HOLOCAUST THEOLOGY: A Reader

The Holocaust starkly challenges theologians to answer the profoundly perplexing question at the foundation of theodicy: why does an omnipotent, benevolent God permit evil to exist in the world? Most of the selections in this anthology deal with theodicy, although only a few actually use that term. Cohn-Sherbok, a professor of Judaism at the University of Wales, brings together the responses of more than 100 Christian and Jewish thinkers. For each one, Cohn-Sherbok provides brief excerpts from their writings, grouped into four overlapping categories: "The Challenge," "Faith in the Dead Camps," "Wrestling with the Holocaust" and "Jews, Christians and the Holocaust." Some of the authors are little known, but many are more familiar, such as Elie Wiesel, Paul Tillich, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jacob Neusner and Primo Levi. They repeatedly quote from each other. The book begins with a useful summary of its contents and a history of the Holocaust. Cohn-Sherbok also provides an epilogue, "The Future of Holocaust Theology," in which he states the conclusion reached by many of the writers: the Holocaust "is an unfathomable mystery." A less significant mystery is in the inclusion of two obscure individuals, Julio de Santa Ana and Marc Ellis, who somehow subvert Holocaust theology into an attack on the State of Israel, accusing it of "oppression of the Palestinian masses" and torturing Palestinian prisoners. These writers diminish the value of Cohn-Sherbok's compilation, since their comments contrast sharply with the more thoughtful and balanced efforts of the other contributors. (Apr.)