‘WE CANNOT JUST CONTINUE AS IF NOTHING HAS HAPPENED BETWEEN US’ SOLA GRATIA AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

  • Piet Naude Christian Studies and Professsional Ethics University of Port Elizabeth

Abstract

This article offers a Biblical and Reformed theological perspective on the unfinished work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It argues that we as South Africans should deal with our past through a theologically motivated restorative justice in order to resist both cheap reconciliation and a politically expedient selective and judgemental memory. This theological motivation is found in select Biblical traditions and the core conviction of the Reformed faith about the relation between grace and works. Practical suggestions about how to complete the unfinished task of the TRC are made in the end with reference to moral and material compensation.
Published
2013-06-12
Section
Articles