ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents the path toward JewishChristian reconciliation over the past sixty or so years has been marked by both successes and controversies. After the initial years of shock, during which the world community began to realize the full magnitude of the Shoah and also, the enormity of its failure to stop it, there has been slow but generally steady progress made amongst the Churches in confronting the legacy of Christian antisemitism. From the Protestant side, the 1980 statement from the Rhineland Synod of the EKD was the first official declaration that took seriously the impact of the Holocaust on Christian theology. However, it is happily evident that the overwhelming ecclesial trend is toward greater awareness of and sensitivity to the Church's Jewish heritage.
