THE ‘FEAR OF THE LORD/GOD’ IN CONTEXT OF THE SOUTH AFRICA WE PRAY FOR CAMPAIGN

Abstract

 In the third year of my theological training I had lectures in wisdom literature by Professor Hendrik Bosman. Teaching the Book of Job, he lamented that commu-nities mainly use this book at funerals to console families of deceased. This practice focuses on the prose section of the book; ignoring the poetry section which comprises thirty-nine chapters of the forty-two-chapter book. This may not be doing justice to the purpose of the book and wisdom literature in general. Therefore, if poetry occupies such an extent of the book, the message definitely lies therein and more attention needs to be paid thereto. In accordance with this spirit, he pointed out that the "fear of the Lord" is a key concept in wisdom. Against this background and in honour of Professor Bosman, this article would like to discuss the concept of the "fear of the Lord" in wisdom literature and how communities in South Africa can use the concept in dealing with their socio-economic challenges. Specifically, the paper would like to discuss the concept in the context of "The South Africa We Pray For" campaign in South Africa.