Edith Stein Research Paper

Edith Stein, also known as “St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross” was a caring, compassionate and humble saint. But, unfortunately it wasn’t always like that for her. She was raised in a Jewish family with a strong religious belief. In her early teenage years, she easily passed her final exams and threw away a life with God and became an atheist to take up her passion of philosophy and women's issues. She then later transferred universities to study under the mentorship of Edmund Husserl. Husserl's phenomenology led many of his students to the Christian faith. She also met a philosopher by the name of Max Scheler, who redirected her attention to Roman Catholicism. In 1917 Edith went to Frankfurt Cathedral and saw something that shocked her, a woman kneeling down praying. This was

Edith said, "This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts to those who bear it ... it was the moment when my unbelief collapsed and Christ began to shine his light on me - Christ in the mystery of the Cross." This was the first time she acknowledged her faith in years. She later realized that God had a plan for her. She stated that, "Things were in God's plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that - from God's point of view - there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God's divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God's all-seeing eyes." In late 1918 Edith gave up her job with Husserl to work independently. The next time she saw Husserl was in 1930, when she discussed about faith and how she wanted him to become a Christian also. She then told him, "Every time I feel my powerlessness and inability to influence people directly, I become more keenly aware of the necessity of my own holocaust." On January 1st 1922 Edith was