The idea of Christian culpability in the Holocaust is, as Michael McGarry suggests in his opening chapter, "frightening ... sickening, and for many, unbelievable". After all, how could followers of Jesus be in any way responsible for the terrible work of the Nazis? This compelling collection of essays--by eminent scholars, both Christian and Jewish, from North America, Europe and Israel--examines how the church helped prepare the ground for a society in which the Holocaust could happen; how it in some cases actively supported extermination of the Jews; and how, above all, it stood back and watched without protest. Ranging from harrowing personal recollections to carefully considered academic analysis, this makes for disturbing--yet crucial--reading. As a society, of course, we must never forget and, as for the church, there is the shocking realisation that it has blood on its hands. How can it live with its past? Most disconcerting, perhaps, is the question this book asks repeatedly: what would you have done? Would you have been counted as "righteous among the gentiles" for risking your life--as some did--for others? Or would you have been part of the silent--and guilty--majority? With illustrations, quotations and directions for further reading, The Holocaust and the Christian World is essential for anyone brave enough to confront the terrible truth that the Holocaust was closer to home than we may ever wish to imagine. --Brian Draper