In a hut in Auschwitz a group of Jewish prisoners pray to God to save them from the gas chambers. However others condemn God for abandoning them. The prisoners decide to have a trial to see if God broke his covenant to protect the Jewish people. This is the plotline of an engrossing film, God On Trial. The hour and half long film gives a balanced debate with both sides presenting good arguments. They are essentially grappling with the age old question, why does God allow bad things to happen?
If you do not have time to watch the whole film (though I would definitely recommend that you do) watch instead the short clip above. This is set at the climax of the film when one character rises and denounces God in a passionate monologue. He recalls how when the Pharaoh refused to free the Jews from Egypt, God killed the first born child of every Egyptian. He heart fully questions how God could kill innocent children, before declaring that ‘God is not good.’
I have wondered how God could allow something as evil as the Holocaust to happen. For me it is proof that there is no God. If there was a God he would have stopped this evil catastrophe. I am interested in hearing what other people think of the topic.
Oh I will be definitely watching this
I heard somewhere like 55% of the Jews in Israel are atheist. I don’t know if its true. But if it is, I would not be surprised.
This bring to remembrance a point in the movie defiance, when the people were praying for a miracle, and somebody stepped up and said something like god doesn’t care for us. Or no miracles today from god…
Very powerful. I would like to reblog it on my site, with a link back to you. Thanks…
Thank you and I am glad you like it. Feel free to reblog it and I’m flattered you liked it that much
The problem of pain is one of the major cruxes of my abandonment of my faith. (I don’t care for the idea that I “lost my faith.” It’s not like I lost my balance and “fell off” the faith. And it’s not like if I look for awhile I’ll rediscover it. It’s not like my car keys fallen in-between the couch cushions. I left it. Conscious choice.) But you don’t need THE holocaust to know there is no god. There’s a holocaust every day. People starving, people being beaten by their loved ones. People are getting cancer, people are being hit by buses. These aren’t people who haven’t prayed enough or deserve some comeuppance. They’re just random folks who didn’t bother anyone. And someday it’ll be you. Or someone you care about. So you can pick whichever holocaust you like to indict “god.” It can be the German one on the Jews. Or it can be last Tuesday.
Love your blog. I’ve been milling around it for the last 30 minutes or so. Thanks for liking ours as well.
-John with an H.
just wanted to let you know, I watched it the other day, and it nearly brought me to tears.
Same here, it’s really powerful
I will have to watch the movie later but whatever the case I think god must be guilty for absconding duty, that is if he exists!
In my mind its a definite guilty verdict
Nielsen, thanks for the movie. They deal with the problem of evil/ why we suffer so well it’s deeply moving. I have the same problem one of the people raised, what do we do since god is definitely guilty, for all the crimes he is accused of, even if it does not exist?
Reblogged this on Random thoughts and commented:
At Auschwitz, in the Nazi death camps god is put on trial. The verdict..
Jesus Christ, a devout Jew, was imprisoned and tortured as these men were. And after He was shamefully put to death, as these men feared they would be, God raised Him from the dead. Let us not forget that+