Language:
English
Year of publication:
1987
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Ecumenical Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
24,4 (1987) 598-615
Keywords:
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich,
;
Barth, Karl,
;
Bekennende Kirche Relations
;
Judaism
;
Protestant churches Relations
;
Judaism
;
Christian converts from Judaism History 20th century
;
Christianity and antisemitism History 1933-1945
;
Antisemitism History 1933-1945
;
Jews History 1933-1945
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Moral and ethical aspects
;
Holocaust (Christian theology)
Abstract:
Examines the theologies of Bonhoeffer and Barth and their influence on theologians' attitudes toward Nazi persecution of the Jews. Bonhoeffer was deeply concerned with the "Jewish question" from 1933 on. When the Confessing Church protected only Jewish converts and included in its statements (especially the Barmen Declaration, composed by Barth) only vague objections to Hitler's anti-Jewish policies, Bonhoeffer pressed for pronouncements relating to all Jews. Although Bonhoeffer maintained the traditional view that the Jews rejected Christ and were cursed by God until their conversion, it was neutralized in practice by the Jews' suffering and his belief in the Church's duty to protest against injustice and to resist state interference. For Barth, in contrast, the traditional Church view of the Jews was paramount. He opposed antisemitism on abstract grounds, as a concealed form of hatred towards Christ and a rejection of the divine scheme. Barth was theologically more consistent than Bonhoeffer, but the results of Barth's opposition were negligible.
Note:
Another version appeared as "An examination of the thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth pertaining to antisemitism and the Holocaust" in " In Answer---; the Holocaust" (1988) 343-362.
URL:
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