How do we prevent such horror as the Holocaust from occurring again?

First, we admit that it continues. First, we admit that systematic evil exists and is wreaking its havoc even now. First, we admit that if reading about it is all that we do, we haven’t done anything.

Next, we turn to Jesus.

As Christians, we turn to Christ...not first to the Bible, not first to the church, not first to our tradition but to Jesus the Christ, the Resurrected One, the Incarnation of God.

Such a turning demands devoted prayer and disciplined study. We all know that the Bible and the traditions of the church have, at times, been used in horrific and evil ways. The Hebrew Bible and our own New Testament have been quoted by demagogues and devils. The Gospel of John, such a favorite for so many Christians, is filled with hateful things toward the Jews. We need to recognize the limitations of these formative works and study them carefully to find where the authors’ own biases and prejudices alter and pervert the gospel, the message of God’s unconditional love, the gift of Christ. We must dig deep with scripture and doctrine to discover the unmitigated message of Christ.

Once mined, we must never let anything stand between us and it. Not teachers or pastors, politicians or nations, not even Christianity itself can get in the way.

For years and years, my guide has been the words of Dr. Leslie Weatherhead,

"I judge the Bible by Christ, not Christ by the Bible."

Such a statement may be difficult for some of us to understand.

Good.

We need to struggle with it.

It is one of the keys to the kingdom.