Question:

I am a member of the OPC and also a Jew. I was wondering if the OPC ever took a position on the Holocaust in the 1940's. Were any statements made or motions passed at General Assembly? Also, does the OPC currently have any missionaries serving in Israel?

Answer:

The short answer—and, I believe, an accurate one—to your question is that the OPC has not taken an official position on the holocaust of the 1940s or spoken out on it in church courts. Nor on the Armenian genocide (c. 1895-1920). Nor on the millions Stalin killed. Nor on the Rwandan genocide. Nor on the Cambodian massacres. Nor on the Sudan atrocities! It was a genocidal century, a part of the legacy of human depravity.

Essentially the reason for not making an official pronouncement is that the OPC has over its history followed fairly closely the teaching of the Confession of Faith, XXXI:IV, and shied away from taking positions on civil affairs, except in so far as Scripture mandates such as proper for the church. But even though the General Assembly did not issue an official statement, the OPC has not been indifferent to the great human atrocities committed by Hitler and others like him. The evil acts committed are a blatant violation of the Word of God and the standards of the Church, and have been condemned by the OPC from its pulpits and among its members.

The OPC does not have any missionaries serving in Israel.