazareth, whom followers believe was crucified and rose from the dead three days later[3]. It is currently the religion with the largest worldwide following, and the Bible is the central text believers use as a guide[3]. Online, Christianity works less like a single meme and more like a bottomless well of source material. Because so much religious art, film footage, and iconography is public domain or widely recognizable, the internet has spun off a whole family of Christianity-themed image macros: Buddy Christ, Raptor Jesus, Story Time Jesus, LOL Jesus, and the Botched Ecce Homo painting all draw from the same visual vocabulary[3]. Even Urban Dictionary's top entries treat the word as shorthand for a broad Abrahamic tradition rooted in the New Testament[4]. ## How It Spread The meme footprint of Christianity grew through repeated photoshop passes on that inherited imagery. Buddy Christ, the cheesy grinning Jesus statue from Kevin Smith's 1999 film Dogma, became a widely edited exploitable after the movie's release[3]. Raptor Jesus swapped a velociraptor head onto Jesus paintings, Story Time Jesus added a modern conversational voice to a scene of Jesus teaching his disciples, and LOL Jesus image macros layered blunt captions onto classical altar-style paintings[3]. The Botched Ecce Homo incident in August 2012 handed Christianity one of its biggest viral moments. Elderly Spanish restorer Cecilia Giménez tried to touch up a flaking 1930 fresco of Christ with a crown of thorns at the Santuario de Misericordia in Borja, Spain, and the result was so distorted locals nicknamed it "Ecce Mono," or Behold the Monkey[1]. Within a year the disfigured image drew more than 40,000 visitors and raised over €50,000 for a local charity in the town of 5,000 people[1]. Borja later leaned in. The council started charging a €1 entrance fee, and Giménez signed a merchandising deal splitting profits 49% to her and 51% to the council, with the face turning up on T-shirts, mugs, phone cases, and wine labels[1]. The Westboro Baptist Church's picket-sign antics and the Sonseed music video "Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine," which racked up millions of YouTube views, kept feeding the wider Christianity meme pool from other angles[3]. ## How to Use Christianity memes typically start with a familiar Christian visual (a Renaissance painting of Jesus, a devotional statue, a church fresco) and either recaption it with modern slang, photoshop something absurd into the frame, or apply the Botched Ecce Homo blurred-face treatment to unrelated images. The common convention is to keep the reverent original style intact so the joke lands on the contrast. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Christianity? Christianity is a monotheistic religion that worships a single God and his son Jesus of Nazareth, using the Bible as its central text[3]. Online, it also names a large family of Jesus-themed image macros and photoshop memes[3]. ### Where did Christianity come from? It started as a Jewish sect in the Levant during the mid-1st century, developing under the Twelve Apostles, notably Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle[3]. ### What does Christianity mean? The term names an Abrahamic, monotheistic faith based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament[4]. ### How do you use Christianity as a meme? People remix familiar Christian art, like Renaissance paintings of Jesus or the Buddy Christ statue from the 1999 film Dogma, with captions or photoshop edits such as Raptor Jesus and Story Time Jesus[3]. ### Is Christianity still popular online? Yes. It is the largest religion in the world and its meme derivatives, including the Botched Ecce Homo fresco that drew over 40,000 tourists to Borja, Spain after 2012, are still circulated[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/aug/14/ruined-christ-fresco-money-spinner]() 2. [https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/christianity]() 4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Christianity]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/christianity Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library