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

English: While guilt with or without admittance has such far reaching implications in the lives of church members, it necessitates ecclesiastical management. The nature of the church member's sense of guilt should first of all be established. This task of the church may never be dealt with in a simplistic way, but with Scripture as the norm and acknowledgement of the social science's input. In this research perspective was gained from the way Scripture deals with guilt. In the Old Testament guilt's deepest sense is found in a personal appreciation of sin with guilt as 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 the concept "ex opere operatum" was excluded. This finds its culmination in the "Ebed Jahwe" who gave himself as sacrifice. To enable the forgiveness of guilt to be realized, an inner awareness was needed. The awareness 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 the breaking of rules, but the breaking of the relationship between God and mankind through men's rebellion against Him. Christ came to redeem man from his sin through His complete and final sacrifice - something mankind could not achieve by himself. In dealing with guilt, the understanding of justification, especially as it was ministered by the apostle Paul, does not only bring comfort in the light of the final judgement, but illustrates what forgiveness of sin implies. The New Testament as well declares that the sinner can only experience forgiveness via humiliation, repentance and the confession of guilt. Due to the frequent complexity of the personality of the church member in prison, the knowledge and help of the other social sciences are needed in order to reach the peoples' inner being. Psychologically it is important that the pastor should grasp the power of the forces that have an impact on the understanding of the dynamics of guilt by church members in prison. In a juridical sense the pastor should be aware of the fact that the church member in prison will view his/her guilt and Gods forgiveness in a juridical sense. Although confession as been practised by the Roman Catholic Church, is not acceptable to the Dutch Reformed Church, the evangelical confession as described by Edward Thurneysen, is applicable. The specific value of the evangelical confession lies in the fact 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 lead the 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, a qualitative empirical research, viz. an ethnographic point of view, was used. It proved to be useful to understand the "Umwelt" of the church members. Interviews with 15 respondents were held, using questions based on the literature studies. In analysing these interviews the grounded theory of Strauss and Corbin was used. The conclusion of this research was that the understanding of quilt by the respondents was lacking depth. The outcome was used to formulate certain recommendations to the Dutch Reformed Church, which emphasize the importance for the Church to take greater care of its members in prison.