Skuldbesef by die Nederduitse Gereformeerde kerklidmaat in die gevangenis: 'n teologiese perspektief

[摘要] English: While guilt with or without admittance has such far reaching implications in the lives ofchurch members, it necessitates ecclesiastical management. The nature of the churchmember's sense of guilt should first of all be established. This task of the church maynever be dealt with in a simplistic way, but with Scripture as the norm andacknowledgement of the social science's input.In this research perspective was gained from the way Scripture deals with guilt. In theOld Testament guilt's deepest sense is found in a personal appreciation of sin with guiltas the result of violated relationships resulting from the inner will's rebellion against God.In dealing with the guilt of mankind, God initiated the cult of sacrifice, in which theconcept ex opere operatum was excluded. This finds its culmination in the EbedJahwe who gave himself as sacrifice.To enable the forgiveness of guilt to be realized, an inner awareness was needed. Theawareness had to lead to humiliation, repentance and the confession of guilt.In the coming of Christ it was clearly illustrated in the Great Command that guilt is not thebreaking of rules, but the breaking of the relationship between God and mankind throughmen's rebellion against Him. Christ came to redeem man from his sin through Hiscomplete and final sacrifice - something mankind could not achieve by himself.In dealing with guilt, the understanding of justification, especially as it was ministered bythe apostle Paul, does not only bring comfort in the light of the final judgement, butillustrates what forgiveness of sin implies. The New Testament as well declares that thesinner can only experience forgiveness via humiliation, repentance and the confession ofguilt.Due to the frequent complexity of the personality of the church member in prison, theknowledge and help of the other social sciences are needed in order to reach thepeoples' inner being. Psychologically it is important that the pastor should grasp thepower of the forces that have an impact on the understanding of the dynamics of guilt bychurch members in prison. In a juridical sense the pastor should be aware of the fact thatthe church member in prison will view his/her guilt and Gods forgiveness in a juridicalsense.Although confession as been practised by the Roman Catholic Church, is not acceptableto the Dutch Reformed Church, the evangelical confession as described by EdwardThurneysen, is applicable. The specific value of the evangelical confession lies in thefact that although the church member may acknowledge that his guilt has been forgiven,the uncovering discussion may help to offload the remaining baggage of guilt and leadthe church member to a fuller acceptance of God's forgiveness.In an attempt to determine the realization of guilt by the church members in prison, aqualitative empirical research, viz. an ethnographic point of view, was used. It proved tobe useful to understand the Umwelt of the church members. Interviews with 15respondents were held, using questions based on the literature studies.In analysing these interviews the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin was used. Theconclusion of this research was that the understanding of quilt by the respondents waslacking depth. The outcome was used to formulate certain recommendations to the DutchReformed Church, which emphasize the importance for the Church to take greater careof its members in prison.

[发布机构] University of the Free State