What Is Born Again?

[RomanRyan1088]

Ok, we got this ting in the mail from some church, and they said, " Jesus is comming soon, are you ready". Then it said, “Be born Again”. What do they mean be born again, Are Catholics Born Again, or what? What does that mean?

 

[raphaela]

Born again, from what i understand is being born in Christ. This i believe is a protestant thing, my fiance is “born-again” and is pentacostal. Basically you are born to the world once, and then born to Christ, that is to say that you dedicate your life to Christ. i don’t think catholics can be born again, but i’m not entirely sure. I think someone else will know a bit more about this than me. I hope this helped.

 

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

Catholics consider that “Born Again” is Baptism into the family of God.

So as a Catholic, if someone asks are you born again, you say “Yes, I have been baptized.”

Some protestants take “Born Again” as to having accepted Christ into our hearts or having a personal relationship with Christ.

Again as Catholics, we can answer these as “Yes we have.”

Sadly, some Catholics may not recognize it nor may they be actively living it.

 

[snuffy]

Good question!!
I used to belong to a Protestant forum and whenever they asked me if I was born again, I always answered “yes”.
The reason for me saying yes is that I was born and raised Catholic but left the Church when I was 16. I returned to the Church at the age of around 40. So I definitely feel that I’ve been born again. Everything to me about my faith, is like starting all over. So this is what I say…Although I’m not sure if I’m suppose to or not, but when I returned to the Church I truly felt ‘born again’
Jeanette

 

[robertaf]

Greetings Church

When someone asks me if I am Born Again, my answer is always this:

I am Born Again, Spirit Filled, Bible Thumpen, God Praising, Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, Roman Catholic.

This always opens up a vibrant conversation. I carry an purse sized New Testament with me in my purse and have taught scripture so I am ready for them. The thing is, being a former Protestant, and learning the Bible at Grandmas knee, I am pretty aware of the ammo I will need to draw on.

 

[empther]

To be born again in the Catholic interpretation is to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by which we become children of God. This happens at baptism. And so in John chap 3, Jesus says, "Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. To be ‘born again’ is equivalent to being in the state of grace, having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who by our invitation becomes co-agent to our soul.

The Protestants seem not to accept the Catholic idea of the indwelling Holy Spirit and therefore the equivalence of ‘born again’ to being in the state of grace is alien to them. So they have come to substitute the conversion experience. Somebody accepts Jesus as the redeemer who has cleased them of their sins and they are born again. That doesn’t sound to me like what Jesus was saying in John chap 3.