Facing Each Other: Saint Therese of Lisieux and Emmanuel Levinas

Abstract

Emmanuel Levinas, the great Jewish philosopher and Talmudic commentator, whom Philippe Nemo calls "the sole moralist of contemporary thought," died in 1995.1 Two years later, in 1997, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) was named a Doctor of the Church. What, if anything, do the spiritual paths of the renowned ethicist and the young Carmelite have in common? At first sight, Levinas's proclamation of Judaism as a "religion for adults" seems far removed from the "little way" of Theresian spiritual childhood.2 Indeed, Levinas pointedly challenges the naiveté of a blindly generous faith, asking, "Can childhood answer to the Tempter [that is, modern Western philosophy and science] with confidence in the long run?"3