I believe that an appropriate, Christian response to the holocaust is to act with sympathy and to help the Jews who are being persecuted as much as possible. I think that a true Christian should do whatever it takes to stand up for other people’s rights especially those being oppressed. We are to live our lives in the spirit of Jesus Christ and Jesus died to save us. We too should take on that mentality and risk our lives for what is right and to prevent genocide any possible way. When visiting the Holocaust Museum, there was very little focus on what the Christians were doing or how it affected the Christian religion. But what was mentioned was that many Christians helped to house the Jews who were running from the Nazi. Some Christians took the Jews into their home and protected them as much as possible. -Nicole Dillon
While at the holocaust museum, an found interesting reaction that the Germans did while the Jewish community was being persecuted. Many did nothing. They never interfered with the Nazis as they killed millions of innocent Jews. There were, however, cases of Christians reaching out to the Jews and at great risk, they hid as many Jews as possible within their homes. Regardless of what one's religious views are, one should always stand up against genocide. Although I have no statistic to back up the number of Christians living in Germany at the time, I can assume that the majority were followers of Christ; yet, they did nothing. Christ was sent to Earth to save humanity from death. As followers of Christ, we should follow his example and save the humanity from death caused by evil acts.
I believe that the correct Christian response to the Holocaust is a reaction of horror at the atrocities committed, and a firm resolve never to let, as far as it is within our power, such things happen again. Christ Himself was Jewish, and loves all people; this evidently leads us to believe that we should value all human life and treat one another as equals in our humanity.
In The Theological Declaration of Barmen, Karl Barth quotes Scripture to explain how Christians should act in the world: "Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Peter 2:17). This quote means that allegiance must always be to God before man. Christians have a duty to preach the Gospel at all times, but if government prevents them from doing so, they must act. Christians' response to the Holocaust should be one of action to stop the genocide that is still going on in the world today. In the Holocaust Museum there was a whole section devoted to present-day genocide, which goes along with the mission of the museum to "inspire citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, promote human dignity, and prevent genocide." I think the mission of the Museum is an appropriate response for Christians.
The Theological Declaration of Barmen works to remind followers of the Christian tradition that in every circumstance, including the Holocaust, those that call themselves a Christian should still be upholding the points that were mentioned in the text. For example, “Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and death” (157). Jesus was one whose focus was on the outcasts; the lepers, etc., were people that Jesus took the time to love. When I was at the Holocaust Museum, some of what I saw was pictures of places that had signs saying that the Jews needed to stay out. These pictures, and also the text in the museum that would explain the various ways in which the Jews were slowly forced to be disconnected with society, relates them to the lepers of Jesus’ time. As others have mentioned, true followers of Christ put aside differences and did what they could to assist those struggling under the wrath of Hitler by hiding them. Keeping this loving frame of mind is the message of the Theological Declaration of Barmen, as the text closes with, “It invites all who are able to accept its declaration to be mindful of these theological principles in their decisions in Church politics. It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope” (160).
An appropriate response on the part of Christians to the unspeakable evil that was the Holocaust should include the question "Did we speak out". A Christians response should include deep soul searching, a sense of deep sorrow for the suffering of the Jewish people and reflection on past errors of mankind that allowed hatred to reach such a level. Christians need to reflect on any antisemitism, which existed within the church at that time, reexamining the attitudes Christians had towards Jews. Positive steps forward to help correct past injustices and heal wounds of the past should be taken such as those taken by Pope Benedict XVI. The frightening and disturbing images of the concentration camps, the collection of personal effects, particularly the collection of shoes, the boxcars that took the victims to the camps and the testimonies of survivors made a chapter in history suddenly very real and influenced my thoughts.
The Theological Declaration of Barmen tells us how christians should act in the World. We must worship God before man. In the holocaust, Christians must act to preach the Gospel, unlike the Government wants. During the holocaust Christians were acting towards this issue by stoping genocide. in the Holocaust the Government was preventing them to do so, but christians act upon that. I think that people should stand up for what is what and they they thing should be right. During the Holocaust Christians tried to protect the Jews even though they knew they could be punished. For example, Christians housed the Jews to save them. I believe that is good that we try and protect people from evil because that is what we are taught and what we believe is right.
When I first went to the Holocaust museum I was expecting it to be more like a history museum. I then quickly realized it was like a history lesson, but with an interesting twist. The Holocaust museum showed me what the Holocaust was like without actually being there. As Christians, we should have attempted to step in to save those struggling at the time. As followers of Christ we should not have taken consequences into consideration, but we should have followed Jesus' footsteps in helping those in need.
An appropriate Christian response to the Holocaust is perfectly shown through Pope Pius XII. This pope was the pope during the Holocaust. His Christian reaction to the horrible persecution of Jews was love. This man saved countless Jewish lives. He hid many Jews throughout the Vatican, Rome, and stopped many deportations of Jews throughout Europe. Even though the people he saved were not Christian does not mean he was not going to go out of his way to save them. A huge cornerstone of the Christian faith is to love everyone no matter who they are and to help those in need or those less fortunate than you. The Jews at this time were those who were in the most need and most unfortunate. Pope Pius XII answered his Christian call and depleted the amount of lives that Hitler stole. Christians should always look down the massive genocide of any people no matter who they are and try to stop it.
Visiting the Holocaust Museum, what stood out to me was the amount of control the Nazi party attempted to exert. They tried to control everything, from the media to the economy to nearly every aspect of a person's life.... or death. Barth seems to be saying that, while the existence of a State of some kind is divinely appointed, it should not consume all authority on earth so as to rule out the need for a spiritual authority as well. Barth seems extremely unwilling to let the government use the church for its own purposes or manipulate it in any way. Lordship belongs to Christ, Barth asserts, and the Church shall answer to Him. ~Nathaniel Hlavin
I believe that the Christian response would not only be to love and honor victims of the holocaust, but also to show mercy to the perpetrators. It is Christian duty to live out the Gospel. Therefore, witnesses of the Holocaust should have stood up and defended the victims more. Christians are now required to look back upon the Holocaust and forgive all those who have done wrong. One of the last words Christ spoke as he was nailed on the cross was "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) If Jesus was able to show mercy to those who condemned Him to death, then we should follow His example. In my opinion, one of the most powerful lines from The Theological Declaration of Barmen is "It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope." (pg 160) My favorite part of the Holocaust Museum was actually the very ending, when it highlighted areas in the world today that are suffering from genocide. Christians should follow the advice of Karl Barth to gain " unity in faith, love and hope," so that we may stop the injustices in the world, by loving the victims, and forgiving the perpetrators.
Karl Barth's "Theological Declaration of Barmen" describes Hitler's true intentions in establishing the national church. He says that its intention is "withstand in faith and unanimity the destruction of the Confession of faith, and thus of the Evangelical Church of Germany."
To the question, how should Christians respond to the Holocaust? The quickest memories of those associated with the Holocaust are the staggering death totals of Jews and others. Not only should our sympathy go out to all of Germany, but we should also be imbued with renewed fervor to prevent future events like this from happening. We must look at the motives behind actions to do this. That is, if we look at why Hitler is trying to gather so much power and establish a new church, then perhaps we would see, or perhaps we should even assume, that his intentions are far from the best.
In Karl Barth's Theological Declaration of Barmen, we are shown that there was held a council of multiple different churches; Luthern, Reformed, and United. They met not to reformed or create a new church, but to find the truth in God's word. He then describes to us how a Christian should act in the world. He brings up multiple evangelical truths taken from scripture. According to Barth, a good Christian would do as they could to save the Jews affected by the Holocaust without thinking about potential consequences. We should always model ourselves after Jesus Christ, even if it means risking our lives.
The Holocaust was an event that goes against all catholic doctrines and eveything that we stand for as Catholics and as human beings. The Holocaust is similar to the current day genocide in Darfur. It is not right to take the lives of other people for no reason except if they have taken someone elses life for no reason also. Being a good Catholic would include helping those who suffered these tragic events sand providing relief for these poor people. I just dont see how one could do such horrible things to so many people. One thing I remember vividly from my trip to the holocaust museum was the section where they showed medical experiments that were performed on Jews that were alive and dead. They basically used these people like animals for testing. I remember seeing pictures of body parts that were detached from human torsos and I also remember seeing one where human bodies were submerged in ice cold water to see how much the human body could withstand. It is bad enough that these people were killed, but it just completely crosses the line by torturing people for medical research.
The Christian response to the Holocaust at the time should have been to stop the persecution of the Jews in whatever way possible. The Christian response of the present time should be a vow to never let anything like that to ever happen again. Barth writes that Christians should return unity and faith and love. That is how we should respond to the Holocaust and to present day genocide. Tom May
The Holocaust was a horrific and tragic event in history. As Christians, we feel deep sorrow for those who were killed due to this, and those being killed today because of genocide. For those who do not feel that way then shame on them. (or let them be anathema). Barth tells us that we should have, and should, help those in need without thought of the potential consequences. Knowing you did the right thing, and that you will do the right thing, is all that truly matters in the end. -Kate Shannon
As Christians we have to reach out to those who have been hurt by such a crisis because we are supposed to imitate Christ. And just as he reached out to the lepers, blind, and lame, so should we reach out to our fellow believers. As human beings we should reach out and help based on the principle of upholding respect for all human life.
Karl Barth put it very well when he wrote, "We may and must speak with one voice today." In response to actions like the Holocaust we must always reaffirm our faith and hold together in our beliefs.
Karl Barth's Theological Declaration displays a council of different churches coming together to find the truth in God's word. A Christian would do anything to help another without thinking of a consequence, they would just do what was right. This relates to the Holocaust. The Christian response to the Holocaust would have be to put a stop the killing of Jews. As Christians we cannot allow anything like this to happen in the future. We need to have love and faith in God so that we can take a stand to bad things like genocide.
The Christian response during the Holocaust was one that was rooted in being a place where everyone effected by the horrors in Germany could go for spiritual shelter. The church most definitely opposed the Holocaust, but Pope Pius XII remained neutral when it came to the case. Although remaining neutral, Pope Pius XII released statements that shed light on injustices in general. The church remained a place of solitude and safety for people in Germany, and throughout the world to people on the outside looking in.
Today, genocide and injustices still occur. The church is more outspoken today in cases of injustice. Pope's make statements regarding different types of injustices in the world. The churn as a whole has a responsibility to reach out to all those who are the victims of injustice.
I thought the correct Christian response to the Holocaust would have been to help the Jews. In many ways the Christians did help by sheltering the Jews, however, perhaps they should have protested Hilter more instead of appearing to be persuaded by Germany. Even though Hitler was Christian, he should not have been looked upon as a fellow-Christian because of his actions which resulted in the Holocaust and another World War. I don't believe the Christians should have just sat around and prayed for God to deliver the Jews from persecution, I believe they should have taken action. ~Caitlin Gorecki
I believe that Christian values are most imortant in times of crisis, and the Holocaust was am important time to demonstrate these values. The christian church should have stood up and make a stand against the Nazis, or at least made statements against their actions. There is no excure for christians to sit back and watch helplessly as people are persecuted. This is the time when morals were tested, and most christians failed to stick to their morals.
I think an appropriate Christian response to the holocaust is as it should be for any occurrence of genocide--horror. For we are all God's children, no one less than the next. Right now, the same kind of genocide is happening all over the world, regardless of religion or gender or ethnicity. The same horror with which we regard abortion should be applied to the holocaust.
I think it's interesting how the Catholic Church didn't really interfere when the Nazis took full power and began persecuting minorities, even though there are many reminders and emphasis' on how indifference is wrong. Not only did they do nothing, they turned the other cheek. Even Martin Luther realized that the power was residing solely with the Pope and that needed to be changed, so he did something about it. Granted many people decided to do nothing during Nazi regime for fear of getting into trouble/persecuted themselves, but the Nazi party wasn't ALWAYS the most powerful... Wasn't there sometime in between when Hitler and his political party was just beginning to gain a little bit of power? And during that time, why didn't anyone stop it there? It's astonishing to find that within 6 or 7 years over 6 million people (6 million excluding everyone but Jews), but wouldn't have taken some time beforehand for the Nazi party to gain such power and influence?
I think the correct response to the Holocaust would be to open our souls to the people who suffered and we should give forgiveness to the people who began the Holocaust. If God can find the good in the people who make sins then he should be able to find good in the perpetrators. IT is important to overcome this tragedy by having faith in everyone. -Lindsey Ritter
I found it interesting and sad that the Catholic Church remained silent (for the most part) about the tragedy of all the injustices done in the Shoah. Since we were talking about sins of omission in class today, it really made me think more about what we could be not doing today that could be hurting someone else.... Either way, the Holocaust is something tragic that I feel each one of us needs to understand so that we can prevent a similar catastrophe in the future- God forbid it should happen. It also reminds us as Catholics that we need to know when to speak out against what is blatantly wrong.
I think that it is incredibly sad that the Catholic Church did not come out and denounce the Nazis. I understand that the Catholics in Germany were being persecuted as well; however, I still cannot believe that the Church did not at least publicly denounce Hitler and the Nazi party for their crimes against humanity. I get that maybe the Church was afraid that speaking out would make the situation for Catholics in Germany more difficult, but like Sophie mentioned, the sin of omission is still there, and must never happen again.
That being said, the worst sin about the Holocaust is the fact that, as we mentioned in class, it is possible that people were just unaware of what was going on in Europe. The fact that people did not know that 6 million people were being systematically exterminated is the absolutely worst part of the discussion we had in class. This is also an unforgiveable sin that must never be repeated. The only way we can prevent unawareness is to always be informed of what is going on, whether it is halfway around the world or in our own backyard. By being informed, we will be able to prevent ourselves from being responsible for a sin of omission.
This article clearly shows how immense of a power that the Nazis had over everything in Germany. The church was not even allowed to believe in their fundamental values because the Nazis disagreed with it. There was a certain amount of brainwashing that appeared to occur with the Nazis having control over the church so it is possible that no one understand the horrifying results of the Holocaust because they assumed the Nazi party was good. The thing that is the most upsetting is that the Catholic Church waited until 1998 to issue their apology to the Jewish people for being completely destroyed in Europe. It seemed like the apology was too little, too late because it was not going to bring back those that died.
The inaction of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust brings to light the fallibility of any individual, no matter what his set of beliefs is. While the Catholic community preaches temperance, equality, and justice, we have to keep in mind that this community is still subject to sin. While I am in no way justifying this inaction, it was not unimaginable to me. It is difficult to place one's self in the position of a Catholic in Nazi Germany. It is even more difficult to say with certainty that I would have resisted my instinct of self-preservation and speak up against the atrocity.
The "Theological Declaration of Barmen" reminds us that Scripture should be adhered to, and the Catholic community should resist any false doctrine which masks itself as Christian. As Karl Barth so powerfully says, "We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans (Barth 159).
I believe that an appropriate, Christian response to the holocaust is to act with sympathy and to help the Jews who are being persecuted as much as possible. I think that a true Christian should do whatever it takes to stand up for other people’s rights especially those being oppressed. We are to live our lives in the spirit of Jesus Christ and Jesus died to save us. We too should take on that mentality and risk our lives for what is right and to prevent genocide any possible way. When visiting the Holocaust Museum, there was very little focus on what the Christians were doing or how it affected the Christian religion. But what was mentioned was that many Christians helped to house the Jews who were running from the Nazi. Some Christians took the Jews into their home and protected them as much as possible.
ReplyDelete-Nicole Dillon
While at the holocaust museum, an found interesting reaction that the Germans did while the Jewish community was being persecuted. Many did nothing. They never interfered with the Nazis as they killed millions of innocent Jews. There were, however, cases of Christians reaching out to the Jews and at great risk, they hid as many Jews as possible within their homes. Regardless of what one's religious views are, one should always stand up against genocide. Although I have no statistic to back up the number of Christians living in Germany at the time, I can assume that the majority were followers of Christ; yet, they did nothing. Christ was sent to Earth to save humanity from death. As followers of Christ, we should follow his example and save the humanity from death caused by evil acts.
ReplyDelete-Jay Garrick
I believe that the correct Christian response to the Holocaust is a reaction of horror at the atrocities committed, and a firm resolve never to let, as far as it is within our power, such things happen again. Christ Himself was Jewish, and loves all people; this evidently leads us to believe that we should value all human life and treat one another as equals in our humanity.
ReplyDeleteChelsey Sterling
In The Theological Declaration of Barmen, Karl Barth quotes Scripture to explain how Christians should act in the world: "Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Peter 2:17). This quote means that allegiance must always be to God before man. Christians have a duty to preach the Gospel at all times, but if government prevents them from doing so, they must act. Christians' response to the Holocaust should be one of action to stop the genocide that is still going on in the world today. In the Holocaust Museum there was a whole section devoted to present-day genocide, which goes along with the mission of the museum to "inspire citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, promote human dignity, and prevent genocide." I think the mission of the Museum is an appropriate response for Christians.
ReplyDeleteThe Theological Declaration of Barmen works to remind followers of the Christian tradition that in every circumstance, including the Holocaust, those that call themselves a Christian should still be upholding the points that were mentioned in the text. For example, “Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and death” (157). Jesus was one whose focus was on the outcasts; the lepers, etc., were people that Jesus took the time to love. When I was at the Holocaust Museum, some of what I saw was pictures of places that had signs saying that the Jews needed to stay out. These pictures, and also the text in the museum that would explain the various ways in which the Jews were slowly forced to be disconnected with society, relates them to the lepers of Jesus’ time. As others have mentioned, true followers of Christ put aside differences and did what they could to assist those struggling under the wrath of Hitler by hiding them. Keeping this loving frame of mind is the message of the Theological Declaration of Barmen, as the text closes with, “It invites all who are able to accept its declaration to be mindful of these theological principles in their decisions in Church politics. It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope” (160).
ReplyDelete-Tori McAllister
An appropriate response on the part of Christians to the unspeakable evil that was the Holocaust should include the question "Did we speak out". A Christians response should include deep soul searching, a sense of deep sorrow for the suffering of the Jewish people and reflection on past errors of mankind that allowed hatred to reach such a level. Christians need to reflect on any antisemitism, which existed within the church at that time, reexamining the attitudes Christians had towards Jews. Positive steps forward to help correct past injustices and heal wounds of the past should be taken such as those taken by Pope Benedict XVI. The frightening and disturbing images of the concentration camps, the collection of personal effects, particularly the collection of shoes, the boxcars that took the victims to the camps and the testimonies of survivors made a chapter in history suddenly very real and influenced my thoughts.
ReplyDelete-Carolyn Spero
The Theological Declaration of Barmen tells us how christians should act in the World. We must worship God before man. In the holocaust, Christians must act to preach the Gospel, unlike the Government wants. During the holocaust Christians were acting towards this issue by stoping genocide. in the Holocaust the Government was preventing them to do so, but christians act upon that. I think that people should stand up for what is what and they they thing should be right. During the Holocaust Christians tried to protect the Jews even though they knew they could be punished. For example, Christians housed the Jews to save them. I believe that is good that we try and protect people from evil because that is what we are taught and what we believe is right.
ReplyDelete-mary vogt
When I first went to the Holocaust museum I was expecting it to be more like a history museum. I then quickly realized it was like a history lesson, but with an interesting twist. The Holocaust museum showed me what the Holocaust was like without actually being there. As Christians, we should have attempted to step in to save those struggling at the time. As followers of Christ we should not have taken consequences into consideration, but we should have followed Jesus' footsteps in helping those in need.
ReplyDeleteElise Ariens
An appropriate Christian response to the Holocaust is perfectly shown through Pope Pius XII. This pope was the pope during the Holocaust. His Christian reaction to the horrible persecution of Jews was love. This man saved countless Jewish lives. He hid many Jews throughout the Vatican, Rome, and stopped many deportations of Jews throughout Europe. Even though the people he saved were not Christian does not mean he was not going to go out of his way to save them. A huge cornerstone of the Christian faith is to love everyone no matter who they are and to help those in need or those less fortunate than you. The Jews at this time were those who were in the most need and most unfortunate. Pope Pius XII answered his Christian call and depleted the amount of lives that Hitler stole. Christians should always look down the massive genocide of any people no matter who they are and try to stop it.
ReplyDeleteEmma Leary
Visiting the Holocaust Museum, what stood out to me was the amount of control the Nazi party attempted to exert. They tried to control everything, from the media to the economy to nearly every aspect of a person's life.... or death. Barth seems to be saying that, while the existence of a State of some kind is divinely appointed, it should not consume all authority on earth so as to rule out the need for a spiritual authority as well. Barth seems extremely unwilling to let the government use the church for its own purposes or manipulate it in any way. Lordship belongs to Christ, Barth asserts, and the Church shall answer to Him.
ReplyDelete~Nathaniel Hlavin
I believe that the Christian response would not only be to love and honor victims of the holocaust, but also to show mercy to the perpetrators. It is Christian duty to live out the Gospel. Therefore, witnesses of the Holocaust should have stood up and defended the victims more. Christians are now required to look back upon the Holocaust and forgive all those who have done wrong. One of the last words Christ spoke as he was nailed on the cross was "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) If Jesus was able to show mercy to those who condemned Him to death, then we should follow His example. In my opinion, one of the most powerful lines from The Theological Declaration of Barmen is "It entreats all whom it concerns to return to the unity of faith, love, and hope." (pg 160) My favorite part of the Holocaust Museum was actually the very ending, when it highlighted areas in the world today that are suffering from genocide. Christians should follow the advice of Karl Barth to gain " unity in faith, love and hope," so that we may stop the injustices in the world, by loving the victims, and forgiving the perpetrators.
ReplyDelete-Elisabeth O'Toole
Karl Barth's "Theological Declaration of Barmen" describes Hitler's true intentions in establishing the national church. He says that its intention is "withstand in faith and unanimity the destruction of the Confession of faith, and thus of the Evangelical Church of Germany."
ReplyDeleteTo the question, how should Christians respond to the Holocaust?
The quickest memories of those associated with the Holocaust are the staggering death totals of Jews and others. Not only should our sympathy go out to all of Germany, but we should also be imbued with renewed fervor to prevent future events like this from happening. We must look at the motives behind actions to do this. That is, if we look at why Hitler is trying to gather so much power and establish a new church, then perhaps we would see, or perhaps we should even assume, that his intentions are far from the best.
In Karl Barth's Theological Declaration of Barmen, we are shown that there was held a council of multiple different churches; Luthern, Reformed, and United. They met not to reformed or create a new church, but to find the truth in God's word. He then describes to us how a Christian should act in the world. He brings up multiple evangelical truths taken from scripture. According to Barth, a good Christian would do as they could to save the Jews affected by the Holocaust without thinking about potential consequences. We should always model ourselves after Jesus Christ, even if it means risking our lives.
ReplyDeleteThe Holocaust was an event that goes against all catholic doctrines and eveything that we stand for as Catholics and as human beings. The Holocaust is similar to the current day genocide in Darfur. It is not right to take the lives of other people for no reason except if they have taken someone elses life for no reason also. Being a good Catholic would include helping those who suffered these tragic events sand providing relief for these poor people. I just dont see how one could do such horrible things to so many people. One thing I remember vividly from my trip to the holocaust museum was the section where they showed medical experiments that were performed on Jews that were alive and dead. They basically used these people like animals for testing. I remember seeing pictures of body parts that were detached from human torsos and I also remember seeing one where human bodies were submerged in ice cold water to see how much the human body could withstand. It is bad enough that these people were killed, but it just completely crosses the line by torturing people for medical research.
ReplyDelete--Nicholas Darin
The Christian response to the Holocaust at the time should have been to stop the persecution of the Jews in whatever way possible. The Christian response of the present time should be a vow to never let anything like that to ever happen again.
ReplyDeleteBarth writes that Christians should return unity and faith and love. That is how we should respond to the Holocaust and to present day genocide.
Tom May
The Holocaust was a horrific and tragic event in history. As Christians, we feel deep sorrow for those who were killed due to this, and those being killed today because of genocide. For those who do not feel that way then shame on them. (or let them be anathema). Barth tells us that we should have, and should, help those in need without thought of the potential consequences. Knowing you did the right thing, and that you will do the right thing, is all that truly matters in the end.
ReplyDelete-Kate Shannon
As Christians we have to reach out to those who have been hurt by such a crisis because we are supposed to imitate Christ. And just as he reached out to the lepers, blind, and lame, so should we reach out to our fellow believers. As human beings we should reach out and help based on the principle of upholding respect for all human life.
ReplyDeleteKarl Barth put it very well when he wrote, "We may and must speak with one voice today." In response to actions like the Holocaust we must always reaffirm our faith and hold together in our beliefs.
~Nicholas Shields
Karl Barth's Theological Declaration displays a council of different churches coming together to find the truth in God's word. A Christian would do anything to help another without thinking of a consequence, they would just do what was right. This relates to the Holocaust. The Christian response to the Holocaust would have be to put a stop the killing of Jews. As Christians we cannot allow anything like this to happen in the future. We need to have love and faith in God so that we can take a stand to bad things like genocide.
ReplyDelete-Katelyn Bockin
The Christian response during the Holocaust was one that was rooted in being a place where everyone effected by the horrors in Germany could go for spiritual shelter. The church most definitely opposed the Holocaust, but Pope Pius XII remained neutral when it came to the case. Although remaining neutral, Pope Pius XII released statements that shed light on injustices in general. The church remained a place of solitude and safety for people in Germany, and throughout the world to people on the outside looking in.
ReplyDeleteToday, genocide and injustices still occur. The church is more outspoken today in cases of injustice. Pope's make statements regarding different types of injustices in the world. The churn as a whole has a responsibility to reach out to all those who are the victims of injustice.
I thought the correct Christian response to the Holocaust would have been to help the Jews. In many ways the Christians did help by sheltering the Jews, however, perhaps they should have protested Hilter more instead of appearing to be persuaded by Germany. Even though Hitler was Christian, he should not have been looked upon as a fellow-Christian because of his actions which resulted in the Holocaust and another World War. I don't believe the Christians should have just sat around and prayed for God to deliver the Jews from persecution, I believe they should have taken action.
ReplyDelete~Caitlin Gorecki
I believe that Christian values are most imortant in times of crisis, and the Holocaust was am important time to demonstrate these values. The christian church should have stood up and make a stand against the Nazis, or at least made statements against their actions. There is no excure for christians to sit back and watch helplessly as people are persecuted. This is the time when morals were tested, and most christians failed to stick to their morals.
ReplyDeleteI think an appropriate Christian response to the holocaust is as it should be for any occurrence of genocide--horror. For we are all God's children, no one less than the next. Right now, the same kind of genocide is happening all over the world, regardless of religion or gender or ethnicity. The same horror with which we regard abortion should be applied to the holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how the Catholic Church didn't really interfere when the Nazis took full power and began persecuting minorities, even though there are many reminders and emphasis' on how indifference is wrong. Not only did they do nothing, they turned the other cheek. Even Martin Luther realized that the power was residing solely with the Pope and that needed to be changed, so he did something about it. Granted many people decided to do nothing during Nazi regime for fear of getting into trouble/persecuted themselves, but the Nazi party wasn't ALWAYS the most powerful... Wasn't there sometime in between when Hitler and his political party was just beginning to gain a little bit of power? And during that time, why didn't anyone stop it there? It's astonishing to find that within 6 or 7 years over 6 million people (6 million excluding everyone but Jews), but wouldn't have taken some time beforehand for the Nazi party to gain such power and influence?
ReplyDelete-Katie Lamb
I think the correct response to the Holocaust would be to open our souls to the people who suffered and we should give forgiveness to the people who began the Holocaust. If God can find the good in the people who make sins then he should be able to find good in the perpetrators. IT is important to overcome this tragedy by having faith in everyone.
ReplyDelete-Lindsey Ritter
I found it interesting and sad that the Catholic Church remained silent (for the most part) about the tragedy of all the injustices done in the Shoah. Since we were talking about sins of omission in class today, it really made me think more about what we could be not doing today that could be hurting someone else....
ReplyDeleteEither way, the Holocaust is something tragic that I feel each one of us needs to understand so that we can prevent a similar catastrophe in the future- God forbid it should happen. It also reminds us as Catholics that we need to know when to speak out against what is blatantly wrong.
-Sophia Pileggi
I think that it is incredibly sad that the Catholic Church did not come out and denounce the Nazis. I understand that the Catholics in Germany were being persecuted as well; however, I still cannot believe that the Church did not at least publicly denounce Hitler and the Nazi party for their crimes against humanity. I get that maybe the Church was afraid that speaking out would make the situation for Catholics in Germany more difficult, but like Sophie mentioned, the sin of omission is still there, and must never happen again.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the worst sin about the Holocaust is the fact that, as we mentioned in class, it is possible that people were just unaware of what was going on in Europe. The fact that people did not know that 6 million people were being systematically exterminated is the absolutely worst part of the discussion we had in class. This is also an unforgiveable sin that must never be repeated. The only way we can prevent unawareness is to always be informed of what is going on, whether it is halfway around the world or in our own backyard. By being informed, we will be able to prevent ourselves from being responsible for a sin of omission.
This article clearly shows how immense of a power that the Nazis had over everything in Germany. The church was not even allowed to believe in their fundamental values because the Nazis disagreed with it. There was a certain amount of brainwashing that appeared to occur with the Nazis having control over the church so it is possible that no one understand the horrifying results of the Holocaust because they assumed the Nazi party was good. The thing that is the most upsetting is that the Catholic Church waited until 1998 to issue their apology to the Jewish people for being completely destroyed in Europe. It seemed like the apology was too little, too late because it was not going to bring back those that died.
ReplyDelete-Tara Costello
The inaction of the Catholic Church during the Holocaust brings to light the fallibility of any individual, no matter what his set of beliefs is. While the Catholic community preaches temperance, equality, and justice, we have to keep in mind that this community is still subject to sin. While I am in no way justifying this inaction, it was not unimaginable to me. It is difficult to place one's self in the position of a Catholic in Nazi Germany. It is even more difficult to say with certainty that I would have resisted my instinct of self-preservation and speak up against the atrocity.
ReplyDeleteThe "Theological Declaration of Barmen" reminds us that Scripture should be adhered to, and the Catholic community should resist any false doctrine which masks itself as Christian. As Karl Barth so powerfully says, "We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church in human arrogance could place the Word and work of the Lord in the service of any arbitrarily chosen desires, purposes, and plans (Barth 159).