John 1:13
John 1:1313children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.
is quiet in Watchtower literature compared to the more contested verses in the same prologue. Where it surfaces, it is usually folded into general "become children of God" language tied to baptism and publisher activity. The passage's native teaching — that the new birth is "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God" — is left implicit, and with it the problem it poses for regeneration-by-study: the new birth is explicitly NOT the result of a research project, a decision, or a human will.
is the companion verse to — they teach the same thing from different angles. names the requirement (you must be born again); names the source (born of God, not of flesh or human will). This is decisive at the door: if spiritual birth is "of God" and not "of the will of a man," then the JW epistemology of "study, weigh the evidence, and decide" cannot produce it. Put next to — the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit — and the question becomes unavoidable: how does a dead person study his way to life? He does not. God gives the new birth through the preached word (), and the person believes. Grace initiates; faith responds.