(January 15, 2014 at 8:15 pm)Pickup_shonuff Wrote:(January 15, 2014 at 7:32 pm)Sword of Christ Wrote: As a fanatic Pharisaic Jew he persecuted Christians so we can safely say he had an experience of some kind that gave him an entire change of heart which made him better in some way compared to how he started, he was born again you could say and that is the idea of it. It's not just being good and performing ritual deeds to get rewarded after you die the idea is that it fundamentally changes you for the better.
You do realize that "born-again" experiences are a natural phenomenon triggered by a variety of occurrences, studied by psychologists, and certainly not exclusive to Christians...right? For example, I've had "born-again" experiences as a Christian as well as an atheist. When I first finished reading The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins, I felt disoriented, enlightened, fulfilled... same thing when I got drunk up north and gazed through clear skies at our awesome Milky Way galaxy. It was not all that dissimilar than I felt in church at different times as an ignorant teenager...except nowadays, it is far more real.
Born again experiences outside the Christian realm are of satan. DO NOT BE DECEIVED. Until you have been born again of Christ and have spoken in tongues you have not ever experienced true awe and fulfillment.
