The First German Church Faces the Challenge of the Holocaust: A Report

Abstract

After 20 years of discussion about the relationship of Christians and Jews, caused by the reflection of the Holo caust, the Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland, regional church of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, has passed a resolution. It states the responsibility of Christianity for the Holocaust, the everlasting election of Israel as the people of God, and the common vocation of Jews and Christians to be witnesses of God to the world and to each other; it refutes the opinion that the Jewish people have been rejected by God and accordingly have been substituted by the church; and it stresses the impossibility of Judenmission. Furthermore, the synod demands better information on Judaism and wishes to build up a new partnership between Jews and Christians. First impulses in this direction came from the Reformed churches of the Netherlands and from the Deutsche evan gelische Kirchentag in Berlin, 1961. Since then, many Jewish teachers have helped the Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland to reach a new understanding of Judaism and of the Christian guilt for the Holocaust. The American Holocaust research has vastly affected German theologians, one of whom, Eber hard Bethge, has composed thesis I for the committee "Christians and Jews" of the Landessynode, thereby pre paring the resolution aforementioned.