Contemporary Church History Quarterly Review

Dr. Kyle Jantzen, professor at Ambrose University in Calgary, Canada, has written a detailed review of Baptists, Jews and the Holocaust in the Contemporary Church History Quarterly journal (Volume 23, Number 4, December 2017). To access the full review online, click here. 

One of the more interesting observations Jantzen makes concerns the objectivity of the historical narrative of the book. He writes:

"Despite the initial impression that the author’s ecclesiastical position and the book’s subtitle might suggest, Baptists, Jews, and the Holocaust is no simple glorification of Baptist-Jewish history. Rather, it is a thoroughly researched analysis of diverse Baptist responses to the plight of Jews during the Nazi era. Spitzer’s sources include a wide array of archival material: annual convention or conference books of Northern, Southern, Swedish, Regular, African American, and Seventh Day Baptists; minutes and correspondence from the Baptist World Alliance; papers from various Baptist boards, societies, and personnel; and several dozen national and regional Baptist periodicals. This is complemented by three main Jewish sources—The Jewish Chronicle, The American Hebrew, and The American Jewish Yearbook—and a solid collection of relevant secondary sources."