Our parish has a Q&A feature in which staff members tackle the queries left in a comment box or e-mailed to the parish. I volunteered to reply to the question titled above:
The root of this principle is in John 3:3-5, and it reads:
Jesus said to (Nicodemus), “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?”
Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.
Scripture scholars note that the Greek word ἄνωθεν (anothen) means both “from above” and “again.” Jesus seems to be referring to the first meaning, and Nicodemus seems to misinterpret the Lord, taking the second meaning.
Misunderstandings aside, the notion of being reborn in baptism, in “water and Spirit,” tells of the great significance of the sacrament, and of the commitment to the Christian life it implies. Jesus certainly preaches that those who wish to see and participate in the kingdom of God will experience such a momentous change in their lives, that the notion of a second birth is not an exaggeration.
Many Christians speak of being “born again,” as a graced event in which people, usually adults, experience the Lord in such a significant way that it’s like a whole new life for them. And ideally, this is what all Christians should experience when they commit themselves to Jesus Christ. The question might be raised: does it happen only once? Or is it possible, through a continuing conversion, to go progressively deeper into a Christian commitment to God? The witness of the saints might suggest that this continuing experience is the mark of a godly life.
In baptism, and even as infants, Catholics are “born again,” in the sense Jesus means: “being born of water and Spirit.” It’s no accident that the baptismal font at our parish was designed to suggest a tomb, and that in baptism we participate in death and rebirth, as Saint Paul describes, “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
As a child grows, an openness to God’s grace is necessary. The same is true for adults. Baptism is not a magical event, and neither is the evangelical or charismatic experience of being “born again.” Each of these experiences is an opportunity for God’s grace to work in us. But we always have the freedom to choose: we can close ourselves off from divine grace, or we can cooperate with God’s will and live out a Christian life after being “born from above.”
Image Credit: painter Edward Tanner (1899), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
13 March 2010 at 7:24 pm
Having come from that (the Evangelical “born-again”) world, I think I can clear up one misunderstanding.
When an Evangelical speaks of being “born again,” what he has in mind is what a Catholic would call “Second Conversion.” And he thinks that this is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus about when Jesus speaks of being born “of the Spirit.” (Opinions vary about the meaning of “water” in that context.)
Now I happen to believe this is a mistaken interpretation. I believe sacramental baptism is intended by Jesus, and by the Apostle John who is relating this story to us.
However, let’s stipulate that somehow many Catholics who never seem to develop the personal relationship with Christ which is their birthright as baptized Catholics, leave the Church and end up “finding Jesus” in Evangelical churches precisely because Evangelicals focus on the Second Conversion so very much — and why shouldn’t they, given that they hold it to be a requirement for salvation?
You’ll have noticed that many of these same Catholics later return to the Church after discovering the limits and contradictions of Protestantism, or after reading the Church Fathers. But they don’t, as a rule, tend to bad-mouth the Evangelical churches thereafter. They often go on expressing gratitude to their Baptist and Assemblies of God and non-denominational Sunday School Teachers and pastors. I suspect that this Second Conversion is the reason.
3 April 2010 at 4:24 pm
We have the Sacrament of Confirmation which is about the equivalent to what protestants would call being born-again. However, they believe they are then on alright with God and they no longer sin and have a chance to go to Hell. Whereas we believe you always have the chance of turning towards evil and being damned.
23 March 2012 at 4:45 pm
jen –you are so messed up. Choose between the Word of God and the traditions of meer man. you are lost and seperated from God with the nature of your father the Devil. Jesus died in your place,yes it should have been you dying for your own sins . you can’t make it to heaven on your own, you need Jesus he is your subsitute. Jesus did it for you because he knew you were not able to make it on your own. It’s a free gift, He loves you , when you recieve Him by asking Him to save you, you are changed into a born again person and then and only then you a a New person, no sinful nature, it’s gone. You now have the Nature of God your Father. Your a child of The King. this is how you are able to enter heaven. Jesus the perfect one exchanged his righeouness for your sin and took it to the Cross. When He suffered and died and was buried, it was you who suffered, died and was buried.. WOW.
All you need to do is to pray a prayer and ask him give you eternal LIFE. He will come into you Heart and you will be in the Family. Love Dick Martin