Isn’t the correct translation “born from above”?
And not be “born again”?
And not be “born again”?"
Its a shame that we are all not fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek and even the Vulgate Latin. It would make these discussions so much more productive than attempting them in modern English. English is such a poor language for these things.
Idiomatically, the reference is to being renewed. In this respect we Catholics are no different than our separated brothers and sisters. We simply refer to that renewal as "conversion". Where we differ is that we believe that conversion is a life long process that is never really completed and not a single Road to Damascus Epiphany.
God calls us to seek him, to know him, to love him with all our strength, all or our heart and all of our soul. The Catechism teaches that faith is our response to God's call. Responding in faith requires we trust in the authority of God as the cause of our belief. As the Blessed John Henry Newman said; “Faith is not a conclusion from premises, but an act of the will following on the conviction that to believe is a duty”. Intellect, education, and reason can assist, but they cannot substitute for faith. We must choose to believe and at that moment when we first choose to believe and to cooperate with Grace, in a very real sense we are born of the Spirit, both again and from above.
"T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed."
Not really. The word used there is “Anothen” which means “anew” or “over again”. What Jesus said was unless one is born “anew” he cannot see the kingdom of God. To get a hint of what was understood by the words Jesus used look at the response from Nicodemus in verse 4 “4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Nicodemus clearly thought about being born again or anew.