The latest “cool” Christian bumper sticker seems to be “(Born)2.” It looks like this:

It tries to be a clever way to say “born again.” It fails.

First, the parentheses are unnecessary. The text within them is not an equation, so there is no reason to set it apart. You could just write BORN2 (with the “2” as a superscript).

Second, BORN2 (with the “2” as a superscript) wouldn’t suggest the answer is “born again.” It would suggest that answer is “born squared.” Being “born again” means you are “born” an additional time, not that your birth was multiplied.

If you want a more accurate “born again” formula, might I suggest the following:

born X 0 = born

This suggests that you were born, then you died to yourself, and as a result you were born again.

Or, if dying to yourself if not part of your theology of being born again, try this:

born + born

This suggests you were born once, then born again.

Either way, (BORN)2 is just nonsense.