Often a common question is asked of the student of the holocaust, "When did the War end?" The questioner, looking for a time or date or place, wants a limit or threshold: the War ended here...the war ended then,My answer to the question, "When did the war end, when did the Shoah end?" is "It did not end". It is seen in every anti-semitic feeling, every tiny hatred. It bred and became silent and went underground. The Shoah blew sometimes in a larger and more cruel wind , as in 1968 when the tanks rolled into Prague and free voices were silenced. As Dubcek disappeared, voices in Warsaw Krakow & Lodz, the few Jewish voices left in Poland recognized the signals of ominous change and began to speak out, mostly in the Universities. They were branded "Stalinist-Zionists".The Shoah winds showed that they were not gone. Poland's government did not openly show their support, but it was widely known that the emerging Nazi rhetoric and publications and ensuing pogroms could not have been done without their complicity. Gales became sharper, and prominent Jewish persons were once again removed from teaching posts, from government positions, from leadership in the arts and communications industries. Over 25,000 fled to freedom, survivors of the Shoah just 23 years afterward, in a time so volatile that it was clear that the Shoah could have easily have happened again. The Shoah still blows beyond Europe, every time the Jewish soul is degraded to something less than others; everytime someone who does not fit the image of another, e.g. the disabled, the deaf, the blind, the mentally handicapped, persons of color, the poor, is dismissed as not valuable, or eve detrimental. Anti-semitism is the sure barometer of the Gale that lies dormant but is not gone. Subtle Indoctrination In a suburbanite Sunday School class, in early 1997, my college-age daughter had to choose to leave, leading to our leaving the church as well because of the very destructive teachings which emerged. The individual who taught the class expounded on the dangers of rich Jewish bankers and world control, of reform Jews "mongrelizing" the race. This was not a fringe church, nor did these comments represent most of the members, indeed many would have been appalled, but it was taught nonetheless and the Pastor dismissed it as a free speech issue, refusing to have the man step down. And so it goes. Traditional churches, not openly anti-semitic, allow a person here, a person there; a piece of bad doctrine, a volatile publication to come into their church. At first there is a dismissal of wrong doctrine or personal opinion, then there comes a desensitization, and finally acquiescence, as more and more hardheartedness leads to the vilest anti-semitism. .................Dangerous Doctrines- A Few to Be Discussed There are additionally doctrines that have lasted for centuries which are still espoused today by mainline denominations which while not overtly anti-semitic, have as their natural outcome, the degradation or dismissal of the Jewish nation all the while espousing a Jewish savior. Each of these will be looked at in turn. When we begin to talk of negative aspects of persons doctrines, we know we are treading on difficult ground, as wars have been started on issues such as doctrinal differences. We ask that the reader consider carefully whether the doctrine they have held even for generations is biblical, or whether it is convention, and prayerfully ask the reader to consider the outcome and effect of dangerous doctrines. A few to be discussed in the near future are: Replacement or Dominion Theology: the belief that the Church has replaced Israel as the chosen of God; that the Church may take dominion over any and all as its God given right British Israelism: the notion that anglo saxons have replaced the lost tribes of Israel. Hyperdispensationalism: these beliefs, prevalent among Baptists and Presbyterians; are that the Jewish nation is currently cut off by God and cannot be granted salvation in the same way as gentiles; the belief that Jewish persons even in the fulness of belief do not inherit Heaven, but a new earth or refurbished earth, or the belief that Jewish persons must do more than receive the grace of God in salvation but at further times must also earn their way into heaven (e.g.works+grace salvation) Amillenialism: the "spiritualization or politicizing of the millenium rule, in which the church stands in proxy of Christ and claims imminent domain through church rule and representation. Postmillenialism The belief that the millenium has already occurred, via scriptural metaphor of historical events since the time of Christ Culpabilityof the Jewish nation alone for the death of Christ Sacrificial Atonement & the Shoah: the belief that the holocaust had to happen for Israel to come about. Re-interpretations of fringe political views translated into doctrine Biblical translations and views which dismiss: the mystery of the Jews, the Jews as the oracles of God, the dismissal of modern day Jews as not being the descendants of the Hebrews; or the severing of the everlasting covenant status of the Jewish nation. These modern day doctrinal dangers will be examined each in turn. Older doctrines and doctrines which are not currently at issue will be examined under the rubric of the CHURCH AND THE SHOAH. Look for more information on these topics shortly.

E.K. Best PhD

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