Born again
From Freepedia
- This article is about the religious concept. For other uses of the term see Born Again.
Born again is a term used primarily in Evangelical Protestantism, where it is associated with salvation, conversion and spiritual rebirth. By extension it is applied in other areas, including a transcending personal experience — or the experience of being spiritually reborn as a "new" human being.
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Christian concepts
To be born again in Christianity is synonymous with spiritual rebirth and, in many denominational traditions, salvation. The term is used somewhat differently in different 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".)
Most Christian denominations hold that a Christian must be born again, in some sense, and thus that those who are true Christians are born again, whether they describe themselves as such or not. The Roman Catholic church, for example, considers that "Baptism is ... the sacrament by which we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost." [1], though the term is not frequently used by Catholics. The term is most frequently used by Evangelical Protestants, where it is often associated with an intense conversion experience and an encounter of the individual with the power of God. Some "born again" Christians deny that those without such an experience are true Christians. It is common to find that Christians who describe themselves as born again consider those who do not to be counterfeit.
The idea of 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 the Holy Spirit. John Wesley and Christians associated with early Methodism referred to the born again experience as "the New Birth".
General usage
Self-described born again Christians are often enthusiastic and outspoken concerning their beliefs; hence the phrase has come to be used to describe any overly enthusiastic supporter of some recently-acquired cause - e.g. born-again conservative, born-again sports fan, born-again skeptic etc.
Psychology
In psychological terms, being "born-again" is largely analogous to a perceptual state of hyper-salience, where one experiences an extreme and jarring change of perceptions, which causes one to believe that one has a new or renewed sense and understanding of oneself and one's relationship to the world. Some Christians dismiss these theoretical constructs, insisting that much of modern psychology is based on humanist worldviews that are inherently antithetical to spiritual truth.
See also
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
Categories: Theology | Charismatic and Pentecostal Topics | Christian evangelicalism | Christian theology
