About

Explain This Atheists is a catchphrase and caption added to various videos of digitally recreated or impersonators of Jesus acting as if his presence counteracts the entirety of Atheism. Initially spreading in 2022, the memes then began to turn into images or videos of Jesus doing actions, usually stunts, challenging the viewer to explain how Jesus is so rad as the trend evolved in 2023, primarily on TikTok. The catchphrase also shares many similarities to the Checkmate, Atheists meme.

Origin

On January 14th, 2022, the TikToker @dr._curt_conners^[1] uploaded a TikTok of a man dressed as a nun saying that a door is locked, prompting a man dressed as Jesus to come up and say he could probably help. The video notably used the caption "explain this Atheists" and is the earliest known example, earning over 890,000 likes in one year (shown below).

Spread

On August 3rd, 2022, YouTuber mattilpea^[2] uploaded a short of Jesus skateboarding on a wooden cross with skateboard wheels added to it, with the caption "Explain this Atheists" while the song "Praise God" by Kanye West played in the background, adding a radical element to the phrase and making the meme about Jesus doing actions (shown below).

On February 23rd, 2023, the TikToker @mrcleanmilk^[3] uploaded a TikTok in which they appear to walk on water while using the "Explain This Atheists" caption as a direct callout. The TikTok also has the song "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam playing, which became intertwined with future Steezus Christ memes also using it for their own version, while this one earned over 1 million likes in three months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References