Does Being Born Again Make You A Better Person? (ritual, reincarnate)

[Sunstone]

I haven't noticed that being "born again" makes people better, but I have noticed that mystical experiences sometimes make people better. So, I would first assume that some people who consider themselves "born again" do so because they've had a mystical experience, secondly that some of those people are better for it.

[Reverend Chris]

Originally Posted by Kungfuzed

If a born again Christian is reincarnated, do they have to be born again again?

Most Christians do not believe in reincarnation although it is gaining popularity.

Originally Posted by Isabella Lecour

What do you mean by "born again?" Is it anything like being baptised? I've always thought of them being the same thing just different words. I don't think it makes a person better but I do know that it can change a person. Often the results are unexpected.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.Roman 10:9 KJV

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3:5 KJV

Most Christians follow these verses. Born again and saved is basically the same with some arguments with John 3:5 as to what are required to be saved or born again.

[UltraViolet]

On the first day of my supernatural lifting...
God "Himself" called me deep unto deep....
and I dove head first, for the first time in years,
to the bottom of our swimming pool,
and swam the bottom all the way across.

It was truly a leap of faith...
because I hadn't taken a dive in so many years...
and the water (that is another story altogether)
itself was "lifted" that year.
Total imursion in the depths of God's Spirit was embodied in me that day.
The world has been NEW and supernatural ever since.

My NEW reality,
Is INCOMPARABLY better than my old one was.

Am I a better person?
Well I can say that I'm happier,
and REALER, and more wide awake.
I am in no way a victim of life anymore.

[UltraViolet]

Upon further contemplation I would say...
that I entered deep deep deep into the eternal NOW that day,

and EVERY moment spent deep in the eternal now,
is a rebirth, an ever unfolding newness,
and so, as long as I remain deep in the NOw....
I am being reborn yet, again, and again , and again...
so after that first immursion....
THE NEWNESS LASTS FOREVER!

YAY!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Tangnefedd

I suppose I am pretty sceptical about 'born agains' as opposed to other Christians, because I have not had the best of experiences with many of them. A person I know well was a nice enough guy before he got 'born again', now he is judgemental and unpleasant. There is not much point in a faith which doesn't make you nice to know, imo.

I appreciate that these many threads you've created that are critical of Christianity are issues that you need to talk about, but perhaps you can space them out? Seeing so many of them in a short space of time, feels from my perspective like a barrage of negativity. The effect is just as unpleasant as the people that you are talking about. And I am not even Christian, tho it is one of several faiths from which I take guidance.

I've met born agains who are unpleasant. And I've met born agains who are pleasant. It's probably the case that I've met more of the former. But I've also come to realize that some of what I found unpleasant had nothing to do with their being judgmental or proselytizing and more to do with me interpreting their actions as such based on my preconceived ideas about them. Like all religious labels, it is difficult to generalize because different people mean different things by these labels.

[Shadow Wolf]

Not necessarily.

[w00t]

Originally Posted by lilithu

I appreciate that these many threads you've created that are critical of Christianity are issues that you need to talk about, but perhaps you can space them out? Seeing so many of them in a short space of time, feels from my perspective like a barrage of negativity. The effect is just as unpleasant as the people that you are talking about. And I am not even Christian, tho it is one of several faiths from which I take guidance.

I've met born agains who are unpleasant. And I've met born agains who are pleasant. It's probably the case that I've met more of the former. But I've also come to realize that some of what I found unpleasant had nothing to do with their being judgmental or proselytizing and more to do with me interpreting their actions as such based on my preconceived ideas about them. Like all religious labels, it is difficult to generalize because different people mean different things by these labels.

Whoops!!!!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Tangnefedd

Whoops!!!!

lol, that's a sweet response.

It would help, if you are willing and perhaps in another thread, for you to discuss both what you like and what you dislike about Christianity. You describe yourself as Christian agnostic and you are clearly proud of your daughter, so there must be aspects of Christianity that you like. Conversely I would readily agree that there is much in Christianity to question and even criticize.

btw, my senior minister preached a sermon on being born again at our General Assembly. It's his position and I completely agree that we are born again multiple times in our lives, with each new turning point, with each new epiphany, with each new "conversion." We are not the same persons as we were when we we born...and hopefully will not be the same people when we die.

[w00t]

Originally Posted by lilithu

lol, that's a sweet response.

It would help, if you are willing and perhaps in another thread, for you to discuss both what you like and what you dislike about Christianity. You describe yourself as Christian agnostic and you are clearly proud of your daughter, so there must be aspects of Christianity that you like. Conversely I would readily agree that there is much in Christianity to question and even criticize.

btw, my senior minister preached a sermon on being born again at our General Assembly. It's his position and I completely agree that we are born again multiple times in our lives, with each new turning point, with each new epiphany, with each new "conversion." We are not the same persons as we were when we we born...and hopefully will not be the same people when we die.

We are proud of our daughter not because she is an Anglican Priest, but because she is doing a good job and is well respected for the things she does in the community. She is a good girl.

I don't know about the idea of being 'born again' each time we have a new direction in our lives. I don't think we shed our experiences, we use them to build on as we move forward, imo.