For the first time in my life, I got down on my knees without being told to do so. I really wanted to talk to God. ‘Lord, I don’t know what happened to me tonight,’ I prayed. ‘You know. And I thank You for the privilege I’ve had tonight.’
—Billy Graham on his “born again” experience
In the calm and verdant open pastures of New England, a famed revivalist boomed: “Ye must be born again!”
Before he could finish his sermon, a nearby layperson is said to have asked the cleric: “Rev. Whitefield, sir, why do you so often preach the text, ‘Ye must be born again’?”
“Because, sir,” he replied. “Ye must be born again!”
So goes the likely apocryphal story of America’s revivalist who played a pivotal role in the spread of evangelical faith in the New World in the 18th century. A cofounder of Methodism, ardent Calvinist and unapologetic slaveowner, George Whitefield likely was the most well-known celebrity of his time in the then-English colonies of North America.
Evangelist George Whitefield preaching to a crowd in America as part of what came to be known as the Great Awakening.
Whitefield’s radical message of personal conversion to Christ through an explicit confession of faith in a kind of “crisis moment” was, for its time, a revolt in religion against the clericalism and ritualism of his mother church in England.
To this point, the Church of England had endured innumerable controversies, including a civil war, over its emphasis on liturgy, sacramentalism and the hierarchical polity it had preserved from its Roman Catholic origin with the trifold orders of deacon, priest (or, the less sacerdotal term “presbyter” in the Scottish Episcopal Church) and bishop.
Many English high churchmen scoffed at Whitefield and his associate John Wesley, dubbing them “enthusiasts” and “Methodists,” originally a term of derision that the new party would eventually claim as a title of honor.
We can imagine Whitefield’s hypothetical interlocutor objecting: “Born again, you say? Were we not born again when we passed through the regenerative waters of baptism as children?”
However, this traditional understanding of “new birth,” taken from Jesus’ words in John 3, would not suffice for Whitefield.
“This traditional understanding of ‘new birth,’ taken from Jesus’ words in John 3, would not suffice for Whitefield.”
The new birth, he insisted, was entirely divorced from works of religion and was an act of God wrought in the soul by grace through faith. Whitefield recalled his own born-again experience after receiving literature from his friend Charles Wesley:
I must bear testimony to my old friend Mr. Charles Wesley. He put a book into my hands, called, The Life of God and the Soul of Man, whereby God showed me that I must be born again, or be damned. I know the place: it may be superstitious, perhaps, but whenever I go to Oxford, I cannot help running to that place where Jesus Christ first revealed himself to me and gave me the new birth. (Scougal) says, a man may go to church, say his prayers, receive the sacrament, and yet, my brethren, not be a Christian. How did my heart rise, how did my heart shutter, like a poor man that is afraid to look into his account-books, lest he should find himself a bankrupt: yet shall I burn that book, shall I throw it down, shall I put it by, or shall I search into it? I did, and, holding the book in my hand, thus addressed the God of heaven and earth: Lord, if I am not a Christian, if I am not a real one, for Jesus Christ’s sake, show me what Christianity is, that I may not be damned at last. I read a little further, and the cheat was discovered; oh, says the author, they that know anything of religion know it is a vital union with the son of God, Christ formed in the heart; oh, what a way of divine life did break in upon my poor soul. … Oh! With what joy — Joy unspeakable — even joy that was full of, and big with glory, was my soul filled.
The Westminster Confession of Faith, to which Whitefield subscribed, would use a word often translated in our Bibles as “regeneration” to describe this phenomenon. Notably, this supernatural act is said to be the cause of personal faith and only occurs in the elect:
All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by his almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
It was from these English Protestant seeds that the revivals now dubbed the “Great Awakenings” would spring forth, with special emphasis given to the moment of conversion. In more radical traditions and under the leadership of “New Light” practitioners such as Charles Finney, this would develop into the “altar call” where penitents would flock down aisles to cry, weep and pray at a “mourner’s bench” until they felt God had given them new birth and completely and utterly changed their sinful lives into lives of holiness in a single, supernatural instant.
In the United States, this practice would reach into the mainstream of American culture through the preaching of Southern Baptist evangelist Billy Graham, who would invite seekers to come onto the field of packed stadiums to “get saved” and “be born again” to the tune of “Just As I Am,” written a century earlier by an evangelical Anglican at the time of her own “born again” experience.
This would lead renowned British historian David Bebbington to famously develop his “quadrilateral” of evangelicalism in the 1970s: biblicism (a high view of the Bible), crucicentrism (an emphasis on the Cross event), activism (evangelistic/proselytizing activities), and, crucial for our purposes, conversionism (a belief in the power of belief and the “born again” experience).
Saved from what?
If evangelicals are to be believed, the regenerative and “born again” moment involves a direct act of the divine will in which the old nature is eradicated, and the benefits of the Christ event are instantly applied to the faithful penitent.
The words of the Apostle Paul are often cited: “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
Reformed theologian Alan Cairns remarks on regeneration and new birth: “God acts directly in the act of creating spiritual life in a dead soul.” He adds that this “is accomplished without the use of means” (God performs it regardless of human will or initiative).
But is this what the Bible portrays? Moreover, does an analysis of evangelical belief and practice demonstrate a commitment to this doctrine as allegedly enumerated?
Before turning to the first question, we must answer the second — and that with a resounding “No!”
To start, an immense body of literature has been produced analyzing evangelicals’ ethical conduct, giving patterns and political activity. This editorial does not contain enough space to enumerate all of it, so our query must be satisfied with a few brief points.
First, evangelical hypocrisy long has been a target of secular opponents and fellow Christians alike. For the novice, I commend the late Ron Sider’s masterful work, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?
Indeed, only a cursory glance at the present evangelical landscape illustrates the magnitude of the problem — and contrary to detractors, it is a problem.
Evangelicals have overwhelmingly supported a convicted felon, admitted sexual assailant, thrice-married philanderer for the highest office of authority in this nation. This point need not be belabored, for many have done it to the point of annoyance.
The nation’s largest Protestant denomination faces a continual sexual abuse crisis at national, state and local levels.
The former president of the nation’s largest evangelical institution paid another man to make love to his wife.
The lead singer of one of the most popular Christian worship bands has been accused of sexually molesting young men.
Much more could be said.
Second, employing statistical analysis and quantitative research, we see no distinguishable difference in the behavior of evangelicals and “the world.” Moreover, one may argue evangelicals sometimes behave in ways that are more repugnant than their non-Christian peers.
Let us analyze an oft-touted point of pride for evangelicals: marriage. A 2001 poll showed 33% of self-identified evangelicals have been divorced compared to the national average of 34%. This is nearly statistically identical. Indeed, among all Protestants, evangelicals have the highest divorce rate and account for about half of Protestant divorces, outnumbering Mainliners and historically Black groups combined. This continues to be supported by ongoing research.
Would the “born again” experience ensure integrity in your business dealings and finances? Think again. One in 10 churches experiences embezzlement. One-sixth of all financial fraud committed in the United States occurs in nonprofit and religious organizations, placing them second only behind the financial sector. The naïve and vulnerable have been preyed upon by wolves promising Bible-backed investment opportunities, so sow a seed of faith today (even if we steal half a billion dollars from you).
Finally, we turn to the issue of child abuse. A 1995 study published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma revealed about 43% of religion-related abuse cases involved fundamentalist Christian groups, and an additional 38% involved “other protestants” (evangelicals, Mainliners and historically Black churches). These numbers have remained virtually unchanged in the past 30 years, with a recent white paper from the Evangelical Council on Abuse Prevention indicating that about 70 allegations of child abuse are made in churches every week.
Indeed, a landmark study published in 1999 reported that evangelicals and other conservative Protestants strike their children three or more times a week, the highest and most frequent of any queried religious group. This is perhaps the worst-kept secret among evangelicals, who often favor handling abuse crises privately out of fear of outside scrutiny and judgment from “the world.”
“Is there any distinguishable difference between the born-again and the non-born-again?”
So, is there any distinguishable difference between the born-again and the non-born-again? The answer is a clear and resounding, “No!”
The data suggests your born-again experience will make you likelier to strike your kids, fall prey to fraud and vote for a felon.
Following Whitefield, is this really the thing Jesus commands of all people? To pray a prayer, weep at a mourner’s bench and then seemingly undergo a supernatural spiritual transformation that has a negligible — if not negative — effect on your personal behavior and ethics?
No.
The conversionism of evangelicalism and the rose-colored lenses employed toward the born-again experience reveal that “new birth” and “regeneration” as understood by evangelicals are nothing more than myths in two senses of the word. First, they are false and not grounded in reality or scriptural witness. Second, they are communal stories evangelicals tell themselves to foster belonging and a shared ideological framework.
Toward a biblical theology of regeneration
What does the Bible really convey with words such as “regeneration” and “new birth”?
To begin, it is essential to recognize that the Hebrew Bible (the 39 books of what Christians refer to as “the Old Testament”) contains very little about the concept of personal forgiveness and atonement for sins, with the closest comparison being the personal atonement made by the high priest on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Hebrew Bible differentiates between various acts of impurity: ritual and moral. Ritual impurity was atoned for through Israel’s cult and sacrificial system. Moral impurity, signified by sins such as bloodshed, idolatry, blasphemy and certain sexual offenses (including homosexuality), could not be atoned for because they not only polluted the sanctuary of the temple but also defiled the sinner and the land of Israel. Therefore, if one was caught, the penalty for moral impurity was death.
“Personal sins” — if the Hebrew Bible even has a category for them — were considered a private matter. Scholars of the Hebrew text are virtually unanimous on this point.
Second, in the New Testament (and through seeds planted by the prophets of the Hebrew Bible, although never given complete exposition, lest we become guilty of Marcionism), Jesus emphasized the moral disposition of the heart while also affirming the significance of the temple. His Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in the Synoptics, became the foundation for Christian ethics, and the criteria of “love” and “virtue” began to be heavily employed by Christian writers, evident in the apostles’ writings.
Contrary to what scholars refer to as the “Deuteronomistic history” (the collection of writings from Deuteronomy through the book of 2 Kings), Jesus drew from the prophetic tradition, indicating that what became central to the life of the faithful was not the centrality of worship in the Jerusalem temple (although this was affirmed until its destruction by the Romans in AD 70), but the life of love toward God and neighbor.
Finally, the New Testament’s references to “new birth” and “regeneration” often have been misinterpreted and misread by evangelicals due to their “belief in belief.”
To begin with, Paul’s well-known words in 2 Corinthians 5:17 do not pertain to individual human beings being made “new creations.” Instead, as the NIV rightly translates the Greek text, considering a missing verb, if “anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.” This signifies that God, through the resurrection of Jesus, has initiated God’s reign and rule on earth.
Consequently, what truly matters is not an individual experience of salvation but God’s invitation to humanity to partake in a renewed form of existence that was lost in the Garden. As Paul further elucidates: “The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
Jesus’ words about being “born again” in John 3 are better understood as being born “from above” (the Greek term carries both meanings), particularly in light of his subsequent words in the same passage regarding his descent from above to save the world: “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” (John 3:13-15).
Thus, Jesus is not referring to an instantaneous act of newfound religious fervor, but rather to divine renewal through his message, which occurs “by water and Spirit” — that is, through the initiatory rite into God’s new humanity, the church, via the waters of baptism and the promise of localized divine presence through God’s Spirit (as opposed to the centralized temple).
The word used to describe this phenomenon in the New Testament is palingenesia, a compound of the words for “again” and “generate,” from which we get the word “regeneration.”
Again, its usage in the New Testament speaks more of the renewal of all things in Christ (see Matthew 19:28) than a personal crisis event. The word is connected to an individual’s renewal, but this occurs in the community context of the church through the waters of baptism (Titus 3:5). Crucially, the term was used in intertestamental and other Second Temple literature to describe the promised return of the exiled nation to the Land of Promise. It also was used in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) in the flood myth of Genesis.
Thus, a personalized conception of “regeneration” that merely involves feeling remorse or conviction of sin apart from formation into Christ in the community of faith is not a biblical regeneration. In fact, it is more Gnostic than Christian, as the term was also used by pagan Greeks to describe the cyclical recreation of the universe via the Demiurge.
So then, it seems the evangelical movement really is in need of being “born again,” and it can start by abandoning its license to indulge immorality on the pretense of supposed spiritual superiority.
David Bumgardner
David Bumgardner is a writer, theologian and educator living in Columbus, Ohio. He is a former BNG Clemons Fellow and a graduate of Texas Baptist College at Southwestern Seminary. He is a licensed commissioned pastor and holds an evangelism license through the Anglican Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Diocese of Boga, and Missio Mosaic, an ecumenical missional society and religious order. He is awaiting the conferral of his master of arts in practical theology degree from Winebrenner Theological Seminary. He is currently conducting postgraduate theological research (MTh) at the University of Aberdeen in New Testament and Early Christianity.