Andrew Mark Henry
banner
andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social
Andrew Mark Henry
@andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social
Postdoc Fellow @ Center for Mind and Culture | scholar of late antique Mediterranean religion | YouTuber @ Religion For Breakfast | Visiting Scholar @ GWU
Looks like YouTube is launching a "likeness detection" tool that will alert me if someone creates an AI video with my likeness. I'm sure there are downsides I'm not thinking of, but I'm glad YT is making an effort to protect against my face being used by AI. Next I'd like to see "voice detection."
November 25, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.

Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
My latest AI feature dives into a nebulous movement of people sharing esoteric codes, manifestos, glyphs, diagrams, and poetry generated with chatbots, all of it based around theories of AI sentience and mysterious metaphors about spirals.
This Spiral-Obsessed AI 'Cult' Spreads Mystical Delusions Through Chatbots
A patchwork of internet communities is devoted to the project of ‘awakening’ more digital companions through arcane and enigmatic prompts.
www.rollingstone.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM
We are offering Coptic again!
Come learn Coptic! In partnership with the Religion Department, I developed a two-part introduction to Coptic via close study of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. Come learn about ancient languages and sayings of Jesus!

Part 1: Starts Oct. 27 | Part 2: Jan. 5

www.religiondepartment.com/learning-cop...
Learning Coptic Through the Gospel of Thomas (Level 1)
www.religiondepartment.com
October 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Any experts on Chabad-Lubavitch here? Could use a fact-checker for a segment in my upcoming video.
October 9, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Amazing. Good thing our government didn’t cut $500 million of mRNA research. Oh wait…
September 25, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Apparently The Rapture is trending? Time to surface and oldie: No, the Rapture is not in the Bible: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsj...
The Origins of the Rapture
YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast
www.youtube.com
September 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
The Kabbalistic Tree of Baking

Whereby divine Volume emanates to the lower vessels & is differentiated into units
September 21, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I didn't realize how bad Google's enshittifictaion had become, until I switched my default browser to DuckDuckGo a few seconds ago. Holy shit, the AI overviews were degrading the user experience so much.
September 15, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
Definitely the best Iran headline of the year
September 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
A lot of the justifications point to the number of Religious Studies majors—but is this really how a dept’s value should be judged? In many RS departments in which I’ve taught, our courses have enormous enrollments & student interest +
September 4, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
apropos of the religious studies isn’t theology convos…

my mom: i’m going to put [a copy of your book] by the altar.

me: i don’t know that it’s good enough for god, mom.

my dad: but god is all you write about.

(i didn’t have the heart to tell them i don’t write about god, obvs.)
September 5, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
This is a neat video by @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social, relevant to the considerations we've been playing with as part of #MythAugust, and very much the sort of thing we mean when we talk about a world feeling "lived-in" on @worldbuildcast.bsky.social.

youtu.be/pjrrUZeJMSo
Why Fictional Religions Feel So Fake
YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast
youtu.be
August 22, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
we used to build household shrines to Going On The Computer and it's no coincidence that as we abandoned these we started straying further from god's light
August 22, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Can any of my religious studies colleagues explain to me why Peter Thiel is so fascinated by the Antichrist? I need to know more
Peter Thiel to give four lectures on the "biblical Antichrist." Among the "religious thinkers upon whom Peter will draw" is Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt.
August 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
WITH 50% INCREASE, SHAKERS FASTEST GROWING RELIGION IN AMERICA
August 20, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
I remember attending the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meeting for the first time. I thought I had entered the twilight zone. So weird seeing papers being read word-for-word. We academics have normalized it as part of academic culture, but it is fucking weird.
Why do academics in the humanities read their papers aloud, word for word, when they give talks at universities or at meetings, while scientists generally speak extemporaneously? If you read, you might as well just hand out the paper. It's a mystery.

whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/08/11/w...
Why do academics in the humanities read their papers aloud?
One of the big differences between academics in the humanities and in the sciences is that, at professional meetings or during lectures, humanities scholars read aloud from a paper they are holding…
whyevolutionistrue.com
August 12, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
Just imagine, extend their vision:

the student preparing for that job interview, that interview isn't with a person, it's with a chatbot
if the chatbot decides they get a job... wait I thought there weren't any jobs anymore, so is this a job where they just do prompting all day?
August 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I’m curious to see the antithesis. A university with no AI. Only pen, paper, and discussion. I’d put my money on those graduates than those graduating from “A.I.-native universities”
Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.
August 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
The most controversial thing I think @katieturnerphd.com dropped in her recent "What did Jesus Wear?" webinar (organized by @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social) was that Jesus may well have worn socks with sandals.

In all seriousness, it was phenomenal and deeply educational.
July 30, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
Every 2 years, my Belgian hometown celebrates the Medieval witches that used to live there. There's a parade, fireworks, and at the end, the burning of a witch at the stake. There's a lot of folklore involved, including decorating your front garden with witches
July 23, 2025 at 1:20 PM
What did Jesus wear—and why does it matter? Join @katieturnerphd.com for a deep dive into 2nd Temple period Jewish clothing and how dress shaped identity, power, and piety in Jesus’s world.
Live online talk. Register here: www.religiondepartment.com/jesus-wear
What Did Jesus Wear
www.religiondepartment.com
July 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Andrew Mark Henry
“After two glorious years at the helm of this wonderful company, I have decided that being CEO during the release of Mechahitler was honestly a pretty bad vibe.”
Linda Yaccarino announces she’s stepping down as the CEO of X
July 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM