Theological Innocence and Family History in the Land of Perpetrators: German Theologians after the Shoah

Abstract

Questions about theological dilemmas in the face of the Shoah have been addressed by Jews and Christians alike in the wake of the genocidal anti-Semitism perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. In Germany, theologians have also picked up the issue of the credibility of Christian faith Auschwitz, and their writings are usually subsumed under the heading of Theologie nach (theology Auschwitz). Almost all of the answers provided by German after Auschwitz theologians were written from within theological categories; these writers thus claim to speak generally as Christian theologians but neglect to contextualize themselves as German theologians. But what would happen if we broadened this field of theological inquiry beyond the limits of the internal logic of theological reasoning? What if we approached those through the lens of cultural criticism and asked about the positioning of German theological discourse in a country that wrought genocidal devastation across Europe? What if we brought to bear upon German theologies Auschwitz an interpretive perspective that included the impact of family history, of generational differences, and of narrative strategies on the construction of theological positions? In one word, what does it mean to do theology in the land of perpetrators?