Are Catholics “Born Again?”

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.

"If you loved God as much as he loved you wouldn’t you want to do everything possible to show your love?

I hope that you see the Catholic Church as the pathway to God. Perhaps, there are others, but this is the one that Jesus established for us."

Sorry, I see only error and tragedy in the Catholic Church. I see the Roman Catholic Church has saddled many, many folks with a burden that they cannot carry: The implication that something, anything can be done to secure their own salvation in some kind of association with Rome. Do this, say that, genuflect, take this wafer, drink this cup, etc. All for naught, my FRiend. All is death and destruction...unless Christ Himself rescues you. That is not found in an organization, or a sacerdotal group, a sacrament, a ceremony, an attendance, an amulet, a bone, a building or anywhere or anything.

It is only when He finds you and chooses you. And according to the letter to the Ephesians, this has all happened before the foundation of the earth and the rebellion of Rome is that they don't like this truth.

A couple of corrections are appropriate here.

First the Church Age did not begin until some 50 days after the resurrection on the Day of Pentecost, some 10 days after the Ascension.

Paradise was a compartment of Hades for all deceased believers, separate from the Torments and separate from the Abyss and the Lake of Fire.

Old Testament believers went to Paradise, also known as Abraham’s Bosom after death. At the resurrection other believers also rose from the dead as recorded in Acts and today believers after death are face to face with the Lord, indicating they are in heaven, but not yet receiving of the bema seat rewards.

A minor point, but if the thief on the Cross was the first in heaven,...assuming after Christ, it would be after the Ascension some 40 days later, but probably 50 days or in another place pending the preparation of the Bride of Christ for the wedding feast.

You are still on milk , try reading you Bible and getting the meat of it's intent. If you truly have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can NOT lose your salvation. Any church or cult that teaches any different is lying. I'm not going to give you the scriptures to back this up because you really need to do some serious study on your own. Do you know about “GRACE”. That is what it is all about. The Bible teaches that ALL SIN is an abomination to God whether it be murder or stealing or rape.(All Sin) So even though you may be saved you ARE going to sin every day for the rest of your life. (what you are thinking about me right now is probably a sin). So, how can you lose salvation for a sin when Jesus says we are all sinners and Paul himself said he was one of the worst??? Think man.

Marysecretary wrote:

“Every human is born of water..the natural birth process (when your water breaks, the babies are ready to be born.) When we receive Christ, we are born again in the spirit. That’s it...”

So, Jesus was telling Nicodemus that first you had to be born before you can be reborn? Is that what you are saying? This idea of yours that being born of water (decoupling it from Jesus’ words “and the Spirit”) in John 3 is simply a reference to natural birth is interesting. Is there any history of such an interpretation of John 3 in the long history of Christendom? It seems to me that this is a novel assertion of very recent vintage.

Your interpretation is, simply, preposterous. It is a wonderful example of imputing 21st century thinking to 1st century reality. Jesus’ point, in perfect accord with the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and, obviously, John, is that John the Baptist, at God’s authority, was to go out to all Israel preaching repentance and baptism. The reason being that all of Israel had sinned, all were called back to the true way God taught them through Moses (from which they had wandered under the leadership of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Zealots, and Essenes), and all were, through baptism, to be prepared for the Messiah, who would provide the forgiveness baptism promised. Since Nicodemus had not been baptized, as was the case with many of the religious leadership of the Jews, Jesus was pointing out that before He could understand the nature of God’s rule (that’s what the word kingdom means in most Biblical contexts) through His chosen Christ until he himself had been baptized, again, as God through John the Baptist had commanded.

The context of the term “born again” is John 3. The connection between “born again” and baptism is utterly biblical. Baptism is intended to lead to Christ, to bring the person in question to faith in Christ, and make him or her a disciple of Christ, as Matthew 28:18ff. makes perfectly clear.

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