Mysticism and theology in Edith Stein

Abstract

Religious experience occupies a central place in Edith Stein’s philosophy. And, although she did not dedicate a particular study to describe this experience, she did leave important indications in several of her texts. Within the religious experiences, the mystical experience occupies a special place and to it we will dedicate the present work. For it, we are going to see some descriptions about the religious experience where the influence of Adolf Reinach in Edith Stein’s ideas can be seen; secondly, we will see the place that Edith Stein’s own mystical experience occupies, because it is an experience that marked her in a significant way, but of which, in spite of everything, very little is known, because she herself did not want to speak about it, which makes it a secret. In the last section we explore the relationship between myth and theology to see the special way in which Stein confronted the results of her own thought with the mystical theology of the Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite.