Good News after Auschwitz?
Christian Faith in a Post-Holocaust World
John K. Roth and Carol Rittner, R.S.M., editors
What can a credibility-challenged Christianity contribute to a post-Holocaust world?
Many argue that in a post-Holocaust world, Christians must address their own culpability in the destruction of Europe’s Jewry. If post-Holocaust Christians only lament Christianity’s sin, which has been catastrophically destructive in its anti-Jewish manifestations, the tradition will be ultimately left with little to say and no credibility. Post-Holocaust Christians must emphasize positive differences that Christianity can make, including
• Repentant honesty about Christianity’s anti-Jewish history
• New appreciation for the Jewish origins of Christianity, the Jewish identity of Jesus, and the continuing vitality of the Jewish people and their traditions
• Welcome liberation from liturgies and biblical interpretations that promote harmful Christian exclusivism
• Deepened understanding that the core of Christian practice is to love—inclusively and hospitably—one’s neighbors as oneself
Informed by the best Holocaust scholarship and written in an accessible style, these essays show that God’s embodied presence in the world provides life and hope that even the Holocaust cannot destroy.
John K. Roth is the Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, where he has taught since 1966. He has written, coauthored, or edited more than twenty-five books, including, most recently, Ethics after the Holocaust and major contributions to The Holocaust Chronicle.
Carol Rittner, R.S.M. is distinguished professor of Holocaust Studies at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She is the editor or coeditor of a number of books, including The Holocaust and the Christian World. She is the executive producer of two films, one of which, The Courage to Care, was nominated for a 1986 Academy Award in the Short Documentary category.
