Latin conversio, turn, change. When the man or the people of Israel separates from Yahweh, that is, sins, and returns to him again, the path that he has traced for him, we speak, then, of c. In Scripture it speaks of c. collective, of the community, Dt 30, 2; Joshua gathered the tribes in Shechem, where in a public act the community converted to Yahweh, after which a commemorative monument was made, Jos 24. The king and the inhabitants of the city of Nineveh converted to Yahweh, did penance, they fasted and put on sackcloth, Jn 3, 1-9; as well as the individual, such as c. of Manasseh, 2 Cro 33, 12-13; that of Heliodorus, 2M 3, 35-36. It is a central theme in the preaching of the prophets, Is 30, 15; 59, 20; in Jr 18, 8 we find the expression to go back, to mean the c.; Hosea calls Israel to return to God, Hos 14, 2-3; Zephaniah calls the shameless to convert before being thrown away like chaff, So 2, 1-2; 3, 9-10; in Za 1, 1-6, Yahweh, through his prophet, tells the people to return to him, and then the Lord will return to his people, and asks them not to be stubborn like his ancestors. In Ez 33, 11, it is said that God does not want the death of the wicked but that he convert and live.
In the NT, the Precursor John the Baptist asks the Pharisees and Sadducees for fruits of c., since it is not enough before the Lord to say “we have Abraham as our father”, Mt 3, 8; likewise he preached a baptism of c. for the remission of sins Mc 1, 4; Lk 3, 3. Only one case of c. is mentioned, that of Peter, Lk 22, 32. Jesus demands the c., Mk 1, 15; while he rejoices when a sinner converts, Lk 15, 7; and he sent his disciples into the world to announce to all nations the c., Lk 24, 47.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
(Heb., shuv, gr., epistrophe). a lap, lit. or figurative, ethical or religious, either from God or, more frequently, to God. It implies both a return from and a return to something. In the NT it is sometimes associated with repentance (Acts 3:19; Acts 26:20) and faith (Acts 11:21); negatively turning from sin and positively believing in Christ (Acts 20:21). Although conversion is an act of man, it is caused by the power of God (Acts 3:26).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(to return, to return). “Turning to God” is the first step of “salvation” and is intimately linked with repentance.
(See “Repentance”).
It has two aspects: – Negative: Turning from sin.
– Positive: Faith in God: (Jua 3:36, Jua 5:14, Acts 16:16, Acts 20:21, Acts 26:20.
It is an act of man that is achieved with the power of God: (Acts 3:36).
It is necessary: Mat 18:3 : – Preached by the Baptist: (Mat 3:2), by Jesus: (Mar 1:15), and the apostles: (Mar 6:12, Acts 2: Acts 38:39) .
– God celebrates in heaven for each conversion of a sinner: Luc 15:7, Luc 15:11-32.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
It is the change from a sinful state to one of holiness, from a behavior of corruption to one of purity, from submission to Satan to the dominion of God. It supposes a deep conviction of sin, †¢repentance, the confession of Jesus as Lord and the reception of the Holy Spirit. It leads to a new life, to the service of God and to the hope of the manifestation of Christ. The Thessalonians “turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God” (1Th 1:9). From the OT, the ideas of repentance, obedience and fruitfulness appear linked to that of c. (“…repent in the midst of all the nations…and turn to the Lord your God, and obey…† ). That was the constant exhortation of the prophets (“Let each one now turn from his wicked way, and improve his ways and his deeds †). Sometimes it is a return to God after having fallen into idolatry. On other occasions that return is seen in a broader sense: it is a return to the law that includes a separation from those who live in sin.
In the NT the message also unites the two concepts (“Repent and turn, so that your sins may be blotted out”). Everyone must turn “from their wickedness” (Acts 3:26), “from idols” (1Th 1:9), “to the Lord” (Acts 9:35), “to the living God” (Acts 14:15) , “from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, DOC
vet, (Gr. “epistrophë” = “turn to”). In the Scriptures it is the effect that accompanies the new birth, a turning toward God. It is expressed, magnificently in the case of the Thessalonians, showing how “you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9). Paul and Barnabas were able to inform the saints in Jerusalem of “the conversion of the Gentiles” (Acts 15:3). In Peter’s speech to the Jews he says: “Repent therefore and turn, so that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). Without converting, they could not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 18:3). This term is used in a somewhat different sense with respect to Peter himself. Knowing the Lord that Peter was going to fall under the shakes of Satan, he told him: “And you, once you return, confirm your brothers”; that is, when he had returned in contrition, or had been restored. In the OT the Hebrew terms that mean the same thing, “to be turned”, “to turn”, appear in passages such as Ps. 51:13; Isaiah 6:10; 60:5; zip 1:27.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Literally it means change of life, and religiously it expresses the return towards God and towards good. It is the initial message of John the Baptist and of Jesus himself (Mk. 1.15; Mt. 10.7; Mk. 6.12; Lk. 9. 2 and ss.). The term metanoia with which it is expressed in Greek appears 56 times in the New Testament (34 in the form of a verb metanoeo, and 22 in the form of a noun, metanoia).
And the parallel terms of repenting (metamelomai) 7 times, turning to God (ana-strefo) 19 times, and changing one’s mind (metamelomai) 18 times.
All this indicates that conversion, repentance, change of life is an essential concept in the Christian message. It is the common denominator of John the Baptist and the prophets. It is the one assumed by Jesus as an emblem of his coming to achieve redemption, return to life, conversion.
Consequently, it must be one of the basic elements of religious education. Those who see in this attitude a dangerous dimension, bordering on the pathological of guilt or repression, will not understand anything about Christianity: that it starts from the cross to reach the resurrection, that it leans on the empty tomb to invite fullness light of the Kingdom of God.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
The mission of Jesus called to conversion and faith
The announcement of the nearness of the Kingdom, which is the central theme in Jesus’ message, because “the time has already come” (Mk 1:15), is an urgent call for a radical change of mentality and behavior (“conversion ”). It is the previous attitude to “believe”. Jesus calls for conversion, forgiveness and faith “The Kingdom of God is near; repent and believe in the good news” (ibid.).
Jesus sent the Apostles with this same task of announcing the Kingdom, calling for conversion and faith (Mt 10,7ss; Mk 6,12; Lk 9,2ss). In the final sending, the day of the ascension, the charge or mission of “teaching” and “baptizing” is specified (Mt 28,19; Mk 16,16; Lk 24,17ss). “Conversion to Christ is related to baptism, not only by the praxis of the Church, but by the will of Christ himself, who he sent to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them” (RMi 47).
The call made by Saint Peter on the day of Pentecost has the same characteristics. Every believer is invited to “open” to the new plans of God (“conversion”), to be “baptized” and “configured” with Christ, in a permanent process of faith, hope and charity, thinking, valuing things and loving as him (cf. Acts 2,38). The conversion is an integral part of the “kerygma” or first announcement, and cannot be imposed for any reason. It is a grace that arouses the attitude prior to the forgiveness of sins.
Salvific meaning of conversion
The word and meaning of “conversion” or penance (“metanoia”, change of mentality), indicate various aspects “Penance means a profound change of heart under the influence of the Word of God and in the perspective of the Kingdom… penance it is the conversion that passes from the heart to works and, consequently, to the entire life of the Christian” (RP 4). It includes a change of mentality (in criteria, motivations, attitudes) and supposes a detachment from everything that is contrary to love (sin and selfishness). Conversion is a gift from God (Jn 6:44), and this same gift makes it possible for the person to respond freely and generously. This is why it is “full and sincere adherence to Christ and to his gospel through faith” (RMi 46).
Christ is announced calling to conversion and baptism
When Christ died and risen is announced, then an adherence of faith, hope and charity is called for, through conversion and baptism. “The Church calls for conversion… so that the Kingdom may be welcomed and grow among men” (RMi 20). This attitude translates into a permanent process of renewal in personal, community and institutional life, on the part of all the baptized. “Evangelization and, therefore, the new evangelization also involves the proclamation and the moral proposal. Jesus himself, by precisely preaching the Kingdom of God and his saving love, has made a call to faith and conversion” (VS 107).
The conversion of the evangelizer and those being evangelized
For the apostle who announces conversion, his process of radical change and his testimony are part of the sign. The evangelizing action is a process of conversion on the part of the evangelizers themselves. The “renewal of the Church” (UR 6) and the “interior conversion” (UR 7) are translated into attitudes of humility and charity, and in full confidence in the effective action of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit, to gradually stop aside everything that does not have true evangelical value.
Conversion, when it encompasses the evangelizer and the evangelized, recovers its deepest meaning, opening wholeheartedly to the new plans of God of Love, through Christ and in the Spirit, for all humanity. No one is excluded from this call to conversion. From the experiential adherence of the apostle to Christ, others, who already possess the “seeds of the Word”, will better discover the “traces” of the Incarnate Word itself.
It will be necessary to follow the same path with the people who make the conversion, to discover that conversion is a permanent process proper to the entire ecclesial community “The Church, receiving sinners in her own bosom, holy at the same time as in need of purification constant,…