Customer Reviews

Facing the Abusing God: A Theology of Protest

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This is, bar none, the most uncompromisingly and unflinchingly honest work of theology I have read in 35+ years of studying the subject. Blumenthal's proximate subject is the Holocaust, but his ultimate subject is holocaust-as-such, not only **the** Holocaust -- in particular, those experiences of holocaust, personal and individual as well as historical and communal, in which God's tendency to abuse His/Her children are nakedly manifest. Most moving of all, in terms of individual holocaust, are the comments of one of Blumenthal's colleagues at Emory Univ, herself a survivor of the holocaust of childhood sexual abuse, who was given the MS for evaluation and comment. Christian theologians, this writer included, would do well to ponder a conclusion Blumenthal never states explicitly, but which is inescapably latent in his text: for a holocaust survivor, the only authentic and honest mode of theological discourse is the rhetoric of deliberate blasphemy. Perhaps respect for God ends where the experience of holocaust begins. If this book, and that possibility raised thereby, does not keep you awake nights, then take warning: your soul may quite possibly be dead.

Blumenthal has written a wonderful, but challenging book on the nature of God in light of the Holocaust and the human experience of divine abandoment. He also invites a Christian theologian a chance to interact with his ideas and thoughts. You may not agree with him in the end, but rarely are you going to find a book that so thoroughly challenges the traditional notions of who God is while remaining very true to tradition.

The book was well packaged, sent out in a timely manner, and arrived in a timely fashion. The book was used, but (like advertised) it was in great condition. Thank you!

I love to hate this book. Every page was painful and frustrating. I use examples from his commentary on Biblical texts every so often. I reference his book as a "what not to do/read" when teaching frequently. The author dedicates his book to Survivors of the Holocaust and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. Survivors Should Never Read This. I don't believe God executes Justice on Earth. If your friend was married to the Abusing God described by this author, you would tell her to run and never look back. How can anyone responsibly teach this theology?! How can anyone encourage people to "stay with" an Abusing God?! If you have to read it, please borrow it from the library. Don't buy it.