Performative Theodicy: Edith Stein and the Recovery of Lamentation

Abstract

Abstract In the context of contemporary mass atrocities and the search for justice, we offer a contemporary reading of the Book of Lamentations—a heartbreaking poem about a devastated city—through the witness of Edith Stein, a Jewish Catholic philosopher, educator, feminist, and Carmelite martyr of the Holocaust. Stein's own story of suffering gender and racial discrimination and her writings on empathy can help readers enter the world of Lamentations with compassion for those who bear the pain of acute injustice. In addition, her devotion in prayer and worship to the crucified and risen Christ as a Carmelite nun can help us find meaning in suffering. In her writings and witness, she teaches us that God's faithfulness does not abandon us to evil and that his unfailing love rescues us and transforms us into people of compassion and hope in the world.