Where was God at Auschwitz?
Published May 29th, 2006 in Articles of Interest, Questions of FaithAn interesting article appears in the Age newspaper today about the Pope’s trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Having a Pope visit the place is not unique, but having a German Pope visit is…
Apparently Benedict XVI is a a fairly well respected theologian, but when it comes to the hideous reality of what happened during the holocaust, he offers no easy answers. The article quotes him as saying,
“In a place like this, words fail. In the end, there can only be a dread silence, a silence which is a heartfelt cry to God — Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?”
It reminds me of another well respected German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann. He is an amazing thinker and while his books are very meaty and sometimes hard to read, his theology is always a challenge to the Christian community. When it comes to the holocaust, however, he too is left with little to say. It is such a huge, history changing event that it seems to sit outside of all out ideas of God’s sovereignty, justice, mercy and forgiveness.
In my mind at least, the honesty of these two men is what marks the best theologians. There’s an ability to say, “I don’t know”, the courage to ask hard questions of God, and an understanding that sometimes silence is the most appropriate answer.
I haven’t heard much about the current Pope, but I am encouraged by his visit to Auschwitz.
Read the whole article here.
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