Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Regeneration (new birth)

The act of God by which a spiritually dead person is given new life and a new heart — being 'born again' of the Spirit.

Latin regeneratio, 'rebirth'; Greek palingenesia (Titus 3:5) and the 'born anōthen' ('again' / 'from above') of John 3.

John 3:3–8; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3, 23; James 1:18; Ezekiel 36:26–27; 1 John 3:9; 5:1.

Augustine tied regeneration closely to baptism; the Reformed distinguished the Spirit's regenerating work from the sign of baptism (which may precede or follow it); revivalism stressed a datable conversion experience.

Monergistic in Reformed theology (God acts, the person is passive in the new birth itself); the resulting faith and repentance are the person's own.

Whether regeneration is normally conferred in/through baptism (baptismal regeneration) or is a distinct work of the Spirit that baptism signifies.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.