Born again (Christianity)

In some Christian movements, particularly in Evangelicalism, to be born again is a popular phrase referring to "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit. This is contrasted with the physical birth everyone experiences.

In contemporary Christian usage, the term is distinct from sometimes similar terms used in mainstream Christianity to refer to being or becoming Christian, which is linked to baptism. Individuals who profess to be "born again" often state that they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The phrase "born again" is also used as an adjective to describe individual members of the movement who espouse this belief, as well as the movement itself ("born-again Christian" and the "born-again movement").

The term is derived from an event in the New Testament in which the words of Jesus were not understood by a Jewish pharisee, Nicodemus.

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit."

The Greek phrase in the text in itself is not so clear, resulting in a wordplay in which Jesus' meaning, "born again" is rendered as "born from above," in some translations such as the NET and the NRSV.

Historically, Christianity has used various metaphors to describe its rite of initiation, that is, spiritual regeneration via the sacrament of baptism by the power of the water and the spirit. This remains the common understanding in most of Christendom, held, for example, in Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism,Lutheranism, and in much of Protestantism. However, sometime after the Reformation, Evangelicalism give an important place to born again as an experience of religious conversion (), symbolized by deep-water baptism, and rooted in a commitment to one's own personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. This same belief is, historically, also an integral part of Methodist doctrine, and is connected with the doctrine of Justification.

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