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"Oben has written and lectured amply
on Stein. Her second book (following Edith Stein: Scholar, Feminist, Saint, New York: Alba
House, 1988) seeks to expound Stein's essential contributions in three areas: her life, her thought, and her effect on Jewish-Christian
dialogue.
Oben essentially follows Stein's
own autobiography, Life in a Jewish Family, enriched by conversations with living relatives.
The extent to which life in Stein's family (devout mother, nonobservant children) was actually
Jewish is never adequately addressed, and Stein's conversion is presented as a confluence of
circumstances and spiritual more than cultural factors. Oben's treatment of Stein's scholarly
career as a disciple of Husserl includes a simple explanation of the phenomenological method and
a short summary of Stein's comparative study of Husserl and Aquinas. The period from Stein's
religious vocation up until her death at Auschwitz provides the occasion for a presentation of her
spirituality through a series of personalized reflections set off against an outline of her
magnum opus, Finite and Eternal Being (1952), finished by Stein in a Carmelite convent.
Oben next presents three foci of
Stein's philosophical works: the role and dignity of woman, the centrality of the person, and the
relation of the individual to society. A nice, thorough outline of the first stands against the
background of the education of young women in pre-war Germany, including Oben's own dramatization
of what Stein might have to say to the young women of today. Oben follows with an account of
Stein's philosophical thought, initially drawn from Stein's doctoral dissertation, On the
Problem of Empathy (Stein's philosophy of the person), and then from later sources: Finite
and Eternal Being, various essays, and Science of the Cross (a theological work,
written toward the end of Stein's life), to establish Stein's credentials as a Christian
philosopher in the Thomist tradition, referring in passing to the contemporary debate surrounding
the personhood of the human embryo. Oben then deals briefly with Stein's philosophy of community,
extracting from Finite and Eternal Being, On the Problem of Empathy and her essays and
poems.
Finally, Oben details the process
leading to the beatification and canonization of Stein, including first-person accounts of the
accompanying ceremonies. Recent controversy surrounding Stein's canonization as a Catholic saint
essentially turns on whether Stein should be considered a martyr from a Catholic or Jewish perspective;
Oben, a Jewish-Catholic convert, makes one particularly salient point, ignored by most other
sources: Stein's arrest and subsequent deportation was part of a reprisal against the Catholic
Church for protesting the deportation of Jews and the exclusion of Jewish children from Catholic
schools (the only schools that they could still attend). Against objections that Stein died only
on account of Nazi hatred of her Jewish heritage, Oben explains that Jewish-Protestant converts were
released, while Jewish-Catholic converts (Stein included) were deported to Auschwitz. Stein is best
seen, as she saw herself, as a Catholic who never stopped being also a Jew. This detail, of
interest to philosophers of religion, also renders more intelligible the recent resurgence of
interest in Stein among Catholic thinkers engaged in interreligious dialogue with Judaism. If
Stein died because of hatred of the Catholic faith, then, by Catholic definition, she is a
Cathoic martyr; Stein's own perspective offers an insight into her thought on the different
levels of membership in a community: her last will and testament (1939) contains a prescient act
of self-offering 'as an expiation for the unbelief of the Jewish people, so that the Lord will
be accepted by his own' (p. 55). Oben's philological analysis reveals that Stein's concern as a
Catholic was not for Jews to become Catholics, but to be better Jews. In this respect, Oben's work
is a valuable contribution to the emerging portrait of a woman held in common veneration by two
faiths.
This book was originally published
as an album of taped, popular lectures (Edith Stein: A Saint for Our Times, ICS, n.d.).
Philosophers may find its resulting colloquial tone distracting, and its imperfect inclusion of
essential scholarly apparatus less than satisfying. Oben does make an honest attempt to approximate
Stein's philosophical thought, and her summaries of Stein's writings can be useful for indicating a
direction for further study. Her application of Stein's positions to certain contemporary debates
permits her to present Stein's thought in a concrete manner and to broaden its presentation by
application to a new context. She also attempts to overcome the distressing tendency of recent
biographers to deal with Stein strictly from a hagiographical standpoint, to the exclusion of her
philosophical works. Within her area of competency (literature), Oben gives an able description
of the whole of Stein's works." --Review of Metaphysics, January
2003
"Freda Oben's Edith Stein: Scholar, Feminist, Saint is now in its sixth
printing. This new book expands that earlier work. The topics discussed
include St. Edith's Jewishness; her life as a Carmelite; her philosophy
of women, of the person, and of the person in society; ecumenical problems
surrounding her beatification and canonization; the nature of sainthood
and her meaning for the third millennium". --Theology Digest,
Spring 2002
"One of the book's virtues lies in the author's attempt to avoid the type of writing that portrays
a saint as a one-dimensional figure oblivious to evil forces in the world. Oben describes Stein's
struggle as a woman who moved in the highest circles of Germany's intelligentsia but who was never
fully accepted because of her gender. Even after her death, Stein's life remains difficult to
assess. The book includes the perplexed reactions of many Jews to her canonization and the belief
expressed by many in the Jewish community that her canonization was an attempt to convert Jews to
Christianity. The dismay increased after plans were announced to build a Carmel near Auschwits.
After reading this book, one should expect to understand the major forces and events in Stein's
life. She was a woman who, after finally managing to unite will and mind, surrendered herself
completely to God and so became a tireless messenger of God during a very dark and weary moment
in human history." --Matthew Kessler, C.Ss.R. in
Liguorian, February 2002
"When the controversy over the canonization of Saint Edith Stein was
raging in 1998, a Methodist minister approached me about locating a
brief book that would introduce the life and thought of this controversial woman. I have looked
since that time and was delighted to find The
Life and Thought of Saint Edith Stein by Freda Mary Oben, Ph.D., arrive
in the mail because it is exactly what the two of us had been looking
for.
Freda Mary Oben is a Jewish convert to Catholicism and something of
a scholarly expert on Saint Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
is her religious name). Her most notable work is Edith Stein: Scholar,
Feminist, Saint. This book expands the philosophical treatment of the
earlier book and provides new insight into the psychological make-up of
the saint.
The Life and Thought of Saint Edith Stein can be divided into three
sections -- the life and martyrdom, three main philosophical themes of
the saint's work, and the canonization process with its attendant controversies. I thought
the depiction of the saint's Jewish roots were
vivid and I was able to place her philosophical works in the historical
context of pre-World War II Germany and the circle around Husserl.
As an introduction to this very modern saint, Freda Mary Oben's The
Life and Thought of Saint Edith Stein is worth reading and adding to
one's library. I do not hesitate to hand it on to my Methodist friend.
--Rev. Don Piraro in The Priest,
October 2001
"St. Edith Stein is one of the most fascinating--and controversial--saints of modern times.
Publications by and about her have multiplied since her beatification in 1987. Two new studies
-- Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda, and The
Life and Thought of St. Edith Stein by Freda Mary Oben, reflect growing interest in this
remarkable holy woman. Scaperlanda's book... stresses life and context. Oben puts St. Edith's
ideas into popular language and applies them to contemporary issues. A key theme for both
authors is St. Edith's unswerving commitment to truth. Pope John Paul II -- whom she influenced --
praises her discovery that 'Truth had a name: Jesus Christ.' The arc of this discovery determined
St. Edith's life... Scaperlanda calls St. Edith 'passionate, purposeful, faithful and committed.'
Oben admires the integration of her personality. Her brilliance was happily joined to empathy --
she learned from people as well as books... Both authors examine her transformation from self-direction
to humble surrender in God's hands... St. Edith's drive to learn, her capacity for concentration,
tempered by religious obedience, enabled her to complete her philosophical masterwork, 'Finite
and Eternal Being,' in only nine months, despite long hours at prayer. Because St. Edith refused
to let it be published under a Gentile's name, anti-Jewish laws kept it out of print in her lifetime.
Determined to share the sufferings of her persecuted people, St. Edith learned 'the science of
the cross' as Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross... The cross that led her to death at Auschwitz
was her ultimate truth, but accepted with love, it became her path to ultimate glory."
--S.M. in Our Sunday Visitor, November
4, 2001
"Oben's summary of St. Edith Stein's synthesis of scholasticism and
phenomenology is extremely helpful for understanding its continuing significance for Catholic
thought today. I came away with the conviction
that, in addition to being named a martyr of the Church, a very good
case can be made that St. Edith Stein also should be named a doctor of
the Church, one of very few women to be so honored.
Oben is herself a Jewish convert to Catholicism who, like St. Edith
Stein, maintains a deep sense of her Jewishness and of the respect
Judaism is owed as a religion integral to itself and founded on divine
revelation. This gives her a special sensitivity to the positive influence on future generations
of Catholics that veneration of St. Edith
Stein can have.
The saint who died with and for her fellow Jews will always remain a
goad to the conscience of Christians. She is a perpetual reminder on the
Christian calendar of the utter sinfulness of anti-Semitism and the very
real dangers of corruption of the faith when Christians fall -- as they
did so often and for so many centuries leading up to the Holocaust -- into the
twin heresies of supersessionism (the idea that Christianity has 'taken
the place' of Judaism in God's heart) and triumphalism (the idea that
Christianity is somehow 'superior' to Judaism, as if God played such
petty games of favoritism with the history of salvation).
What should emerge from Christian contemplation of St. Edith Stein's
life and profound thought is a renewed appreciation of the mystery of
salvation itself. It is a mystery in which the Church and the Jewish
people are called, together and not in opposition, to witness to the
infinite love and mercy of the one God of Israel who has called us both
into being in order that we may prepare the way for the coming of God's
Kingdom. --Dr. Eugene Fisher, Associate Director of the
US conference of
Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
"To devotees of Edith Stein, the name Freda Mary Oben is already familiar: an American authority on the
saint, and author of Edith Stein: Scholar, Feminist, Saint (1988) which explains Edith's
life, feminism and relationship to the Holocaust. Oben's latest book is likely to become just as
popular and even more acclaimed. The Life and Thought of St. Edith Stein is in three parts.
Firstly the saint's life-story -- readable, full of verve and detail. Far more than a mere introduction,
it conveys an in-depth knowledge of the many areas of her life, as well as containing new information.
This is partly owing to the author's forty years of research on Edith, and partly thanks to her
having visited the Cologne and Echt Carmels and listened to reminiscences from nuns who knew
Edith. They spoke, for example, of the role of the Dutch Resistance and of Edith's repeated refusals
to go into hiding;. Also very moving is an interview with the prioress of Echt who described the
sadness on Edith's face as the Jewish situation worsened, and which she continually strove to hide
with a smile. Oben, herself a Catholic convert from Judaism, writes with real understanding of
Edith's family: the mother 'strong in love, courage and industry'; the turmoil both for Edith as
a new convert and for her surrounding family; and the genuinely religious disposition of Auguste Stein
which enabled her to recognise that 'grace had taken over the entire being of her daughter.' The
second and most substantial part is devoted to Edith's philosophy, given as a study of three themes:
the woman; the person; the person in society. Oben is a specialist in the first area -- she is
actually the translator of Edith's Essays on Woman publised by ICS. Of particular value
in this section is the way the author compares Edith's writings with church documents throughout
the ages, and situates her against the backdrop of German education in her times -- thus highlighting
Edith's uphill task to promote the right education for women in 'both secondary education in
general and Catholic education in particular.' In an engaging section, "Edith Stein's Message to
the Young Woman," Oben, herself a lecturer, attempts to recreate the atmosphere of Edith's talks,
partly in the form of an imaginary lecture that draws together Edith's key ideas on the nature of
woman and her advice on how to attain 'totality of being.' Oben then develops the 'person' -- the
hallmark of Edith's philosophy -- from Edith's phenomenology based on reason alone, through to her
Christian philosophy supported also by grace and revelation. The body, soul and spirit -- as
Edith structures the human being -- are seen to unfold from being the three basic elements of
the person into a reflection of the Trinity: 'inner word' 'source of life,' and 'selfless flow
of spirit.' Oben then gives a short excursus on the human embryo, isolating points from Edith's
writings which could serve as potent arguments against legalising abortion. Discussing the
person in society, Oben develops, this time, the theme of empathy in Edith's writings: from
communication between individuals to life in community and in the state. This is a highly
topical section, covering issues of human rights and justice. Edith's many and complex arguments
are rendered admirably accessible by Oben's style, where paragraphs open, 'Then she asks...,' or
'One wonders...,' and answers begin, 'Edith writes....' Overall, the author does justice to
Edith's thought: the discussion is brief, but it gives the main points in a nutshell. The final
part, 'Ecumenism and Edith Stein,' is more strictly concerned with Judaism and Christianity.
Present at the ceremonies of beatification and canonisation, the author gives a lively eyewitness
account of the proceedings. She then explains the accompanying controversy. The real merit of
this section is the level of subtelty: Oben's understanding of both Jewish and Catholic perspectives;
and her charting the waxing and waning of the controversy, rather than merely stating stark
positions. Inter-faith dialogue in the time between Edith's becoming a 'blessed' and a 'saint'
has done much to reduce hostility and fear. The fact remains, however, that Edith Stein
technically abandoned Judaism and even represents someone considered as praying for the conversion
of the Jews; in this light, she is bound to be a stumbling-block. But, as the author reminds us,
Edith was raised up 'not as a convert but as an ideal human being to be emulated by the faithful.'
This book has much to offer on all levels: information, interpretation, inspiration. It is,
above all, a work on a saint who has touched the author personally. 'For those of us who are
followers of Christ,' writes Oben, 'there is no doubt that Edith Stein is a gift from God.' By
the end of this book, the readers will not doubt it either." --Joanne Mosley
in Mount Carmel, Oct-Dec 2002
"Some perspective: Challenging new work on Edith Stein comes from the
pen of educator/writer, Freda Mary Oben, Ph.D. Title: The Life and
Thought of St. Edith Stein; this work (following the author's book on
Edith Stein published in 1988) can serve as an introduction to the
saint's life and complex works as a philosopher and theologian, while
making for clear and pleasant writing on its own. The author divides the
compact book into three parts -- looking at Stein's approach to personal
holiness, to her writings in the area of Christian philosophy, and to
the fruits of her beatification and canonization. The eight chapters
close with a look at "The Meaning of St. Edith Stein for the Third Millennium."
--Crux of the News, August 20, 2001
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