2026, Vol.34, No.2

Journal of Counseling and Gospel 2025 KCI Impact Factor : 0.69

pISSN : 1739-0745 / eISSN : 2799-6530
https://journal.kci.go.kr/jocag

This study explored, through a qualitative single-case design, how spiritual guilt experienced by a terminal cancer patient in relation to a past visit to a fortune-teller could be understood and addressed within biblical counseling. The participant was a Christian woman in her seventies with terminal colon cancer; data were drawn from a one-session counseling transcript, case records, and the researcher's reflective memos. Using Peter's narrative of repentance and restoration as the central interpretive framework—with reminiscence and structured imagery critically incorporated as means subordinated to that narrative—the counseling facilitated emotional confrontation and the reconstruction of meaning. Findings indicated that the participant's guilt was not merely regret about a past act, but a compound spiritual suffering intertwining a damaged religious identity (a vertical dimension) with relational responsibility for having entrusted her daughter's life decisions to a shaman out of her own anxiety (a horizontal dimension). Peter's narrative helped her reinterpret repentance not as intense emotion but as a process of relational restoration, while structured imagery enabled her to verbalize suppressed anger and helplessness and to express the meaning of forgiveness and acceptance. This case suggests that integrating biblical narrative, reminiscence, and imagery may transform a self-condemning narrative into one of forgiveness and peace.

This paper argues that music can function as a legitimate medium for soul care within biblical counseling. For the past half century, the biblical counseling movement has relied almost exclusively on verbal media. A supplementary exegesis of Colossians 3:16—a foundational text for nouthetic counseling—reveals that “teaching and admonishing” and “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” are parallel participial clauses subordinate to the imperative “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” demonstrating that the latter has been left largely unexplored as a methodological resource. Building on this exegetical foundation, the study traces the relationship between music and soul care within the Theodrama. In creation, the human being is homo cantans—a singing creature whose music-making is a holistic activity of the imago Dei. The fall distorted music’s direction and order, yet redemption restores it through Moses’ song, David’s harp, the Psalms, and the “new song” in Christ. In consummation, music reaches its ultimate telos as cosmic praise before the Lamb. On this theological basis, five principles of biblical music therapy are proposed: God-orientation, Word-bearing, holistic engagement, the continuity of lament and hope, and communal care. This study expands the methodological horizon of biblical counseling by demonstrating that music in soul care is not a Christianized adaptation of secular music therapy but a practice grounded in creation order and commanded by Scripture.

This study aims to explore ways to enhance Christian flourishing among the baby boomer generation facing a transition into a super-aged society. To this end, the study examines the biblical narratives of Barzillai and Phoebe through the analytical framework of the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) model, a psychological adaptation mechanism. The main contents of this research are as follows: First, it defines the characteristics of the baby boomer generation and the concept of Christian flourishing. Second, it reinterprets Baltes’ SOC model from a Christian perspective. Third, it derives practical applications of the SOC model through biblical character narratives. In the narrative of Barzillai, the wisdom of selection and compensation is identified through his acknowledgment of personal limitations and his yielding of position to the next generation. In the narrative of Phoebe, a model of optimized dedication as Paul’s co-worker is discovered, characterized by the concentration of her resources for the benefit of the church. In conclusion, this study suggests that the baby boomer generation can achieve Christian flourishing not by clinging to past roles, but by readjusting life priorities(Selection), honing remaining spiritual gifts (Optimization), and overcoming limitations through spiritual influence within the faith community(Compensation) according to the principles of the SOC model.