Abstract:
The life of a person affected by cancer becomes a confusion of emotions, experiences and
tumultuous events. This takes place with immediate effect and can be summarised in one word
‘havoc’. The question that comes to mind in this article is: In which way can preaching guide the
person affected by cancer, to equip this person to find both sense and meaning in this life. The
farewell speech of Jesus in the Gospel of John will serve as departure for the stipulation of the
beacons for the preaching in the guidance of the person affected with cancer. The aim of this
article is firstly to show that the person affected by cancer has specific needs concerning preaching,
secondly that the farewell speech of Jesus in the Gospel of John assists the preaching with certain
beacons and thirdly to motivate that the metaphor of a ‘second’ is the most suitable for this kind
of preaching. The purpose with this article is that the researcher wants to emphasise that the
person affected by cancer can still experience sense and meaning in this life.
Description:
This article represents reworked aspects of the DD dissertation of Dr Darius Botha, titled ‘Prediking en die mens geaffekteer met
kanker’, completed under the supervision of Prof. Dr Cas Wepener and Prof. Dr Cas Vos, Department of Practical Theology, Faculty of
Theology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
