Edith Stein in the Context of Judeo-Christian Dialogue: Dialogue with Susanne M. Batzdorff

Abstract

Judeo-Christian dialogue is analysed on the basis of one specific person: Edit Stein (1891–1942), a Jew, a philosopher, a convert to Christianity, a Carmelite, who was deported and killed in Auschwitz, later proclaimed a saint and a co-patron of Europe in the Catholic Church. Her niece Susanne M. Batzdorff, a staunch Jewish believer and active in Judeo-Christian dialogue, in her book Aunt Edith seeks to challenge in good faith some of her claims that, directly or indirectly, touch on Judeo-Christian dialogue. Referring to the experience and teachings of Edith Stein, the article responds to the disputes in question in the form of a dialogue from her perspective. This approach allows that the dialogue between two related religions that have so much in common does not remain at a strictly theoretical level but extends to the existential level, as well.

Keywords

• edith stein
• chosen people
• judaism
• christianity
• truth
• holocaust
• judeo-christian dialogue
• proselytism
• the mystical body of christ