Questions Out Of The Fire: Spiritual Implications of the Holocaust

Abstract

This essay reflects on the continuing spiritual implications of the Holocaust of 1933-45, the Nazi program for the extermination of millions of humans deemed physically or mentally unfit, or racially impure. The following questions will guide our investigation of the spiritual consequences of this human tragedy: 1) Are human values rooted in reality? 2) Is there any permanent “human nature,” and if so, what is it? 3) What is the meaning of the Holocaust for contemporary Christianity? 4) What are the implications of the Holocaust for our understanding of the “modern” world?

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