Born again in the context of Human birth

Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism with roots in the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide. Most Methodist denominations are members of the World Methodist Council.

Wesleyan theology, which is upheld by the Methodist denominations, focuses on sanctification and the transforming effect of faith on the character of a Christian, exemplified by living a victorious life over sin. Unique to Wesleyan Methodism is its definition of sin: a "voluntary transgression of a known law of God." Distinguishing doctrines include the new birth, assurance, imparted righteousness, and obedience to God manifested in performing works of piety. John Wesley held that entire sanctification was "the grand depositum", or foundational doctrine, of the Methodist faith, and its propagation was the reason God brought Methodists into existence. Scripture is considered the primary authority, but Methodists also look to Christian tradition, including the historic creeds. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is achievable for all. This is the Arminian doctrine, as opposed to the Calvinist position that God has predestined the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several other early leaders of the movement were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the Calvinist position.

Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, an event that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).

Like other forms of evangelical Protestantism, Pentecostalism adheres to the inerrancy of the Bible and the necessity of being born again: an individual repenting of their sin and "accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior". It is distinguished by belief in both the "baptism in the Holy Spirit" and baptism by water, that enables a Christian to "live a Spirit-filled and empowered life". This empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts: such as speaking in tongues and divine healing. Because of their commitment to biblical authority, spiritual gifts, and the miraculous, Pentecostals see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power and teachings that were found in the Apostolic Age of the Early Church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term "Apostolic" or "Full Gospel" to describe their movement.

The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/ , also /ˈæmɪʃ/ or /ˈeɪmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania German: Amisch), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss and Alsatian origins. As they maintain a degree of separation from surrounding populations, and hold their faith in common, the Amish have been described by certain scholars as an ethnoreligious group, combining features of an ethnicity and a Christian denomination. The Amish are closely related to Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites, denominations that are also a part of Anabaptist Christianity. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit (submission to God's will).

The Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In the second half of the 19th century, the Amish divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites; the latter do not abstain from using motor cars, whereas the Old Order Amish retained much of their traditional culture. When people refer to the Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish, though there are other subgroups of Amish. The Amish fall into three main subgroups—the Old Order Amish, the New Order Amish, and the Beachy Amish—all of whom wear plain dress and live their life according to the Bible as codified in their church's Ordnung. The Old Order Amish and New Order Amish conduct their worship in German, speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and use buggies for transportation, in contrast to the Beachy Amish who use modern technology (inclusive of motor cars) and conduct worship in the local language of the area in which they reside. Both the New Order Amish and the Beachy Amish emphasize the New Birth, evangelize to seek converts, and have Sunday schools.

Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles Wesley. More broadly it refers to the theological system inferred from the various sermons (e.g. the Forty-four Sermons), theological treatises, letters, journals, diaries, hymns, and other spiritual writings of the Wesleys and their contemporary coadjutors such as John William Fletcher, Methodism's systematic theologian.

In 1736, the Wesley brothers travelled to the Georgia colony in America as Christian missionaries; they left rather disheartened at what they saw. Both of them subsequently had "religious experiences", especially John in 1738, being greatly influenced by the Moravian Christians. They began to organize a renewal movement within the Church of England to focus on personal faith and holiness, putting emphasis on the importance of growth in grace after the New Birth. Unique to Wesleyan Methodism is its definition of sin: a "voluntary transgression of a known law of God." Methodist doctrine teaches that the life of a Christian subsequent to the New Birth should be characterized by holiness, living victoriously over sin. Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, John Wesley taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification—the work of grace that enables Christians to be made perfect in love and be made free from the carnal nature—was the reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world.

In the United States, evangelicalism is a movement among Protestant Christians who believe in the necessity of being born again, emphasize the importance of evangelism, and affirm traditional Protestant teachings on the authority as well as the historicity of the Bible. Comprising nearly a quarter of the U.S. population, evangelicals are a diverse group drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including nondenominational churches, Pentecostal, Baptist, Reformed, Methodist, Mennonite, Plymouth Brethren, and Quaker.

Evangelicalism has played an important role in shaping American religion and culture. The First Great Awakening of the 18th century marked the rise of evangelical religion in colonial America. As the revival spread throughout the Thirteen Colonies, evangelicalism united Americans around a common faith. The Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century led to what historian Martin Marty calls the "Evangelical Empire", a period in which evangelicals dominated U.S. cultural institutions, including schools and universities. Evangelicals of this era in the northern United States were strong advocates of reform. They were involved in the temperance movement and supported the abolition of slavery, in addition to working toward education and criminal justice reform. In the southern United States, evangelicals split from their northern counterparts on the issue of slavery, establishing new denominations that opposed abolition and defended the practice of racial slavery upon which the South's expanding cash-crops-for-export agricultural economy was built. During the Civil War, each side confidently preached in support of its own cause using Bible verses and Evangelical arguments, which exposed a deep theological conflict that had been brewing for decades and would continue long after Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions, such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. Churches aligned with the holiness movement teach that the life of a born again Christian should be free of sin. The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace, which is called entire sanctification or Christian perfection. The word Holiness refers specifically to this belief in entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed, the heart is made perfect in love, and the believer is empowered to serve God. For the Holiness movement, "the term 'perfection' signifies completeness of Christian character; its freedom from all sin, and possession of all the graces of the Spirit, complete in kind." A number of Christian denominations, parachurch organizations, and movements emphasize those Holiness beliefs as central doctrine.

In addition to the regular holding of church services in the morning and evening of the Lord's Day, and usually having a midweek Wednesday church service, within parts of denominations or entire denominations aligned with the holiness movement, camp meetings and tent revivals are organized throughout the year—especially in the summertime. These are aimed at preaching the New Birth (first work of grace) and entire sanctification (second work of grace), along with calling backsliders to repentance. Churches in the holiness tradition emphasize a sober lifestyle, especially with regard to clean speech, modesty, and teetotalism.

The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations (the Methodist Protestant Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South) to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.

The MEC's origins lie in the First Great Awakening when Methodism emerged as an evangelical revival movement within the Church of England that stressed the necessity of being born again and the possibility of attaining Christian perfection. By the 1760s, Methodism had spread to the Thirteen Colonies, and Methodist societies were formed under the oversight of John Wesley. As in England, American Methodists remained affiliated with the Church of England, but this state of affairs became untenable after the American Revolution. In response, Wesley ordained the first Methodist elders for America in 1784. Under the leadership of its first bishops, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, the Methodist Episcopal Church adopted episcopal polity and an itinerant model of ministry that saw circuit riders provide for the religious needs of a widespread and mobile population.

A shout, ring shout, Hallelujah march or victory march is a Christian religious practice in which worshipers move in a circle while praying and clapping their hands, sometimes shuffling and stamping their feet as well. Despite the name, shouting aloud is not an essential part of the ritual march, which varies by congregation and locality.

The earliest accounts of the practice date to the 1840s, where the ring shout was described as being a form of revivalistic Christian worship. Certain authors claim that the ring shout may be inspired by cultural practices in Africa that became incorporated as a part of Christian worship and imbued with new theological meaning. Ring shouts may occur when a congregant experienced the New Birth or became entirely sanctified. Ring shouts may also occur when the congregation perceives the presence of the Holy Spirit during worship.

Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the ordo salutis ('order of salvation'), is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer's life. Spiritually, it means that God brings a person to new life (that they are "born again") from a previous state of separation from God and subjection to the decay of death (Ephesians 2:5). Thus, in Lutheran and Roman Catholic theology, it generally means that which takes place during baptism. In Calvinism (Reformed theology) and Arminian theology, baptism is recognized as an outward sign of an inward reality which is to follow regeneration as a sign of obedience to the New Testament; as such, the Methodist Churches teach that regeneration occurs during the new birth.

While the exact Greek noun for 'rebirth' or 'regeneration' (Ancient Greek: παλιγγενεσία, romanized: palingenesia) appears just twice in the New Testament (Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5), regeneration in Christianity is held to represent a wider theme of re-creation and spiritual rebirth, including the concept of "being born again" (John 3:3–8 and 1 Peter 1:3; regeneration is also called the "second birth"). In some schools of Christian thought, it is held that when a person expresses belief in Jesus Christ for their salvation, they are then born of God, "begotten of him" (1 John 5:1). As a result of becoming part of God's family, the person becomes a different and new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The mourner's bench or mourners' bench, also known as the mercy seat or anxious bench, in Methodist and other evangelical Christian churches is a bench located in front of the chancel. The practice was instituted by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church.

Individuals kneel at the mourners' bench to experience the New Birth. Some of those who have already had the New Birth go there to receive entire sanctification. Others, especially backsliders, use the mourners' bench to confess their sins and receive forgiveness, in order to continue the process of sanctification.

According to certain Christian traditions, a second work of grace (also second blessing) is a transforming interaction with God that may occur in the life of an individual Christian. The defining characteristics of the second work of grace are that it is separate from and subsequent to the New Birth (the first work of grace), and that it brings about significant changes in the life of the believer. In the Methodist, the Quaker and the Holiness Pentecostal traditions of Christianity, the second work of grace is traditionally taught to be Christian perfection (entire sanctification).

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation founded and headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7 million, consisting of soldiers, officers, and adherents who are collectively known as salvationists. Its founders sought to bring salvation to the poor, destitute, and hungry by meeting both their "physical and spiritual needs". It is present in 133 countries, running charity shops, operating shelters for the homeless, and disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries.

The theology of the Salvation Army derives from Methodism, although it differs in institution and practice; an example is that the Salvation Army does not observe sacraments. As with other denominations in the Holiness Methodist tradition, the Salvation Army lays emphasis on the New Birth (first work of grace) and entire sanctification (second work of grace). A distinctive characteristic of the Salvation Army is its use of titles derived from military ranks, such as "lieutenant" or "major". The Army's doctrine is aligned with the Wesleyan–Arminian tradition, particularly the holiness movement. The Army's purposes are "the advancement of the Christian religion... of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole".