Spiritual rebirth

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, contrasted with physical birth.

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 is ambiguous, resulting in a wordplay in which "born again" is rendered as "born from above" in some translations such as the NET and the NRSV.

The King James Version uses the phrase born again three times, two of them in chapter 3 of the Gospel of John when Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus.

John's Gospel was written in Greek, and the word translated as again is ἄνωθεν (ánōtʰen), which could mean again, or from above. The New Revised Standard Version prefers this latter translation, and both the King James Version and the Revised Version give it as an alternative in the margins. Hoskyns argues that it is to be preferred as the fundamental meaning and he drew attention to phrases such as "birth of the Spirit (v.5)", "birth from God (cf. Jn 1:12-13; 1Jn 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:18)" but maintains that this necessarily carries with it an emphasis upon the newness of the life as given by God himself.

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