Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: davidbu@loowit.wr.tek.com (David E. Buxton) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Born Again Message-ID: Date: 23 Apr 91 07:15:15 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu > . . . . > "Abraham, the common patriarch of all three religions, came from > there. To the Jew and the Christian, Abraham's first-born son > was Isaac; to the Muslim, his first-born was Ishmael. They part > with his first offspring, but Abraham, the first Jew, was common > seed of both Jesus and Mohammed..." > > -- > > If that is accurate, then Abraham is the great grand-daddy of them > all, and no 'conversion' is necessary. > > Islam recognizes Jesus as a 'prophet of God' equal to Mohammed, does > it not...? Jesus talking to Nicodemus: Nicodemus, reflecting the theology of his day, is convinced that being born of Abraham, and especially being of the Sanhedrin, that his salvation is assured. But Jesus says that such a birth of Abraham is not enough. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he needs to be born "from above", that Nicodemus needed to be born into Christianity, which is the birth of a new heart, a change of heart, a heart of true repentance and a turning to Jesus Christ. Jesus statement was that being born of Abraham was not enough. But what if we are not born of Abraham, what of the Old Covenant promises? Elsewhere it is said that being born of Christianity means we become joint heirs of the new promises as well as of the old promises. When we are "born again", we are born of Abraham and Jesus. If we are already born of Abraham, then we still need to be born of Jesus. Dave (David E. Buxton)