Prospects for Post-Holocaust Theology

Discusses the role of Israel (the Jewish people) in the theologies of Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Paul van Buren; and shows how they revised the Reformed Churches' doctrines of supersessionism and the dichotomy between "works" (Judaism) and "grace" (Christianity) which prevented dialogue between Christians and Jews. Barth emphasized the centrality of Israel in salvation history and its continued election, though he also held (and this at the very time of the Holocaust) that Jews are doomed to suffer because of their rejection of Christ. Moltmann avoids supersessionism by acknowledging that the world is still unredeemed; both Christians and Jews await a future Redeemer. He thinks of God as suffering in Auschwitz in the Jewish people as he suffered in Christ on the cross. Van Buren also sees God as suffering in Auschwitz. He affirms that the Holocaust is "a reorienting event for Christian faith"; post-Holocaust theology, however, should focus on the continuing existence of the Jewish people, including the State of Israel.