Born again

This article is about the religious concept. For other uses of the term see Born Again (disambiguation).

Born again is a soteriological term used primarily in the Evangelical, Fundamentalist, and Pentecostal branches of Protestant Christianity, but is sometimes associated with non-denominational groups and/or Churches. "Born again" Christianity is associated with salvation, conversion and spiritual rebirth. Outside of the common circles, the term is often applied by extension to other phenomena, including a transcending personal experience – or the experience of being spiritually reborn (as opposed to spiritual birth).

Christian concepts

In Christianity, to be born again or regenerated is synonymous with spiritual rebirth and, in some denominational traditions, salvation. The term is used somewhat differently in various Christian traditions.

The Christian use of the term is derived from the third chapter of the Gospel of John, where Nicodemus visits Jesus:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."

Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again."

Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."

-John 3:1-5 (New Revised Standard Version)

(Note that some translators consider "born from above" to be a better translation than "born again".)

Consequently, most Christian denominations hold that a person must be born again in some sense in order to be a Christian, and thus that all who are true Christians are in fact born again, whether they describe themselves as such or not. The Roman Catholic Church, for example, holds that "Baptism is ... the sacrament by which we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost." , though the term is not frequently used by Catholics. This is also the belief held by Eastern Christianity, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism, among other Christian traditions. However, the term itself is most frequently used by Fundamentalist, Pentecostal, and Evangelical Protestants, where it is often associated with an intense conversion experience and an encounter of the individual with the power of God. Many Christians who are "born again" in this sense deny that those without such an experience are true Christians.

The idea of being born again carries with it the theological idea that a Christian is a new creation, given a fresh start by the action of God, freed from a sinful past life and able to begin a new life in relationship with Christ via the Holy Spirit. John Wesley and Christians associated with early Methodism referred to the born again experience as "the New Birth". The Unity Church suggests that being born again is a continuous process that must be done repeatedly as one "dies" to old, ineffective ideas and redirects oneself toward Christ consciousness.

Recent Social Usage

In recent history, born again is a term that has been associated with evangelical renewal since the late 1960s, first in the United States and then later around the world. Associated perhaps initially with Jesus People and the Christian counterculture, born again came to refer to an intense conversion experience, and was increasingly used as a term to identify devout believers. By the mid 1970s, born again Christians were increasingly referred to in the mainstream media as part of the Born Again Movement. A 1976 book of that title by Watergate conspirator and convicted felon Charles Colson, describing his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment, played a significant role in solidifying Born Again identity as a cultural construct in the U.S. The term was sufficiently prevalent that, during that year's Presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter described himself as born again, notably in the first Playboy magazine interview of a U.S. Presidential candidate. Modern musicians Mark Farner, Dan Peek, Little Richard, Donna Summer, Bob Dylan, Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Dave Mustaine, Nicko McBrain, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Cash, Michael Hickenbottom (AKA Shawn Michaels), and Alice Cooper were notable artists whose born again conversions were particularly impacting on modern culture. Reborn Christians are also very often referred to as "New Born Christians".

See also

• Baptism
• Sin
• Evangelism
• Holy Spirit
• Altar call
• Reversion (Islam)

External links

• Sermon #45: The New Birth by John Wesley
• Sermon #18: The Marks of the New Birth by John Wesley
• The Calvinist View of the Doctrine of Regeneration or The New Birth
• What is Monergistic Regeneration? (Calvinist/Reformed)
• Rosicrucians: Regeneration by Charles Weber, 2003