Apol. i. 61.

For Christ said:  Except ye be born again ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Now that it is impossible for those who have once been born to return into the wombs of those who bare them is evident to all.

[Greek:  Kai gar ho Christos eipen, An mae anagennaethaete, ou mae eiselthaete eis taen Basileian ton ouranon.  Hoti de kai adunaton eis tas maetras ton tekouson tous hapax gennomenous embaenai, phaneron pasin esti.]

John iii. 3-5.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born over again (or possibly ’from above’), he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except any one be born of Water and Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[Greek:  Apekrithae Iaesous kai eipen auto Amaen amaen lego soi, ean mae tis gennaethae anothen ou dunatai idein taen Basilaian tou Theou.  Legei pros aouton ho Nikodaemos, Pos dunatai anthropos gennaethaenai geron on; mae dunatai eis taen koilian taes maertros autou deuteron eiselthein kai gennaethaenai; k.t.l.]

Here we have first to determine the meaning of the word [Greek:  anothen] in the phrase [Greek:  gennaethae anothen] of John iii. 3 on which the extent of the parallelism to some degree turns.  Does it mean ‘be born over again,’ like Justin’s [Greek:  anagennaethaete]?  Or does it mean ‘be born from above,’ i.e. by a heavenly, divine, regeneration?  To express an opinion in favour of the first of these views would naturally be to incur the charge of taking it up merely to suit the occasion.  It is not however necessary; for it is sufficient to know that whether or not this meaning was originally intended by the Evangelist, it is a meaning that Justin might certainly put upon the words.  That this is the case is sufficiently proved by the fact that the Syriac version (which is quoted in ‘Supernatural Religion,’ by a pardonable mistake, on the other side [Endnote 283:1]) actually translates the words thus.  So also does the Vulgate; with Tertullian (’renatus’), Augustine, Chrysostom (partly), Luther, Calvin, Maldonatus, &c.  For the sense ‘from above’ are the Gothic version, Origen, Cyril, Theophylact, Bengel, &c.; on the whole a fairly equal division of opinion.  The question has been of late elaborately re-argued by Mr. McClellan [Endnote 283:2], who decides in favour of ‘again.’  But, without taking sides either way, it is clear that Justin would have had abundant support, in particular that of his own national version, if he intended [Greek:  anagennaethaete] to be a paraphrase of [Greek:  gennaethae anothen].