God on trial



If you didn't see "God on Trial" on the BBCthis week, then try to catch it on BBC iPlayer if you can. I hope you can, because this is really worth seeing. But not fun.

God On Trial takes as a starting point the story that prisoners in Auschwitz, their faith tested by their suffering and the barbarity of the Nazis, put God on trial. It's emotionally strong, and (not to understate anything) somewhat challenging to anyone, whether or not they have a belief in a just God.

The scene where Anthony Sher describes God as "not good, but He was on our side" during the ... less savoury parts of what we Christians call the Pentateuch is particulary challenging. God called for the destruction of the Amalechites, the Moabites: why should He not call for the destruction of the Jews? Or, maybe now, the Christians?

There can be no happy ending here, but they do manage a moment of great compassion and a declaration of faith: "now that we have declared God guilty, what can we do?" "We pray".

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