In my theology, an overwhelming theme that permeates as a lens that all of the rest is seen by is the concept that the image of God that any individual possesses drastically influences every other aspect of an individual’s life, including everything from social interactions, to career vocations, to daily decisions. That being said, while undertaking the process of education as I am in such an institution, every new idea that is learned has potential to influence my interpretation of who God is and what he looks like. My task then as a theologian is to use scripture to filter, test, and critique my influences to obtain more correct understanding of who God is every day. This undertaking grows increasingly complicating with meditation of events and theories that presents apparent differences to the previously understood concepts of God. With Holocaust Remembrance Day in passing within the last month and the events held on campus, I am unable to avoid pondering to what degree the holocaust influences my concept of God.
At the Panel Discussion held on February 6 on “Remembering the Holocaust in Literature, Film, and Theology,” Alejandro Baer, Associate Professor & Director, Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota, mentioned that the Holocaust is universally accepted as absolute evil. It is with this that any individual that has studied theology to any extent can recognize that the notion of evil presents a particular set of problems to Christianity as a whole. For instance, in my set of beliefs that make up my image of God, is all powerful, and provides care to the world. With this, it is reasonable to believe that God will protect the world from evil, and that he wants to deliver his creations from evil. Ho...
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...to which anti-Semitism is rooted in Christian tradition, to which Christians are to take responsibility for. Both unjust explanations to the problem of evil and anti-Semitism supply mutations to bastardize the image of who God is as described in the scriptures. This bastardization has repercussions to the life of a Christian that is arguably unlimited, and therefore to the utmost importance to account for and strive to correct.
Reference List
Luhman, Regiland S. 1985. “Belief in God and the Problem of Suffering.” The Evangelical Quarterly, 57.4: 327-248. http://www.theologicalstudies.org.uk/, (Accessed February 9, 2014).
Marendy, Peter M. 2005. "Anti-Semitism, Christianity, and the Catholic Church: origins, consequences, and responses." Journal Of Church And State 47, no. 2: 289-307. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed February 10, 2014).
“Modern anti-Semitism, in contrast to earlier forms, was based not on religious practices of the Jews but on the theory that Jews comprised an inferior race. Anti-Semites exploited the fact that Jews had been forced into exile by extolling as ‘fact’ that their ‘rootlessness’ had a genetic basis. A Jew was a Jew not because he or she practiced any particular religion, but because it was a character of his or her blood.”
Anti-semitism originates back to the Middle Ages, when Christians believed that Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus. They were also accused of the ritual murder of Christian children in what were called blood libels. The main idea of racial anti-semitism was developed and presented by a philosophist named Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, explaining that the Je...
The Jews have been the only people accused of deicide and this caused hatred from Christians. During the diaspora, the Jews settled in the Mediterranean countries, although they settled as far away as Europe. Constant uprooting prevented the Jews from becoming agriculturalists and pastoralists, therefore they worked at trades. During the middle ages, the Jews made ornamental glass objects and worked at money lending. They were seen as prosperous and resented by the people of the countries where they settled. Resentment built against the Jews by the less prosperous people of the settled countries. The attitude of the Christian church was summed up, from our lecture, by John Chrysostom who wrote: “The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon.” The churches were reluctant to help the Jews during the holocaust because of the long-standing hatred. The Jews caught in German-occupied areas after World War I had little help except for few organizations and many countries did
The problem of reconciling an omnipotent, perfectly just, perfectly benevolent god with a world full of evil and suffering has plagued believers since the beginning of religious thought. Atheists often site this paradox in order to demonstrate that such a god cannot exist and, therefore, that theism is an invalid position. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that seeks to defend religion by reconciling the supposed existence of an omnipotent, perfectly just God with the presence of evil and suffering in the world. In fact, the word “theodicy” consists of the Greek words “theos,” or God, and “dike,” or justice (Knox 1981, 1). Thus, theodicy seeks to find a sense of divine justice in a world filled with suffering.
Haugen, David M., and Susan Musser. The Holocaust. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2011. Print. Perspectives on Modern World History.
The Holocaust was a very impressionable period of time. It not only got media attention during that time, but movies, books, websites, and other forms of media still remember the Holocaust. In Richard Brietman’s article, “Lasting Effects of the Holocaust,” he reviews two books and one movie that were created to reflect the Holocaust (BREITMAN 11). He notes that the two books are very realistic and give historical facts and references to display the evils that were happening in concentration camps during the Holocaust. This shows that the atrocities that were committed during the Holocaust have not been forgotten. Through historical writings and records, the harshness and evil that created the Holocaust will live through centuries, so that it may not be repeated again (BREITMAN 14).
Religious people from many religions all over the world need a response to the Holocaust to understand what to believe, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. Some religious people need a response to the Holocaust to justify their belief in God after such destruction has taken place, even though God is supposed to be benevolent, all loving. Jews specifically need a response to the Holocaust a great amount of those who died in the Holocaust were Jewish and since then many theologians have tried to decipher the message of the Holocaust. Fackenheim has a unique response to the Holocaust and his theory of a new commandment, and his answers of how to prevail after such evil was committed are unusual and controversial. The 'Commandment' is explicit and detailed, and although Fackenheim's theories do not explain why the Holocaust happened, or how to prevent it, he explains how to live after the Holocaust. Sacks continued to believe in God after the Holocaust and does not think that the Holocaust was unique, and recognises the previous persecutions of the Jewish people. Although this constant destruction against the Jewish people is not positive, the idea that the Jewish people can always survive and recover from such events is encouraging and hopeful.
An example would be the Cambodian Genocide which took place in 1975. A group of Communists, known as Khmer Rouge, took control over Cambodia. They targeted getting rid of Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims to create a society without competition. This is relatable to the Holocaust reason being Hitler’s motive was to rid of all the Jews because he thought they were dangerous to society and considered them not human. The Cambodians suffered through extreme torture and murders, and during this they prayed and prayed to their God to save them from their torture just like the Jews in the concentration camps, but God did not answer their prayers and left them to continue to be assaulted. Some of the Cambodian people could have taken their experiences to think, “Everything happens for a reason, God did this to test my faith and make me stronger.” While other Cambodian people were left with unanswered questions and resentment towards their god. With their faith shaken, the Jewish people questioned their faith. Faith is having a strong belief based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof, and the Jewish people began to question this spiritual connection they had been confident in for so long. They began to wonder why the merciful god they believed in showed them no mercy as they were brutally assaulted. The genocide greatly affected the Cambodian people's beliefs in Judaism, some
Kreeft, Peter. (1988).“The Problem of Evil.” Chapter 7 in Fundamentals of the Faith. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
Jewish communities, regardless of denomination, are facing various questions in relation to society at large. Arguably, the most prominent of these questions, is a contemporary and fundamental issue: anti-Semitism. In the present day, Jewish marginalization is often ignored, meaning that individuals do not consider anti-Semitism as a serious enough problem. Media apathy is thriving in regards to this issue as the notion that anti-Semitism is over is one which is being absorbed. In order to overcome this, Jewish communities and individuals are attempting to reinforce positive virtues found in the Tanakh as a way to express their interest in human rights for society at large. Additionally, Jewish activists continuously devote their time to movements that enhance the rights of women, the pursuit of world peace, environmental sustainability, and other issues of social justice. For this reason, an in-depth analysis of positive Jewish responses to anti-Semitism is of utmost importance.
Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.
Trip, D. (1999), “The Christian view of suffering” [Online], Exploring Christianity. Available from: http://www.christianity.co.nz/suffer4.htm [Accessed 18 April 2008].
The problem of evil is a difficult objection to contend with for theists. Indeed, major crises of faith can occur after observing or experiencing the wide variety and depths of suffering in the world. It also stands that these “evils” of suffering call into question the existence of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The “greater good defense” tries to account for some of the issues presented, but still has flaws of its own.
Anti-Semitism, a hatred of Jews, has been present for centuries in many places. However, the term ‘Anti-Semitism’ itself only came into use in the nineteenth century, and along with it came an ideology which fuelled this deep psychological hatred to develop into a political movement which culminated in Nazism. Throughout history, the reasons for Anti-Semitism have differed and in Imperial Germany, it was a combination of religious, racial and political factors which led to such hostility toward Jews. However, the economic state of the nation is often thought to be the main reason behind the way in which Jews were treated during this period.
Throughout history many groups of people have been ostracized for their appearance, religion, cultural, and social traits. Beginning in ¬¬¬pre-Christian society people of the Jewish faith have been blamed and alienated from society. Anti-Semitism, or hostility or prejudice against Jews was a distorted belief that changed course over history. Although in pre-Nazi Germany anti-Semitism was apparent, Hitler used propaganda to change anti-Semitism from some people having prejudice towards Jews to eventually the dehumanization and genocide of Jewish people.