“I’m with” soteriology
April 15th, 2008 | Tags: theology
If you’re old enough to remember the Cold War (I realized the last time I taught undergrads that this is no longer a trivial constraint), you probably recall the “I’m with stupid” t-shirt craze, in which the wearer distances himself or herself from the patently ridiculous behavior of a nearby person unfortunate enough to stand within the swath of an arrow. Like almost every pop-culture fad from the 1980s, this has been reborn as an internet cliché; now “I’m with stupid,” followed by an ASCII representation of an arrow, finds use as a not-particularly-humorous denunciation of any debatable utterance.
In general, it can be useful to say “my physical proximity to these actions/truth-claims/persons does not imply an unqualified endorsement.” We all disagree with our friends about some things — say, the role of free will and human agency in salvation — but it is awfully gauche to call them “stupid” simply because they’re wrong. (It is, after all, no longer the 16th century.)
Obviously, the most prominent question when engaging in a heated soteriological debate is “how can I caricature the views of my opponent with a t-shirt?” I am pleased to announce that this question is now resolved:
(Other designs are also available, including ones that you can use to advertise your own position; enjoy!)