Born again (Christianity)

"New Birth" redirects here. For the soul group, go to New Birth (band).

In Christianity, the terms born again, regenerated or transformed are synonymous with spiritual rebirth — i.e., salvation. It means having a "personal" faith in Jesus Christ.^[1] The term is most frequently used by Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal and some Mainline branches of Protestant Christianity. It is sometimes associated with non-denominational individuals, groups and churches.

Outside of Christianity it is occasionally used to describe beliefs characterised by renewal, resurgence or return.

[edit] Derivation of Christian use of the term

The Christian use of the term is derived from Jesus’ words to Jewish leader Nicodemus as recorded in the third chapter of the Gospel of John:

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'^[2] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

– John 3:1-8, NKJV

Some Christian denominations hold that a person must be born again in some sense to be a Christian and are explicit about this with their use of the words. The term is most popular in the USA, and is making inroads into other parts of the world. The meaning of born again varies among Christian traditions as how literally or symbolically they take the term and how central it is within their belief system:

The Catholic Church associates "being born again" with baptism. It holds that "Baptism is ... the sacrament by which we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost.^[3] Noting 1 Peter 3:21 "baptism doth also now save us " (KJV) as a fundamental belief of the earliest Christians found in their writings^[4]^[5]. This is also a belief held by Eastern Christianity, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, among other Christian traditions. Some non liturgical churches like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also associate baptism with being born again.^[6]

Most Protestant churches place less emphasis on a conversion experience and rely on the individual's personal statement of belief in and commitment to Jesus Christ as "Lord" and "Savior." While they do not deny the validity of a conversion experience, they would seldom use the term "born again" to describe the experience per se, but as a result of accepting the free gift of salvation.

Some Evangelical, Fundamentalist, and Pentecostal Christians associate "being born again" with a conversion experience that involves a personal, and sometimes intense, encounter of the individual with the power of God; a moment or period when they acknowledged their response to accept God's salvation and follow Him. Some Christians in these groups may say that those without such a conversion experience, (i.e. the point where one responds to the encounter by choosing to follow God and accept His forgiveness in their life [not the powerful encounter itself]), are not "saved". In other words, since the Bible teaches that salvation comes by Faith, it is thus Faith and not the experience that makes a person born again; the experience itself is often a way in which God encourages and inspires Faith. For some of these groups, "born again" can refer to two separate experiences. One is being baptized in water by full immersion and the other being filled with the Holy Spirit. Oneness Pentecostals believe baptism in Jesus name is essential for the new birth and the baptism of the Spirit is manifested through the speaking of new tongues.^[7]

In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology. The idea of being "born again" carries with it the soteriological 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. The Apostle Paul described it as such:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

– 2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV

John Wesley and Christians associated with early Methodism referred to the "born again" experience as "the New Birth." They based this on the previously cited biblical passages and including the following:

But as many as received Him (that is Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

– John 1:12-13, NKJV

[edit] Ancient usage

Jesus as depicted in the Gospel of John, chapter 3, originates the term "born again" while teaching Nicodemus, a rabbi of the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees, that his traditional Jewish understanding of the promise of salvation being rooted in "the seed of Abraham" which he held as physical lineage was in error, that one must be born a second time through spiritual rebirth. The Apostle Paul further reinforces this idea, explaining in his epistles to the Galatians, chapter 3, and Romans 9:7,8 that the promise of the "the seed of Abraham" is not according to the "physical seed" but rather to those who are of the "spiritual seed" of Christ through faith in the promise God made to Abraham, which was the Messiah, nullifying the ancient traditional belief that Jews are automatically heirs to the promise of salvation by physical birth, requiring that all men whether Jew or Gentile be "born again" of the spiritual seed of Christ.

[edit] 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. Based on most exit polls of the 2004 US presidential election, born again Christians were a major factor in the re-election of George W. Bush.^[8]

In 1976 a book titled Born Again was published by Watergate conspirator and convicted felon Charles Colson. It describes his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment and played a significant role in solidifying "Born Again" identity as a cultural construct in the U.S. The term was sufficiently prevalent that during the 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 Rev. Little Richard Penniman, Mark Farner, Dan Peek, Donna Summer, Bob Dylan.^[9], Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Dave Mustaine, Nicko McBrain, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Cash, Brian Welch, Keith Farley and Alice Cooper were artists whose born again conversions had an impact on modern culture. Others such as James Cash Penney, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, WWE superstar Shawn Michaels, Charlie Daniels, and Mr. T are also mentioned as being born again.