anglicky Annotation In my thesis I deal with the Confession in European nad especially Czech Protestantism, its conception, form and transformations in history. The focus of my work is to look at the Confession in the Reformation and its further development. The work is divided into four major chapters: (1) The Confession, (2) The Confession and reformers, (3) The Cofession and reformist religions, (4) The Confession of contemporary Protestantism. Each of these chapters is further divided into subsections. In conclusion I describe the effort to reintroduce private Confession as solid form of church life and I think about reasons why nowadays in Protestant churches private Confession used only sporadically. Keywords: confession; Reformation; the Church of the Brethren; Luther; Calvin; Protestantism; Sin; Forgiveness; Absolution.

4 Abstract Forgiveness and reconciliation as a manifestation of dialogic relationship Suffering and disease belongs to human life as well as death. They may have a specific culprit, but there are also crosses, which themselves can not be avoided. Taking the correct attitude in recognition of its own share of guilt, forgiveness of one another, but the adoption of forgiveness restores interpersonal dialogic space. It depends only on the personal decision of whether a person has for himself or for another love or hate. The proces sof healing relationships with oneself and the other person is not instantaneous, but takes place gradually. The correct concept of God from the biblical Revelation, who is dialogical himself, that Love itself, leads to a liberating faith and full life. By recognizing thein own guilt and desire to remedy the relationship of neighbour and God forgiveness and confidence in the celebration of the sacrament of recontiliation is open space for a new beginning. Eternal life is loneliness, while a man staggering out of isolation into a true unity with all our brothers. The encounter with Christ is meeting with his whole body. Keywords suffering, disease, death, guilt, forgiveness, reconciliation, dialogic, Christ

The thesis introduces perception of guilt and sin in the Bible, in Christian tradition and in contemporary moral theology. It emphasizes that in the mentioned periods both phenomena belonged in the common talk and to the elemental moral concepts. It deals with perception of guilt (sin) and forgiveness at present and it does not omit the findings of empirical sciences. It takes into consideration the facts which led to the loss or deformation of awareness of both phenomena in the society in general. In practice it conducts the survey of the possible idea of the contemporary state of awareness of guilt and forgiveness and relates it to the specific group of Anonymous Alcoholics.

This thesis focuses on intricate and complex phenomenon of guilt. It does it by comparing two different approaches: approach of prophetic literature and social crisis literature. Both approaches are taught on Protestant Theological Faculty in Charles University of Prague but each of them is based on different presupposition. The first is theological, based on ancient thought of Israeli spiritual authorities, the second is modern, based on social work and it cooperates with psychology, sociology, anthropology but also theology and philosophy. Aim of this thesis is to enter the problematics and professional discussion about guilt through these two different approaches on the one hand and to compare and evaluate them on the other hand.

Main focus of this thesis is guilt and forgiveness, based on the analysis of the texts of Karl Jaspers (The Question of German Guilt), Anthony J. Steinbock (Moral Emotions: Reclaiming the Evidence of the Heart) and Vladimir Jankélévitch (Forgiveness). The above mentioned topics are followed by analysis of resentment which is closely related to both of these topics. The first part of the thesis is focused on the classification of the guilt, presented by Karl Jaspers, ie. The particular types of guilt are discussed here: the criminal, the political, the moral and the mathaphysical guilt. Following topic is focusing on the collective guilt and related questions. Jaspers' classification of guilt is folowed by Steinbock's analysis of the experence of guilt. Steinbock, in difference form Jaspers, focuses manily on the fundamental features of guilt that is considered as an experience. That presents a good addition to to Jaspers' concept of guilt which does not concern at these questions, or does so only partly. In the next part the topic of repentance, as elaborated by Steinbock, is presented. The repentance is a possible consequence of guilt, has some features in common with guilt, and is condition of possibile forgiveness. The final part of the thesis combines conceptions of both authors aiming not only...

This work deals with the symbolism of trees in the Old Testament considering the mythology of the ancient Near East, using relevant literature, concordant exploration, and synchronic and diachronic analyses of biblical texts. It aims to present an intersection of the most important aspects of the appearance of trees in the Scripture, both in a literal and figurative sense. Drawing on work with biblical and mythological texts from the ancient Near East, it presents the tree as a comprehensible symbol with strong explanatory power, which constitutes its potential to contain even the most complex messages of the Scripture and of the human condition as such.

The present thesis paper deals - on theoretical level - with the importance and the gradual evolution of dialogicality of man within the context of criminal justice. In Western European cultural environment the image of man as dialogical being has been inspired by the Judeo-Christian tradition, approaching "the man in relationship" as an unlimited and transcendental form of being. In practical terms, a relationship has been perceived as the fundamental precondition in the process of restoration of a man and as an opportunity to re-approach the original absolute form of humanity, which is in harmony with God´s intention. The culturally accepted dialogical image of man has been reflected in shaping the specific form of systems and institutions created by man, including also the system of criminal law and justice, the main objective of which is enforcing justice. In the spirit of that cultural tradition, emphasis is currently laid on protection of and respect for dignity and individual rights and freedoms of man, and, thus, personal participation of the criminal conflict parties in the process of justice is required. Hence, in the persons of the offender and the victim, justice is rather becoming "the justice of dialogue and negotiation" within restorative justice, and it is so within the limits of law so as the participants´ individual needs and interests can be taken care of and obligations resulting from the conflict can be secured, to the maximum possible extent.