Catholic Apologetics Guidebook

Dialogue on the Meaning of John 3:3 – Page 1

The following is a dialogue between myself and a very devout and friendly non-Catholic Christian, which was conducted by private e-mail over a period of a few months.  Our discussion was very cordial and friendly, and I am posting this originally private discussion with the permission of my dialogue partner.  My words are in black Verdana font, and his words are in dark blue Courier New font.  I have omitted portions of some of the e-mails where we discussed matters of a more personal nature, but I have not omitted or changed any of our doctrinal discussion on John 3:3 and related issues.  I have also added a couple of explanatory notes [in brackets], mainly to indicate places where information of a more personal nature has been omitted, but not for the purpose of adding any doctrinal content to the discussion.

John 3:3 is the first verse I'd like to discuss.  In my Bible (I use the KJV), Jesus says, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God".  I know what this means to me (and would be happy to share if you are interested in knowing), but I'm really curious what it means to you.  What's your personal understanding of this statement?  Has it ever come up in Catholic services/masses/fellowship/etc?  If this Scripture really means "being born again = understanding/knowing/having a relationship with God/being saved", then it's one of utmost importance, to be sure.

Well, to begin with, yes I would certainly be interested in knowing what this passage means to you.

And yes, I do agree that this is a very important passage.  In answer to your second question, yes this passage has come up many times in my "Catholic experience" (for lack of a better overall term) -- whether it be in the Scripture readings at Mass, in a faith formation class, in a Bible study, or on Catholic radio.  But I could also say the same for many other Bible passages, especially from the Gospels -- so I don't mean to imply that Catholics over-focus on this one particular passage.

In order to explain my interpretation of this verse, I would first like to quote the full verse along with the two verses that follow it, in order to provide a bit more context:

"Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born? Jesus answered, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, unless a man is born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God."  (John 3:3-5, Amplified Bible)

I don't usually read or quote from the Amplified Bible translation, but I use it here simply to illustrate something that you may already know -- that the Greek phrase which is usually translated as "born again" here can also mean "born anew" or "born from above".  Now, these alternate meanings do not radically alter my interpretation of this passage, but I just wanted to point them out because I think that they can help to provide a richer background for understanding this passage.

My take on this passage is that Jesus is speaking here of baptism, and specifically of the necessity of baptism for salvation, as the sacrament by which we are initiated into the kingdom of God, and by which we are "born anew" and cleansed of our sins.  When Jesus speaks of being born "of water and of the Spirit", I see this as a reference to baptism, as a statement that baptism is essential to our salvation.  I could write several pages on the reasoning behind this interpretation, but I'll try to give just some of the major points:

First and foremost, baptism is mentioned as a vehicle of salvation (through the Holy Spirit) in several other places in the New Testament as well -- please see Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 1 Cor. 6:11, Titus 3:5, and 1 Peter 3:21 -- and therefore I think that my interpretation of John 3:3-5 makes sense in the context of the overall New Testament teaching on baptism.  One could also look at the parallel between this passage (John 3:3-5) and the accounts of Jesus's baptism in Luke 3:21-22 and in John 1:31-34, in which Jesus is washed in water, and in which the Spirit descends from above.  Furthermore, we see that immediately following the scene with Jesus and Nicodemus in John's Gospel, there is a mention of the baptismal ministries of Jesus and His disciples, as well as of John the Baptist (see John 3:22-23), which seems to provide some contextual support (though certainly not proof) for the idea that this passage refers to baptism.

But to be honest, I don't claim to be smart enough to have come up with this interpretation on my own.  :-)  Rather, in stating that this is my interpretation, I am really relying to a large extent on the many Christians (and not just Catholics) who have come before me who have interpreted this passage in this way (either explicitly, or implicitly by equating baptism with being born again or with being born of water and spirit).  For the sake of brevity, I'll provide only two such quotes, and links to a third one, but I'd be happy to provide more quotes or links if you're interested:

First I'll quote St. Justin Martyr, an early apologist for the Christian faith, who wrote the following in the mid-second century:

"Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated.  For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water.  For Christ also said, 'Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'"  (Justin Martyr, First Apology, c. 150 A.D., full text here: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.ii.lxi.html)

St. Augustine also alludes to this passage from John's Gospel, as it pertains to baptism, in chapters 20 and 21 of "On Original Sin". However Augustine's passage does not lend itself well to a short quote, so here are the links to read the full text if you are interested:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf105.xv.iv.xx.html
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf105.xv.iv.xxi.html

And here is an extended quote from Martin Luther on this subject (I could only find part of the quote online, so here is the whole thing):

"Here Christ is speaking of Baptism, of real and natural water such as a cow may drink, the Baptism about which you hear in the sermons on this subject.  Therefore the word 'water' does not designate affliction here; it means real, natural water, which is connected with God's Word and becomes a very spiritual bath through the Holy Spirit or through the entire Trinity.  Here Christ also speaks of the Holy Spirit and teaches us to regard Baptism as a spiritual, yes, a Spirit-filled water, in which the Holy Spirit is present and active; in fact, the entire Holy Trinity is there.  And thus the person who has been baptized is said to be born anew.  In Titus 3:5 St. Paul terms Baptism 'a washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.'  In the last chapter of Mark we read that 'he who believes and is baptized will be saved' (Mark 16:16).  And in this passage Christ declares that whoever is not born anew of the water and the Holy Spirit cannot come into the kingdom of God.  Therefore God's words dare not be tampered with.  Of course, we are well aware that Baptism is natural water.  But after the Holy Spirit is added to it, we have more than mere water.  It becomes a veritable bath of rejuvenation, a living bath which washes and purges man of sin and death, which cleanses him of all sin."  (Martin Luther, Sermons on the Gospel of St. John Chapters 1-4, quoted in the book "St. John's Gospel: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary" by Stephen Ray)

I don't know what your exact interpretation of John 3:3 is, but I understand that many Evangelical Protestants interpret the phrase "born again" here to mean having a radical conversion of the heart toward faith in Christ, or accepting Christ as one's personal Lord and Savior, or something along those lines.  I definitely agree with the importance of conversion to Christ, relationship with Christ, faith in Christ, etc. -- and certainly these concepts are related to baptism.  But my take is that the phrase "born again" in John 3:3 refers specifically to baptism, rather than to these other concepts, for reasons that I have outlined above.

OK, so there's my rather long response.  I'd love to hear your take on this, and I'd also be happy to clarify or explain further anything that I've said here.  But this e-mail is far too long already, so I'll stop for now and await your reply.

In Christ,

Paul