Atrocity and Ambiguity: Recent Developments in Christian Holocaust Responses

Abstract

Christian Holocaust scholars insist that historical atrocity should catalyze religious change. Many established Holocaust theologians presume that the antidote to anti-Judaism involves identifying an authentic version of Christian faith lacking moral blemish. However, recent responses tend to view the Bible and the Christian tradition as irreducibly ambiguous. These new responses foreground perpetrator perspectives and correlate developments in theological reflection with evolving public Holocaust representations. They are distinctive in advocating careful examination of biographical connections to the Holocaust, including family, religious, and national identification. In significant ways, emphasis on ambiguity in recent Christian Holocaust thought provides critical leverage on the redemptive tendencies of popular Holocaust remembrance in the United States.