Being Born Again in the Church Fathers

DAY 287 CHALLENGE “The idea we’re born again or regenerated in baptism is an invention of men that the early Christians would never have heard of.” DEFENSE The writings of the Church Fathers reveal that they believed in baptismal regeneration. We elsewhere cover the scriptural basis for this teaching (see Day 286), and the writings of the Church Fathers confirm that they believed it too. In fact, despite searching, I have been unable to discover any Fa- ther who denied that Jesus’ statements regarding being “born again” and “born of water and Spirit” (John 3:3, 5) referred to baptism...