Introducing “Tiny Tidbits of Theological Truth: Expanded Editions”

Early in my tweeting days, I defined “Tweets” as “tidy tidbits of profound irrelevance.” Probably this definition applies to most tweets floating around tweetdom. However, some time ago I began tweeting a series called “Theology 101.” The idea was to compose informative, meaningful, challenging, or quotable tidbits of theological truth in less than 140 characters—including the “101” title.
This proved to be a challenging feat. Boiling down theological propositions to 140 characters can be downright dangerous! Much Christian theology stands in an uncomfortable tension between two or more vital truths. Heresy often results when people relieve the tension by embracing one part of the truth but neglecting another. Reducing theological affirmations to less than 140 characters can easily lead to the error of reductionism. I therefore proceeded with caution.
For the most part, I think I succeeded at avoiding any gross exaggerations or distortions. At least I haven’t started any virtual riots. And for each follower on Twitter that drops me in anger or disappointment, I seem to pick up two or three new ones who have a higher tolerance for my not-always-successful attempts at tidy tidbits of theological truth. But I always imagined that it would be cool if I could add to each 140-characters-or-less nugget a “mouse-over” feature with a short paragraph commenting on the Tweet. That way if a reader didn’t quite get it or didn’t agree with it, they could simply run their mouse over the Tweet and get a better explanation of my intention.
Alas, Twitter will never provide this kind of feature, so I decided to do the next best thing: 1400-characters-or-less less commentaries on my 140-characters-or-less Tweets. As long as my readers find this edifying, I will do this for most of my Tweets.
Of course, I’m still writing the stand-alone “Theology 101” Tweets, averaging a couple new ones a week—sometimes more, sometimes less. You can follow me (@Svigel) on Twitter to get the latest . . . and sometimes I’ll even recycle a few “classics.”