A Brief Note On The And The Holocaust - 1814 Words

Theodicy and the Holocaust The Holocaust was the defining event of the modern era for Judaism. It changed the Jewish community’s perception of the world, as well as the world’s perception of the Jewish community. It cost six million people their lives, eliminating about one third of the Jewish population. Mankind witnessed the most destructive act of evil it has ever seen. Evil, in fact, seems an understatement. The horrors of the Holocaust are inexplicable, ever more so for those that did not experience it. But even after such an event, the faith of the Jewish people is strong perhaps stronger now than it ever has been before. Still, for the believer it is often difficult to reconcile the notion of an all power God with the Holocaust,†¦show more content†¦But if your heart turns away... I declare to you this day that you shall certainly perish.† God is a God of justice and goodness punishing those who do not live an ethical life. It seems, from reading the bible that His existence is intertwined with the lives of humans and (acts in history by destroying the sinners and causing the righteous to prosper. That God will ensure that the good accrue fortune and the bad suffer. In the words of Isaiah, â€Å"I will requite to the world its evil, and to the wicked their iniquity.† but if this is what the bible tells us of God, why does He not put a stop to the bad? For the faithful it is often difficult to reconcile this portrayal of God with the acts of evil we witness and read about in history. Why does fortune accrue to sinners and unwarranted suffering to the innocent? Why do God’s people - the Israelites - continue to suffer throughout all of time? How did a good and omnipotent God not interfere in the extermination of six million: or one third, of His people during the Holocaust? In the words of Richard Rubenste in, there is an apparent â€Å"conflict between faith and reason.† Since the Hebrew bible does not offer a simple answer to such inquiries, believers throughout history have attempted to provide their own rational explanations. The philosophical and ethical attempt to justify the existence of God in light of suchShow MoreRelatedThis Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe sullen narrative This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen poignantly recounts the events of a typical day in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The author, Tadeusz Borowski, was Polish Holocaust survivor of Auschwitz, the series of death camps responsible for the deaths of the largest number of European Jews. Recounted from a first-person point of view, the novel unfolds at dawn as the unnamed narrator eats breakfast with a friend and fellow prisoner, Henri. Henri is a member ofRead MoreEssay Josef Mengele, The Angel of Death1417 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the Holocaust Years, and shortly afterwards, there was a man that struck fear in the people imprisoned in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – â€Å"the Angel of Death†. He was a man who showed up for selections with a demeanor that made one think he was handsome and debonair yet, one could not possibly think of the monstrosities that he committed during World War II. Even more disturbing is that â€Å"wherever he sprang up, Death spread its shadow.† (Wiesel xix) In 1911, Karl and WalburgaRead MoreFreedom Writers Analysis Essay1069 Words   |  5 PagesFreedom Writers Director: Richard LaGravenese Brief outline of story: The storyline of the movie takes place between 1992-1995. Beginning with scenes from the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. 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