The phrase a lesson to be learned and a tragedy to behold is an adequate description of the horrors and lessons that humanity has learned from the genocide of the Jewish population during World War 2. On the issue of the Holocaust as a Christian Problem, two different views contend over the extent of church culpability over the events that transpired. There is the view of the church which states that historical precedent has shown the deep relationship between Christianity and Judaism. The events of the Holocaust are considered a regrettable lapse in judgment on the part of the German Christian population and as such should be remembered as a way to strengthen the ties between Christianity and Judaism to prevent such an event from happening again. It is through this that the churchs interpretation of the Holocaust as a Christian Problem is a view based on the need to create awareness, foster better relations with the Jewish population, and as a call to repentance for actions that occurred through Christian neglect1. On the other hand, there is the view of Eckardt that presents the idea of the Holocaust being the result of three distinct factors: that it was the culmination of the churchs teaching of contempt, the culmination of the churchs absolute theology, and finally the culmination of modern mans self-liberation from the shackles
of God and morality2. Eckardt posits this compelling question to indicate church culpability in the Holocaust: how was it the Holocaust able to come about when it carried out by a nation that was considered to be highly civilized, with 95% of its population having been baptized and with the German population continuing to maintain its church affiliation within the heart of a predominantly Christian Europe3. She answers this question by suggesting that it was religious zealotry taught by the church to the German population that planted the initial seeds of the Holocaust4. For Eckardt, the Holocaust being a Christian Problem is based on the notion that the teachings of the church led to the Holocaust and there is a distinct need to learn from what happened and radically change certain aspects of Christian theology so as to prevent another Holocaust from happening again in the future. It is from this argument that the essay of Eckardt and its view that the Holocaust is a Christian Problem becomes relevant to what is happening in the world today. In it, she posits the question of whether our own children will be found among the murderers at another time, in that the lessons learned from the Holocaust will be for nothing and that it will repeat itself all over again at another time and place yet originating from the same cause as before5.