.... However, the meaning of the term varies among Christian traditions:
The Roman Catholic Church associates "being born again" with baptism. It holds that "Baptism is ... the sacrament by which we are born again of water and the Holy Ghost."[2] This is also a belief held by Eastern Christianity, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism, among other Christian traditions.
Some Evangelical, Fundamentalist, and Pentecostal Christians associate "being born again" with a conversion experience that involves a personal, and sometimes intense, encounter of the individual with the power of God. Some Christians in these groups would assert that those without such a conversion experience are not true Christians.
Most other Protestant churches place less emphasis on a conversion experience and rely on the individual's personal statement of belief in and commitment to Jesus Christ as "Lord" and "Savior." While they do not deny the validity of a conversion experience, they would seldom use the term "born again" to describe it.
In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology. The idea of being "born again" carries with it the soteriological idea that a Christian is a "new creation," given a fresh start by the action of God, freed from a sinful past life and able to begin a "new life" in relationship with Christ via the Holy Spirit. John Wesley and Christians associated with early Methodism referred to the "born again" experience as "the New Birth."
Recent Social Usage
In recent history, born again is a term that has been associated with evangelical renewal since the late 1960s, first in the United States and then later around the world. Associated perhaps initially with Jesus People and the Christian counterculture, born again came to refer to an intense conversion experience, and was increasingly used as a term to identify devout believers. By the mid 1970s, born again Christians were increasingly referred to in the mainstream media as part of the Born Again Movement. A 1976 book of that title by Watergate conspirator and convicted felon Charles Colson, describing his path to faith in conjunction with his criminal imprisonment, played a significant role in solidifying Born Again identity as a cultural construct in the U.S. The term was sufficiently prevalent that, during that year's Presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter described himself as born again, notably in the first Playboy magazine interview of a U.S. Presidential candidate. Modern musicians Max Cavalera, Mark Farner, Dan Peek, Little Richard, Donna Summer, Bob Dylan, Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, Dave Mustaine, Nicko McBrain, Roger McGuinn, Johnny Cash, and Alice Cooper were artists whose born again conversions had a significant impact on modern culture. President George W. Bush is also mentioned as being one.