Rebirth (christianity)

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Rebirth ( Latin regeneratio , ancient Greek ἀναγέννησις) usually denotes in Christianity a partial aspect of the appropriation of divine salvation to the individual. Since the New Testament Scriptures already use the metaphorical term inconsistently, the new birth is determined differently in different theological traditions, whereby the relationship to baptism , to receiving the Holy Spirit and to justification brought about by faith in Jesus Christ is particularly disputed. Occasionally the term stands for the whole of salvation appropriation, in other cases it is equated with the spiritual renewal of the individual.

Especially in pietism and the revival movement , rebirth has become a central concept and denotes the end of the earlier, “spiritually dead” life and the beginning of a new life as a Christian.

Biblical usage

In the New Testament the noun "rebirth" (παλιγγενεσία paliggenesia ) is used in two places. The most important factor in understanding the term was Tit 3.5  EU , where baptism is referred to as the “bath of rebirth”. Behind this is the Pauline doctrine of baptism as dying with Christ and acceptance into the new life with the risen Christ ( Rom. 6 : 3–11  EU ), which was connected with the metaphors of being children of God and the new creation. “Rebirth” in this sense describes the eschatological new development of man through his entering into a new relationship with God. In contrast to this individual understanding, Mt 19.28  EU “rebirth” designates the eschatological raising of the dead or the cosmic renewal of the whole world. This use is reminiscent of the Stoic idea of palingenesis as a new creation after a world cycle , but was taken up less often by theology.

The term is also used in 1 Petr 1,3 and 23  EU , which speaks of a “being-generated again” (ἀναγεννᾶν anagennan ) by virtue of the resurrection of Christ and through the divine word. Linked to this is the call to life's probation. In this imperative sense, rebirth unfolds an essential aspect of repentance or conversion as preached by Jesus of Nazareth . In the Johannine writings, the metaphor of procreation and (new) birth from God or “from above” is often used. According to Jn 3: 3–7  EU , Jesus calls rebirth as a necessary condition for acceptance into the kingdom of God . It is a divine gift, a mystery that separates the “children of God” from the world (compare 1 Jn 3,1  EU ) and is supposed to determine their actions now (compare 1 Jn 5,1  EU ).

Old church

In connection with the letter of Titus, the theologians of the early church saw rebirth (in addition to the washing away of sin) as a part of the effect of baptism. Greek fathers, such as Origen , also took up the influences of the mystery cults and saw the Christians as “clothed with the immortality of the father” and thus “already in the midst of the goods of rebirth and resurrection”. (Whether Origen represented the doctrine of reincarnation in earlier, no longer extant writings , is disputed.)

The Latin Fathers, on the other hand, closely linked rebirth with repentance , thus emphasizing human participation. Thus Cyprian of Carthage contrasted the holy life after the second birth with his vicious previous life. Even Augustine of Hippo moved rebirth as a process of increasing Gleichwerdung with the divine will closely follow the sanctificatio ( sanctification ) approach.

Currents in Modern Christianity

Traditional view

Especially in Orthodox , Catholic and Anglican doctrine, rebirth is an effect of baptism, in accordance with the doctrinal development in the early Church. So says z. B. the Catechism of the Catholic Church on baptismal grace:

"So the two main effects are cleansing from sin and being born again in the Holy Spirit."

Similarly, conservative Lutherans also attribute rebirth (as well as the washing of sins, the bestowal of the Spirit, enlightenment, etc.) to baptism. The idea that rebirth later in life was a consequence of baptism was due to Martin Luther's dynamic understanding of baptism . For him the sacrament of baptism was at the beginning of the effect of this sacrament , which leads to the rebirth of the believer. Burkhardt describes this as the actualistic understanding of rebirth, because for Luther the Christian life was a single preparation for eternal life. The intention was, as a consequence of the fundamental Reformation knowledge of the radical forlornness of man, to turn away from medieval substance thinking, i.e. the view of man that he was something in himself before God. Luther also found it enthusiastic and detrimental to God's honor that individual groups described rebirth in his perception as an experience detached from word and sacrament. As a result of this, the rebirth in church theology was increasingly limited to the baptism of children (baptismal rebirth) and thus torn from the people. Pietism rebelled against it. Like Reformation Anabaptists , they began baptizing adults to witness the previous rebirth.

Perspectives in modern theology

In liberal theology , rebirth is seen as a moral change or religious experience that cannot be brought about by the act of baptism or other human actions, rituals or institutions. With this, Friedrich Schleiermacher in particular tied in with the ( Herrnhut ) Pietism of his time.

In dialectical theology , rebirth is no longer ascribed to infant baptism, but rather described as something intangible that lies beyond human knowledge and experience. For Otto Weber, rebirth belongs to that reality which is only present as the one expected.

Evangelical view

The current evangelical movement also speaks of being born again. The understanding of their previous movements, pietism and revival movements, will be developed further. Above all , August Hermann Francke equated rebirth with the conversion to be achieved through penance and emphasized the distinction between the born again and the unborn.

In the USA in particular, many people, u. a. also politicians, as "born again" (reborn). In sociological literature, the term “born again” has a field of meaning describing a certain part of US society, which goes far beyond a theological interpretation or even replaces it, because the concern of the description is based on a different approach than in the mostly theological one oriented evangelical literature. With evangelicals, being born again is closely linked to a person's conversion . While rebirth and conversion together contain the spiritual renewal of man, they differ in that the rebirth tends to emphasize the activity of God in this renewal (see above), while conversion tends to describe the God-seeking activity of man, this also being done through the Holy Spirit is inspired. Both are of great importance for man's relationship to God.

Conversion is cited as a prerequisite for being born again , combined with claiming the divine forgiveness of the individual and trusting Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, to whom everything is subject. The new birth is a divine act of grace in which the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is the pledge for what God will give to the believer in the future ( 2 Cor 1 : 21-22  NGÜ ), ( Eph 4:30  NGÜ ).

The new birth includes the forgiveness of sins, enables the human mind to recognize spiritual realities ( 1 Cor 2,14-15  EU , Col 3,10  EU ) and frees the will to sanctification , to voluntary obedience to God, which was enslaved in sin ( Rom. 6,14.17-22  EU ).

New Apostolic View

In the teaching of the New Apostolic Church as well as other communities of the apostolic denomination group , the "spiritual rebirth" described by Jesus Christ ( Jn 3: 3-8  LUT ) is seen as necessary for participating in the rapture on the day of the imminent return of Christ . It is a constitutive feature of their theology that, in addition to water baptism , the baptism of the Spirit (“ sealing ”) by a living apostle is necessary. Both sacraments together made possible the “rebirth out of water and the Spirit”, which means the attainment of “children of God” according to Rom 8,16  LUT and the call to be “firstfruits” ( Rev 14,4  LUT ), i.e. participation in the rapture, as well for the future “royal priesthood” ( 1 Petr 2.9  LUT ). From the New Apostolic point of view, rebirth combines the understanding of the sacrament , the understanding of ministry of the apostolate and eschatology .

In the Catholic-Apostolic predecessor congregations as well as in other apostolic congregations, the dispensing of water baptism as a “bath of rebirth” ( Tit 3,5  LUT ) is sufficient. In the history of the New Apostolic Church, the exclusive importance of sealing for spiritual rebirth has developed steadily over many decades. However, it only became a formal component of New Apostolic teaching with the renewal of the creed in 1951 .

reincarnation

An understanding of the term rebirth in the sense of a reincarnation is rejected by a large number of Christian theologians and by the church teaching of all major churches.

literature

  • Paul Gennrich : The doctrine of rebirth, the central Christian doctrine in the history of dogma and the history of religion. Leipzig 1907.
  • Joseph Dey: Palingenesia: A contribution to the clarification of the religious-historical significance of Tit 3.5. PhD thesis, Freiburg i. B. 1937.
  • Gerhard Maier , Gerhard Rost (ed.): Baptism - rebirth - conversion from an evangelistic perspective. Publishing house of St.-Johannis-Druckerei, Lahr-Dinglingen 1980.
  • Hans Dieter Betz u. a .: rebirth. In: Religion Past and Present . 4th edition. Volume 8, 2005, columns 1528-1535.
  • Martin Friedrich: rebirth. In: Historical Dictionary of Philosophy . Volume 12, 2005, pp. 730-733.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leonhard Goppel : Art. "Rebirth II. In the NT". In: RGG 3 . Volume 6: Sh-Z. Tübingen 1962, column 1698.
  2. ↑ Origen: Peri Euches Biblion (De Oratione) , XXV (CGS 3, p. 359, lines 12-15)
  3. ^ Cyprian: Ad Donatus 3.4
  4. ^ De Baptismo Contra Donatistas Libri Septem , I, 11, 16
  5. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993), Art. 1262.
  6. ^ Horst Georg Pöhlmann : Abriß der Dogmatik. A compendium . Gütersloh publishing house Gerd Mohn, 4th edition, Gütersloh 1985, p. 277 f.
  7. ↑ Helmut Burkhardt: The biblical testimony of rebirth. (= Theology and Service. Issue 5) 2nd edited edition, Brunnen, Giessen / Basel 1981, ISBN 3-7655-9005-3 , p. 7 f.
  8. ↑ Helmut Burkhardt: The biblical testimony of rebirth. ( Theologie und Dienst , Issue 5) 2nd edited edition, Brunnen, Gießen / Basel 1981, ISBN 3-7655-9005-3 , p. 9f.
  9. ↑ http://wiedergeburt.machal7.com/#a (accessed on June 29, 2012).
  10. ↑ http://www.wiedergeboren.ch/wiedergeboren.html (accessed on: June 29, 2012).
  11. ↑ David Pawson: Rebirth. Start a healthy Christian life. Projektion J, Mainz-Kastel 1991, ISBN 3-925352-52-X , p. 37.
  12. ↑ David Pawson: Rebirth. Start a healthy Christian life. Projektion J, Mainz-Kastel 1991, ISBN 3-925352-52-X , p. 83.
  13. ^ New Apostolic Church International (2012): Catechism of the New Apostolic Church - Section 8.3.9 Effects of the Holy Sealing
  14. ↑ MÜNCH, P. (2013). ... given for the entire Church of Christ ...: Baptism theology and understanding of the New Apostolic Church in the past and present. MD. Material service of the denominational institute Bensheim , 64 (3), 47–52.
  15. ↑ cf. Hans Torwesten: Are we only once on earth? The idea of ​​reincarnation in the face of resurrection belief. Herder, Freiburg 1983, ISBN 3-451-19449-X , p. ??.