HOLOCAUST THEOLOGY. (This derives from the article on Holocaust Theology at Wikipedia and links to relevant Wiki entries.)

Also "Theologie nach Auschwitz" ("Theology after Auschwitz"

Silence broken by RICHARD RUBENSTEIN, After Auschwitz. (1966).

• The Holocaust is an instance of the temporary "Eclipse of God". There are times when God is inexplicably absent from history. This draws on Jewish Kabalah thought.
• Rabbinic Judaism has a doctrine from the books of the prophets called mi-penei hataeinu, "because of our sins we were punished". In Biblical times when the Jewish people experienced calamity, the prophets stressed that suffering is a natural result of not following God's law, and prosperity, peace and health are the natural results of following God's law. Therefore, some people in the Orthodox community have taught that the Jewish people in Europe were deeply sinful. In this view, the Holocaust is a just retribution from God.

• "God is dead". If there were a God, He would surely have prevented the Holocaust. Since God did not prevent it, then God has for some reason turned away from the world, and left us to ourselves forever more. God is therefore no longer relevant to humanity. RUBENSTEIN.

• Terrible events such as the Holocaust are the price we have to pay for having free will. In this view, God will not and cannot interfere with history, otherwise our free will would effectively cease to exist. The Holocaust only reflects poorly on humanity, not God. ELIEZER BERKOVITS.

• Perhaps the Holocaust is in some way a revelation from God: The event issues a call for Jewish affirmation for survival. EMIL FACKENHEIM.

• The Holocaust is a mystery beyond our comprehension. God has reason for what He does, but human understanding can't begin to understand this . MENACHEM MENDEL SCHNEERSON. (Hasidic). Rejects “punishment” theory. The destruction of six million Jews in such a horrific manner that surpassed the cruelty of all previous generations, could not possibly be because of a punishment for sins.

• The Jewish people become in fact the "suffering servant" of Isaiah. The Jewish people collectively suffer for the sins of the world. IGNAZ MAYBAUM (Reform.)

• God does exist, but God is not omnipotent. This view is similar to Process theology and Open Theism. All of the above arguments are based on the assumption that God is omnipotent and, consequently, could have interfered to stop the Holocaust. What if this is not so? In this view, the Holocaust only reflects poorly on humanity, not on God. This is a view promoted by many liberal theologians, including Rabbi HAROLD KUSHNER, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

• God or any other supernatural deity does not exist. Others suggest that the more relevant question is not where was God in the gas chambers but where was humanity. This was the haunting question asked by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel when he said that the question to ask about the holocaust was not "where was God?" but "where was man in all this, and Culture, how did it reach this nadir?" (Wiesel, Elie. 1978. A Jew today. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780394420547. page 12.)

This derves from the article on Holocaust Theology at Wikipedia