She was brilliant. She was faithful. In 1942, she was murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. The German-born Jewish philosopher Edith Stein was a Catholic nun who took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross when she took her vows. She was canonized as a saint in 1998.
Though I am not Catholic, I am a Jewish follower of Jesus, and have long been inspired by Stein’s courageous story. I’ve wanted to get to know her better, but haven’t always found her writing accessible. Her training as a philosopher and her mystic’s soul, combined with sometimes-wooden translations of her work, have rendered her a somewhat dense read.
Read Full Article »