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
Lord Willing?
Lord Willing? Wrestling with God’s Role in My Child’s Death, by Jessica Kelley In November 2012, I received one of the most touching emails I have ever received. A young mother named Jessica Kelley explained to me that her four-year-old son had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. Despite his parents’ and doctors’ valiant…
Where is Human Free Will in the Bible?
The Bible is emphatic on its teaching that humans possess free will and are capable of originating evil. Notice, for example, that in the very first chapter of the Bible God commands humans to be fruitful and exercise dominion over the animal kingdom and the earth (Gen. 1:26). The fact that God must command us…
How do I avoid feeling like God is absent?
Question: I used to see God involved in everything and used to believe every event expressed God’s will. After my wife and I lost our child in a tragic accident, and as a result of reading your books (especially Is God to Blame?), I came to embrace the warfare worldview and the open view of…
The Cross and Cosmic Warfare
Since the time of Anselm in the 11th century, Western theology has focused almost all of its attention on the anthropological dimension of the atonement. In the most popular understanding, the chief thing that God was accomplishing on the cross was satisfying God’s perfect justice and thereby atoning for our sins. The work of the…
Warfare and Sickness
Is sickness something we should come against as spiritual warfare or is sickness just something that is part of our life until the Kingdom of God comes? Greg deals with the answer to this question.
Sermon: God Needs Prayer
In this sermon clip, Greg Boyd discusses some of the challenges we face when praying. The full sermon wrestles with questions like: If God is all-powerful, does he need our prayers to change this world? And is it even worth praying if we can’t see the results? Greg addresses these questions as he begins a…