Maniam PS [Guru] Reward Points : 137200 Member Since : Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Now a days we see a new generation of Christians who call themselves Born Again Christians. I like to know what do they mean by Born Again Christians. Are they re-discovering the Christian Faith or is it a sect with different views on Christianity???
A recent national survey found that about fifty percent of the American population claimed to be born-again Christians. To be born again in Christianity is synonymous with spiritual rebirth and, in many denominational traditions, salvation. The term is used somewhat differently in different Christian traditions. However, the term born-again Christian has come to refer a particular subset of Christianity, commonly also referred to as evangelicalism. Although there are no firm boundaries, and there is disagreement over which churches are considered evangelical and what it means to be born again, these generalities can be made about what distinguishes evangelical or born-again Christians from believers in some other kinds of Christianity: 1. They place a strong emphasis on having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus isn t merely an important historical figure or ethical teacher. He is seen as being personally involved in believers lives. 2. They place a strong emphasis on the Bible being the Word of God. They generally understand key events such as the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ to be literal events, not mythology or merely symbolic. 3. They emphasize the importance of a conversion experience. To them, becoming a Christian isn t something one is born into, but a decision that a person makes. 4. They generally believe in a literal heaven and hell, with heaven made for those who put their faith in Christ. 5. They are generally Protestant, although non-Protestants aren t excluded. 6. They emphasize the concept of grace, the idea that salvation is a gift from God rather than something that a person earns. 7. By definition, they believe in evangelism, sharing their religious views with nonbelievers. 8. They generally hold to a traditional view of sexual morality. Using a definition that is vaguely similar to that above, research organization The Barna Group has classified 8 percent of U.S. adults as evangelicals. Using a broader definition of born again than that given above, it found that 42 percent of Americans would be classified as born again.
Re-discovering Religion
