In Christianity, born again refers to a "spiritual rebirth" (regeneration) of the human soul or spirit, contrasted with the physical birth everyone experiences. The origin of the term "born again" is the New Testament: "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.'"[Jn 3:3 NIV][1] It is a term associated with salvation in Christianity. Individuals who profess to be born again often state that they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.[2][3][4]
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Throughout most of Christian history, to be "born again" was understood as spiritual regeneration via the sacrament of baptism by the power of water and word. This is still the understanding in Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism and Eastern Orthodoxy. However, beginning sometime after the Reformation, being born again[5] has been predominantly understood by some Protestants (of the "anabaptist" branch) to be an experience of conversion symbolized by water baptism, and rooted in a commitment to one's own personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. This same belief is also an integral part of Methodist doctrine,[6][7] and is connected with the doctrine of Justification.[8] Following an interpretation of, for instance, Ezekiel 36:26,[9] many believe that when a person accepts Jesus as the Messiah and receives the Holy Spirit, a radical "change of heart" occurs. This change is marked by an aversion to sin and a passion for obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ, as outlined in the Christian scriptures. Many associate the term "born again" with the revelation of a new concept, or an experience of conversion, defined as mental assent to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal Saviour; though some believe that this experience or mental assent (See Gnosticism) is not alone sufficient to merit Christian salvation. Rather, in addition, this is brought about by repentance, the aforementioned "new birth" of the Holy Spirit, and faith in Jesus Christ's propitiation for sins.[10]
Following Acts 2:38:
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."[Acts 2:38]
this change is believed by some denominations to come from repentance, water baptism, and subsequent receipt of Holy Spirit.However, other denominations believe, following Romans 10:9:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [Romans 10:9]
that confession of Christ as Lord and sincere belief in his resurrection is sufficient for salvation. The Oxford English Dictionary, finding examples going back to 1961, defines the adjective born-again as:
Of, pertaining to, or characterized by (an experience of) new birth in Christ or spiritual renewal; of a Christian: placing special emphasis on this experience as a basis for all one's actions, evangelical.[11]
Most English Bibles contain three uses of the phrase born again. The first is in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3 (John 3), verse 3, used by Jesus while speaking to Nicodemus, a rabbi of the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees, who is referred to as "a ruler of the Jews". Nicodemus says that, because of his miracles, Jesus is known "to be a teacher come from God". Jesus immediately makes the statement (in the King James translation): "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God".
Also, in the same Gospel, in verses 7 and 8, Jesus says:
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. / The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
The John Gospel was written in Greek, and the Greek word translated as again is ανωΘεν (anothen), which could mean again, or from above.
The third and last mention of the phrase is in the First Letter of Peter (Peter 1), verses 22-23. The King James Bible translates this as:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently: / Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Here, the Greek word translated as born again is αναγεγεννημενοι (anagegennemenoy).
The traditional Jewish understanding of the promise of salvation was that being rooted in "the seed of Abraham" referred to physical lineage from Abraham. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that this doctrine was in error—that every person must have two births—the natural birth of the physical body, the other of the water and the spirit.[12] This discourse with Nicodemus established the Christian belief that all human beings—whether Jew or Gentile—must be "born again" of the spiritual seed of Christ. The Apostle Peter further reinforced this understanding in 1 Peter 1:23. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that "A controversy existed in the primitive church over the interpretation of the expression the seed of Abraham. It is [the Apostle Paul's] teaching in one instance that all who are Christ's by faith are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. He is concerned, however, with the fact that the promise is not being fulfilled to the seed of Abraham (referring to the Jews)."[13]
Charles Hodge writes that "The subjective change wrought in the soul by the grace of God, is variously designated in Scripture" with terms such as new birth, resurrection, new life, new creation, renewing of the mind, dying to sin and living to righteousness, and translation from darkness to light.[14]
Jesus Christ used the "birth" analogy in tracing spiritual newness of life to a divine beginning. Contemporary Christian theologians have provided explanations for "born from above" being a more accurate translation of the original Greek word transliterated anōthen.[15] Theologian Frank Stagg cites two reasons why the newer translation is significant:
An early example of the term in its more modern use is found in the sermons of John Wesley. In the sermon printed under the title of A New Birth, he said "none can be holy unless he be born again", and "except he be born again, none can be happy even in this world. For ... a man should not be happy who is not holy." Also, "I say, [a man] may be born again and so become an heir of salvation." Wesley also states infants who are baptized are born again, but for adults it is different:
... our church supposes, that all who are baptized in their infancy, are at the same time born again. ... But ... it is sure all of riper years, who are baptized, are not at the same time born again.[17]
At the Council of Trent, on 15 November 1551, the necessity for a second conversion after baptism was delineated:[18]
This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, clasping sinners to her bosom, is at once holy and always in need of purification, and follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion (Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1428 & 1430).
David MacDonald, a Catholic apologist, has written in regards to paragraph 1428, that "this endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a 'contrite heart,' drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first."[19]
Protestants believe the bible verse that "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." To be born again for most protestants is to have accepted Jesus Christ as personal lord and savior of one's life. They base their views on the biblical verse of Roman 10: 9 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.". They teach that to see the kingdom of God one has to be born again. To be born again means to be saved because in order to be saved one has to confess Jesus is Lord with one's mouth and believe it in one's heart. So to be born again means to follow Romans 10:10 that "with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved". Many Protestants preach that by being born again one receives Jesus Christ as personal savior, accepts Jesus into one's heart and as a result there is a conscious change in the heart and one's life. They affirm that unless one is not born again, one cannot be saved.
In recent history, born again is a term that has been widely associated with the evangelical Christian 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 a conversion experience, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in order to be saved from Hell and given eternal life with God in Heaven, 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.
In 1976, Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson's book Born Again gained international notice. TIME magazine named him "One of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America."[20] 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 US Presidential candidate. Modern musicians Rev. Little Richard Penniman,[21] Mark Farner, Dan Peek, Donna Summer, Bob Dylan,[22] Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Dave Mustaine, Nicko McBrain, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Cash, Brian Welch, Keith Farley, Cliff Richard, Randy Travis, Alice Cooper and Lou Gramm[23] were artists whose born again conversions had an impact on modern culture. Others such as James Cash Penney, Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, wrestlers Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and wrestler Sting, Jesse McCartney, Charlie Daniels, Kirk Cameron, and Mr. T are also mentioned as being born again. Former Alabama governor and US presidential candidate George Wallace became born again in the late 1970s, which led him to apologize for his earlier segregationist views.
In his book Born Again (1976 and 2008), Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson describes his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment and played a significant role in solidifying the "born again" identity as a cultural construct in the US. He writes that his spiritual experience followed considerable struggle and hesitancy to have a "personal encounter with God." He recalls:
... while I sat alone staring at the sea I love, words I had not been certain I could understand or say fell from my lips: "Lord Jesus, I believe in You. I accept You. Please come into my life. I commit it to You." With these few words...came a sureness of mind that matched the depth of feeling in my heart. There came something more: strength and serenity, a wonderful new assurance about life, a fresh perception of myself in the world around me.[24]
The first born-again President of the United States was Jimmy Carter in 1976.[25] "In the 1980 campaign, all three of the major candidates ... stated that they had been born-again"[26]
The Gallup Organization reported that "In 2003, 42% of U.S. adults said they were born-again or evangelical; the 2004 percentage is 41%." Also, "Black Americans are far more likely to identify themselves as born-again or evangelical, with 63% of blacks saying they are born-again, compared with 39% of white Americans. " and "Republicans are far more likely to say they are born-again (52%) than Democrats (36%) or independents (32%)."[27]
The quotation from the Gospel of John has raised some questions about the meaning and authenticity of the phrase "born again". In the chapter, Nicodemus is puzzled and asks Jesus what he means by saying that "Ye must be born again". He questions: "How can a man re-enter his mother's womb?" Bart D. Ehrman says that this confusion is because in Greek (the language of the gospel) the word again is ambiguous. It might mean again or a second time or from above, which would explain Nicodemus' confusion. However, the Jews at Jesus' time were actually speaking Aramaic, in which language there would not have been a double meaning. Ehrman says that this raises questions about the authenticity of the dialogue, the meaning of the words, and, therefore, the use of the phrase.[28]
A 19th century source notes that the phrase was not mentioned by the other Gospellers, nor by the Apostles except Peter. "It was not regarded by any of the Evangelists but John of sufficient importance to record." And, without John, "we should hardly have known that it was necessary for one to be born again." This suggests that "the text and context was meant to apply to Nicodemus particularly, and not to the world." Otherwise, it would have been mentioned more often. [29]
The idea of being "born again in Christ" inspired some common European forenames: French René/Renée (also used in the Netherlands), Dutch Renaat/Renate, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Renato/Renata, Latin Renatus/Renata, which all mean "reborn", "born again".
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