Should the Holocaust shake my faith

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In the title. Didn’t God still in the NT promise to protect the Jews? Was his promise in the OT broken?
 
It should shake your faith in humanity maybe. I don’t think it should affect your religious convictions. Jews have been systematically persecuted, violently so, for centuries before the Holocaust.
 
I remember reading a theological book that said “God can bring good out of any evil.” My first reaction was “what about the holocaust?” Trying to wrap my brain around that has definitely shaken my faith.
 
Where in the New Testament does He say He will protect the Jews? He says of His Church (NOT the Jewish faith anymore, because they rejected Him as the Messiah), in Matthew, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. That doesn’t mean they won’t be rattled a bit! I can’t say I’m any sort of apologist or Bible expert, but Jesus told us to expect persecution and suffering. “Take up your cross and follow Me”. So yes, He will protect us all, but it’s not some sort of bubble that is perpetually around us. He does it in the way He sees (and knows) fit. 🙂
As far as the Jewish-promise aspect; The Jews have quite a history of persecution and suffering. That doesn’t mean God stopped protecting them and broke His promise at any point in time. They turned from Him (in various examples throughout time), ignoring the protection He offered, and therefore suffered the consequences. I imagine a cup He gives us and wants to fill. If we keep dumping it out and not letting Him fill it, it’s not His fault! If anything, your faith should be strengthened by this dogged love He shows for us.
So after a lot of rambling, the Holocaust, horrendous as it was, was just one of many trials the Pilgrim Church will go through, just like He said.
 
ctb95 said:
I remember reading a theological book that said “God can bring good out of any evil.” My first reaction was “what about the holocaust?” Trying to wrap my brain around that has definitely shaken my faith.
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Don’t let it. 🙂 The good: 1: the plight of Jews and other Christians rose to national attention. 2: those who died stand as an eternal testament to the God for whom they died for (St . Maximilian Kolbe and others). 3: Those who lived can tell their stories to their children, warning of the dangers of human pride and power. 4: The entire world learned the dangers -the horrors- of not nipping evil in the bud, and so became more vigilant. 5: The eye-witness soldiers who decided then and there to change their ways, whether by helping refugees, deserting, etc. 6: America learned how to step up for those who couldn’t do so themselves. Remember, in this time period, even after WWI, we wanted to stay isolated from world problems.

I’m not saying that, because of these few examples (and I’m not a history expert), the Holocaust was all flowers and rainbows, but God does bring good out of evil, whether it’s visible or not.
 
Years ago I had a discussion with a Jewish woman who had come from the Soviet Union. She was an atheist.

She asked how God could’ve allowed innocent children be murdered in the Holocaust and how could I believe in such a God ?

I explained that we don’t have the big picture, only a piece, but God does.

I presented this scenario. Consider if you did have the big picture and you now could see those innocent victims of the Holocaust dwelling in paradise where they are full of joy and unbelievable happiness. Would you still question how God could allow them to be murdered ?

She thought and said, if she knew this, she would not doubt God.

I said, but not knowing, you still reject God.

Jim
 
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