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Revision as of 06:34, 28 January 2003 by Stevertigo (talk | contribs) (cut lengt hto talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Born again is a common term in contemporary religious dialogue, referring to a trancending personal experience - or the experience of being spiritually reborn as a "new" human being. In psychological terms, its analogous to a state and post-state of hyper-salience; where the brain experiences a extreme and jarring change of perceptions, causing a re-awakened and renewed sense and understanding of oneself and the the outside world
Christian concepts
To be born again in Christianity is synonymous with spiritual rebirth and, in many denominational traditions, salvation. A large number of American Christians call themselves born-again Christians, including Al Gore, and insert name here . They claim that being born again is essential for salvation. The term is used somewhat differently in different Christian traditions.
Born Again Christians claim that there is no other way of becoming a Christian but by being born "from above". The Christian use of the term is said to be derived from the third chapter of the Gospel of John, where Nicodemus asks Jesus what he must do 'to be saved.' Jesus states that he must be "born again", which Nicodemus says he not to understand, demanding to know how a man can 'come out of his mother's womb again.'
- insert relevant Jesus quote here.
In John 3:5--"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit," and Titus 3:5--"The washing of regeneration," teach that the new birth may occur in connection with baptism. In Ephesians 5:26--"With the washing of water by (or in) the word"; John 15:3--"Clean through the word." In
These relate to baptism, and are understood as revealing of the cleansing power of the word of God.
If baptism and regeneration were identical, why should the Apostle Paul seem to make so little of that rite (1 Cor. 4:15, and compare with it 1 Cor. 1:14)? In the first passage Paul asserts that he had begotten them through the Gospel; and in 1:14 he declares that he baptized none of them save Crispus and Gaius. Could he thus speak of baptism if it had been the means through which they had been begotten again? Simon Magus was baptized (Acts 8), but was he saved? Cornelius (Acts 11) was saved even before he was baptized.
In Christainity, regeneration is not a natural forward step in man's development; it is a supernatural act of God; it is a spiritual crisis. It is not evolution, but involution -- the communication of a new life. It is a revolution--a change of direction resulting from that life. Herein lies the danger in psychology, and in the statistics regarding the number of conversions during the period of adolescence. The danger lies in the tendency to make regeneration a natural phenomenon, an advanced step in the development of a human life, instead of regarding it as a crisis. Such a psychological view of regeneration denies man's sin, his need of Christ, the necessity of an atonement, and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
See also: