Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong (born 1944) is a British comparative religion writer. Her first book, Through the Narrow Gate, described her seven years as a nun in a Roman Catholic order. She has written more than 20 book including A History of God, Islam: A Short History, Buddha, The Spiral Staircase, The Great Transformation, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time and most recently The Case for God ; also numerous articles for The Guardian and other publications.
Karen Armstrong is a powerful voice for ecumenical understanding.
Armstrong's 2008 TED Prize wish asks us to help her assemble the Charter for Compassion, a document around which religious leaders can work together for peace. In late fall 2008, the first draft of the document was written by the world, via a sharing website. [1]
"I say that religion isn't about believing things. It's ethical alchemy. It's about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness." Karen Armstrong on Powells.com
The challenge of the XXIst century is to appreciate - not only to tolerate - to other religious traditions.
In 2008, the Freedom of Worship Award by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute was awarded to Karen Armstrong for her personal dedication to the ideal that peace can be found in religious understanding, for her teachings on compassion, and her appreciation for the positive sources of spirituality.
Major Works
A History of God (1993) is an overview of God in the Abrahamic Religions. The concept of God is traced from ancient Israel through the 20th Century. The book covers ancient Jewish views of God and how they changed during the Babylonian Captivity, early Christianity, the formation of the doctrine of the Trinity, the formation and rise of Islam, the development of Sunni, Shia and Sufi Islam, the split between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment and in the modern and post-modern world.
The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions (2006) is an overview of major religions from about 1600 to 200 B.C.; including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Greek rationalism and Judaism. The thrust of this book is that during the first millenium B.C., the major religions moved from a sole concern with ritual and sacrifice to a primary concern with personal ethics and morality. During this time, the leaders of these religions all developed doctrines of compassion and respect for others, which was quite a departure from the religious practices that preceded them.
See also
External links
- Karen Armstrong: The Coherence of Her Incoherence
- Freedom of Worship - Four Freedoms Award. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.
- Charter for Compassion.