We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
A Visit to Auschwitz
Arrestato guardiano del campo di concentramento di Auschwitz
Ever since I first learned of the full horror of the Holocaust when I was a freshman at the University of Minnesota I have had a kind of obsessive fascination with it. I’ve studied every aspect of Hitler and the Third Reich and about the philosophy that led to their “Final Solution.” In fact, for several years, I taught a course at Bethel University entitled “Theology After Auschwitz.” To get on the inside of this unthinkable horror, I would have the class not only read books, but also watch films and hear from living survivors. My conviction has always been that, after the Crucifixion of the Son of God, the Holocaust represents the greatest expression of evil in human history. For this reason, I believe it ought to serve as a criterion by which we measure the authenticity of our theology, and especially of our thinking on the problem of evil. “If you cannot speak it standing next to the mass grave of gassed children,” I have often said, “it is inauthentic to ever speak it.” In my view, all the flowery statements about God controlling all things for his glory become hollow nonsense in the vicinity of gassed children.
In just a few weeks I have the opportunity of fulfilling a several decades long dream of visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau. It will take place at the end of several weeks of kingdom teaching in Austria and Switzerland. I’ll be accompanied and supported by my wife Shelley and my kingdom co-workers, Greg and Marcia Erickson. I believe the experience will be powerful as we reflect on theological matters with the above criterion in full view.
To make the most of this visit, I’m wondering if any of you have ever visited these memorials? If so, do you have any recommendations for us? For example, should we view these memorials with a tour guide? And if you think we should have a guided tour, is there one you can recommend? Please send any information you think would be helpful to marcia@reknew2015.wpengine.com.
Thanks so much for your help. If it comes to mind, please pray that in both my speaking ministry and in our memorial visits, God will accomplish in us and through us all that he intends.
Sincerely,
Greg Boyd
Category: General
Tags: Auschwitz, Blueprint Worldview, Calvinism, Europe, Theodicy, Warfare Worldview
Related Reading
Old Testament Support for the Warfare Worldview
Rebuking Hostile Waters Satan plays a minor role in the Old Testament relative to the New Testament. Instead, the warfare worldview in the Old Testament is expressed in terms of God’s conflict with hostile waters, cosmic monsters, and other gods.Like their Ancient Near Eastern neighbors, ancient Jews believed that the earth was founded upon and…
The Full Meaning of Salvation
Many view salvation as a legal transaction, which means that it’s a mere acquittal from the consequences of sin. While forgiveness of our sin is certainly involved, the NT view of salvation goes far beyond this when it proclaims that Jesus came to save his people from their sins (Mt. 1:23)—not merely the consequences of those sins. In fact,…
Analogies For Understanding Prayer
God is all-powerful, which means he owns all the “say-so” there is. But when he decided to populate the creation with free agents, he gave each human various units of “say-so.” [Click here for yesterday’s post on “say-so.”] We each have a certain amount of power to affect what comes to pass by our choices.…
Did Jesus Say That God Causes Blindness?
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him (Jn 9:1-3, NIV) Commentators typically appeal to this passage…
Goodbye Beloved “Friend at First Sight”
I don’t believe in “love at first sight,” but I do believe that once in a great while, some fortunate people encounter “friends at first sight.” Maybe you know what I’m talking about. There are certain people whose chemistry just seems to draw you in. Minutes after meeting them you find yourself engaging with them,…