Patriots’ former 1st-round pick anticipating first start in more than a yearNASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was during the pandemic when the Rev. Kira Austin-Young and her puppet-maker husband, Michael Schupbach, were going a little stir-crazy that they came up with the idea. Instead of a star or some stylized humanoid angel to top their Christmas tree, why not create a biblically accurate angel? The result was a pink, blue and gold-feathered creature with six wings and dozens of eyes that went a little bit viral. "I think in, particularly, the times of the world that we're in, where things seem kind of scary and weird, having a scary and weird angel sort of speaks to people," she said. This Dec. 12, 2021, photo shows the biblically accurate angel Christmas tree topper created by the Rev. Kira Austin-Young and her puppet-maker husband, Michael Schupbach, atop the tree in their former home in Nashville, Tenn. There are a number of different kinds of angels that show up in the Bible, said Austin-Young, associate rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in San Francisco. For the most part, we don't get a lot of description of them, but both Revelations at the end of the Bible and some of the books of the prophets in the Old Testament describe strange creatures around the throne of God. People are also reading... "Some of them have six wings with eyes covering the wings," she said. Others have multiple animal heads. "I think one of the delightful things about the Bible and the Scripture is just kind of how bizarre it can be and just how kind of out there it can be." About 7 in 10 U.S. adults say they believe in angels, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted last year. Still, there's no agreement about what they look like or even exactly what they are. Social media is full of various interpretations of "biblically accurate angels" imagined not just in tree toppers but also drawings, tattoos, even makeup tutorials. The many-eyed creatures reject traditional portrayals of angels in Western art, where they often look like humans with wings, usually white and often blonde or very fair. Esther Hamori, a professor of Hebrew Bible at Union Theological Seminary, makes a distinction between angels and other "supernatural species" in the Bible like seraphim and cherubim, but she said she loves the biblically accurate angel trend, even if it conflates them. "It shows that people are thinking about ways in which the Bible contains far stranger things than what's often taught," the author of "God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible" wrote in an email. "The biblical heavens are filled with weird, frightening figures. In the Bible, God has an entourage of monsters." One of Austin-Young's favorite portrayals of the annunciation — a favorite theme of Christian art depicting the archangel Gabriel's appearance to Mary to announce that she is going to bear the son of God — is by Henry Ossawa Tanner. It conceives of Gabriel as a vaguely humanoid shaft of light. "It kind of makes you rethink, 'What would that be like to be approached by an angel?'" she said. "If it's somebody you don't know, or if it's a strange creature, or if it's just this kind of manifestation of God's message to you. ... That could be anything." ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. Holiday lights illuminate the world Coco Jones performs Dec. 4 during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree after being lit Dec. 4 during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York. A 42-meter-tall candle, which is actually an illuminated medieval tower, shines Nov. 30 in the historic city centre of Schlitz, Germany. A large inflatable Santa Claus decorates the stall of a Christmas tree dealer Dec. 3 on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany. People walk through the annual year-end illumination Dec. 16 in the Roppongi district of Tokyo. A child plays Dec. 9 among space-themed holiday lights near a replica of shuttle Independence at Space Center Houston. A visitor takes photos of a Christmas tree Nov. 20 at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea. The Los Angeles County Christmas Tree is lit up Dec. 2 at the Jerry Moss Plaza at Music Center in Los Angeles. People take pictures with Christmas decorations Nov. 22 at the waterfront of the Victoria Harbour in West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong. Traditional luminarias, also known as farolitos, flicker Dec. 13 throughout the Jemez Historic Site during the annual Lights of Gisewa event in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Visitors pose in a sledge for a picture Dec. 5 with Christmas lights and decorations in the background at Covent Garden in London. People look at the illuminations Nov. 16 at the Wiener Chritkindlmarkt, one of Vienna's most popular Christmas markets, in front of City Hall in Vienna, Austria. Visitors walk in front of an illuminated Christmas tree Dec. 16 at Cathedral Square in Vilnius, Lithuania. Actors welcome visitors for the Christmas festival of lights Dec. 13 at a zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this photo taken with a long exposure, a person walks a dog past Christmas lights in a park Dec. 15 in Lenexa, Kan. People ride a chain carousel Dec. 11 at the Red Square Christmas Fair in Moscow. Spectators walk on the Champs Élysées Avenue after attending the Nov. 24 illumination ceremony for the Christmas season in Paris. People stand on a bridge Dec. 9 as Christmas lights illuminate the Darsena dei Navigli, the neighborhood named for the canals that run through this area of Milan, Italy. The supermoon rises Nov. 14 behind street lights in Santiago, Chile. In a timed exposure, motorists pass a pair of cowboys boots, standing 40 feet tall and 30 feet long, that were decorated with lights for the holidays, on Dec. 10 in San Antonio. Visitors stand before an illuminated installation, one of many displayed across the Cologne Zoo as part of the China Lights Art Festival, on Dec. 20 in Cologne, Germany. Visitors walk through the "Cathedral" on the Christmas light trail Nov. 12 as it returns for its 12th year, with a showcase of new installations set within the UNESCO World Heritage Site landscape of Kew Gardens in London. People experience the holiday lights Dec. 11 at the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in Nashville, Tenn. Red Square, the GUM department store, center, and St. Basil's Cathedral, right, are decorated for the New Year and Christmas festivities, seen Dec. 13 through a window of the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski Moscow in Moscow, Russia. A woman looks at disco and Christmas balls illuminated with lights on display Dec. 18 for the Christmas Festival at a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing. The Kremlin Wall, the Spasskaya Tower, Red Square, the GUM department store, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge over the Moscow River are decorated Dec. 13 for the New Year and Christmas festivities in Moscow, Russia. Christmas lights are displayed Nov. 20 on Regent Street in London. A couple stops to view Christmas lights on the facade of a building Dec. 4 in downtown Lisbon. A Christmas wreath and lights adorn the Windansea surf shack Dec. 12 on Windansea Beach in San Diego. 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