Karen Armstrong

Step beyond the walls of the church and into the thick of humanity. "Joan Brown Campbell's career can be regarded as prophetic. For Joan, faith has meant engagement with the world and its pain. Her words remind us that at its best, religion should not narrow our horizons, but enable us to live more fully; should not cause us to withdraw from the world, but to do our utmost to make it a better place." —from the Foreword by Karen Armstrong Drawing on her amazing life experiences, Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell speaks out on the pressing issues that face us today: love, justice, reconciliation, forgiveness and community. With a bold, distinctive voice, this visionary minister asserts that we have the capacity to transcend the barriers that separate us from one another. She poses that "Who is my neighbor?" may be the most crucial question in our world where so many are hungry and hurting and weary of war. She calls us to live life fully—not carefully or cautiously, but wholly engaged with the world and with the messiness of humanity. She dares us to act as the people we are called and created to be—to claim our freedom to care, to risk and to step out into the unknown. Capturing the essence of her wisdom gained from years of world travel and experience, Campbell offers inspiration and challenge for all who would claim their lives as people of hope.

A life of the prophet Muhammad by bestselling religious writer Karen Armstrong - 'One of our best living writers on religion' FINANCIAL TIMES

From one of the most original thinkers on the role of religion in the modern world, a profound exploration of the spiritual power of nature--and an urgent call to reclaim that power in everyday life. "Much has been written on the scientific and technological aspects of climate change.... But Armstrong's book is both more personal and more profound. Its urgent message is that hearts and minds need to change if we are to once more learn to revere our beautiful and fragile planet." --The Guardian Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear, to awe, to tranquil contemplation; God, or however one defined the sublime, was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred. In this short but deeply powerful book, the best-selling historian of religion Karen Armstrong re-sacralizes nature for modern times. Drawing on her vast knowledge of the world's religious traditions, she vividly describes nature's central place in spirituality across the centuries. In bringing this age-old wisdom to life, Armstrong shows modern readers how to rediscover nature's potency and form a connection to something greater than ourselves.

"En af den vestlige verdens mest vise religionskendere, Karen Armstrong, giver håb i en tid, hvor kloden er ved at brænde sammen. For inderst inde ved vi, at naturen er hellig, forsikrer hun og henter dokumentation i alverdens religioner, også kristendommen. Jeg beder til, at hun har ret."CHARLOTTE RØRTHEt forsvar for den fortryllede natur I størstedelen af menneskehedens historie er naturen blevet opfattet som hellig og vores Gud eller guder blevet betragtet som allestedsnærværende. Da den vestlige verdens naturvidenskab og filosofi i det 17. århundrede begyndte at adskille Gud fra naturen, skete der ikke kun et brud med tusind års akkumuleret viden og erfaring – det blev også roden til den udbytning af naturen og den usunde individualisering, som nu viser sig fatal.Karen Armstrong er en af verdens førende religionsformidlere. Hun argumenterer i sin bog for, at det ikke er nok at ændre adfærd for at dæmme op for den truende klimakatastrofe. Vi har brug for at reparere det grundlæggende bånd mellem verden og menneske. Hun er overbevist om, at religion og spiritualitet kan komme os til hjælp – den kunstige adskillelse kan heles. Naturen skal genfortrylles, så vi lærer at omgås den med ærefrygt og respekt frem for at betragte dens ressourcer som en evig kilde til vores forbrug og velstand.Hvert af bogens ti kapitler præsenterer et tema, der står centralt i en af verdens store religioner: fra taknemmelighed og medfølelse til offer og ikkevold. Hvert kapitel afsluttes af praktiske råd til et nyt mindset om forholdet mellem natur og det hellige."Naturens hellige kraft" er en bog om ”dybdeøkologi” – om de dybeste bånd mellem menneske og natur. Den er en inspirerende og indtrængende appel til dem, der ved, at det både kræver nye handlemåder og anderledes tænkning at genoprette klodens tilstand. Karen Armstrong, født 1944, er en engelsk forfatter og religionsformidler. Hun var katolsk nonne i syv år, men forlod sin klosterorden i 1969 for at studere engelsk ved universitetet i Oxford. Hun har gennem sit omfattende og prisbelønnede forfatterskab fået et indgående kendskab til verdensreligionerne og beskriver sig selv som freelancemonoteist. På dansk er tidligere udkommet bl.a. Jerusalem og Muhammed. En biografi.

"Istorija religij, izlozhennaja dostupno i aktualno. Kniga, mgnovenno stavshaja klassikoj". - Publishers Weekly "Neozhidannoe i blistatelnoe sochetanie teologii, istorii i nejronauki". - The New Yorker "Moschnyj manifest... Panoramnyj tur po istorii religij". - The Washington Post "Slavnoe puteshestvie... Armstrong - samaja krasnorechivaja i velikodushnaja tolkovatelnitsa religii, pishuschaja na anglijskom jazyke segodnja". - The New Statesman Karen Armstrong (rod. 1944 g.) - britanskij religioved, filosof i publitsist, poluchivshaja shirokoe priznanie v kachestve eksperta v oblasti sravnitelnogo religiovedenija. Avtor bolee 25 knig, perevedennykh na 45 jazykov mira. Prakticheski vse ee osnovnye knigi v raznoe vremja izdany v Rossii. Byla neodnokratno udostoena prestizhnykh premij, sredi kotorykh: premija konferentsii TED, premija Chetyrekh svobod, premija printsessy Asturijskoj i drugie. Karen Armstrong - pochetnyj doktor nauk v neskolkikh britanskikh universitetakh.Perevod s anglijskogo: Natalija Kholmogorova

Un extraordinario alegato contra los prejuicios hacia una religi n que practican mil doscientos millones de personas en todo el mundo.La figura de Mahoma (570-632) ha suscitado siempre inacabables controversias en el mundo occidental. Karen Armstrong comienza su libro con un documentado retrato de la situaci n en que se encontraban las tribus beduinas en la Arabia del siglo VI. En este ambiente, polite sta y desunido pol ticamente, Mahoma, vivi durante el mes de Ramad n de 610 una experiencia m stica que cambi el curso de la historia: el comienzo de las revelaciones que pronto fructificar an en el Cor n. La autora narra los inicios de la nueva religi n, el islam, y las disputas teol gicas y pol ticas que desgarraron la vida de numerosas familias de La Meca o de Medina. Mahoma se perfila en estas p ginas como un hombre complejo, apasionado, fr gil, dotado para la pol tica y fiel a lo que entend a como una misi n personal y trascendente.

With such bestsellers as A History of God and Islam, Karen Armstrong has consistently delivered penetrating, readable, and prescient (The New York Times) works that have lucidly engaged a wide range of religions and religious issues. In Buddha she turns to a figure whose thought is still reverberating throughout the world 2,500 years after his death. Many know the Buddha only from seeing countless serene, iconic images. But what of the man himself and the world he lived in? What did he actually do in his roughly eighty years on earth that spawned one of the greatest religions in world history? Armstrong tackles these questions and more by examining the life and times of the Buddha in this engrossing philosophical biography. Against the tumultuous cultural background of his world, she blends history, philosophy, mythology, and biography to create a compelling and illuminating portrait of a man whose awakening continues to inspire millions.

St. Paul is known throughout the world as the first Christian writer, authoring fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament. But as Karen Armstrong demonstrates in St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate, he also exerted a more significant influence on the spread of Christianity throughout the world than any other figure in history. It was Paul who established the first Christian churches in Europe and Asia in the first century, Paul who transformed a minor sect into the largest religion produced by Western civilization, and Paul who advanced the revolutionary idea that Christ could serve as a model for the possibility of transcendence. While we know little about some aspects of the life of St. Paul--his upbringing, the details of his death--his dramatic vision of God on the road to Damascus is one of the most powerful stories in the history of Christianity, and the life that followed forever changed the course of history.

At a very young age, Karen experienced seeing entities that had crossed over to the other side. She put away those gifts for many years because she wanted to be "normal." Then her spiritual experiences grew exponentially when she became a mother, lost her own mother, and then became divorced. After the death of Karen's mother, she became more interested in her gifts and wanted to contact her mother in the spiritual realm. She spoke to her mom through a medium, who also told her she was psychic. Karen was told she would use her gifts one day to heal others. Karen started to meditate and contact her own angels and guides. It was during these experiences that Karen came to know the spirit world through her own angel eyes and release the fears of not fitting in. Every time a fear was released through a specific healing modality, Karen became closer to finding her own soul path. She even had famous people show up in her medium readings such as Edgar Cayce and Archangel Metatron These awe-inspiring visits made her realize she had an important job to do on earth Each chapter deals with releasing a fear through a story, dream, or a mediumship reading. The author provides helpful advice for releasing these fears and improving your life.

From the New York Times bestselling author of A History of God--a book that shines fresh light on the world's major religions to help us build bridges between faiths and rediscover a creative and spiritual engagement with holy texts. A dazzling accomplishment. --The New York Times Book ReviewThe significance of scripture may not be immediately obvious in our secular world, but its misunderstanding is perhaps the root cause of many of today's controversies. The sacred texts have been co-opted by fundamentalists, who insist that they must be taken literally, and by others who interpret scripture to bolster their own prejudices. These texts are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behavior that are divinely ordained: they are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows in this chronicle of the development and significance of major religions, such a narrow, peculiar reading of scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon. For most of their history, the world's religious traditions have regarded these texts as tools that enable the individual to connect with the divine, to experience a different level of consciousness, and to help them engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways.

'An amazingly wide-ranging book, showing that the world's religious texts can be a force for good today' John Barton, author of A History of the BibleIn our increasingly secular world, holy texts are at best seen as irrelevant, and at worst as an excuse to incite violence, hatred and division.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK In this timely and important book, one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs examines the lost art of Scripture as a medium to lift humanity and change our perception of reality while evading logical explanation. Today the Quran is used by some to justify war and acts of terrorism, the Torah to deny Palestinians the right to live in the Land of Israel, and the Bible to condemn homosexuality and contraception. The significance of Scripture--the holy texts at the centre of all religious traditions--may not be immediately obvious in our secular world but its misunderstanding is perhaps the root cause of most of today's controversies over religion. In this timely and important book, one of the world's leading commentators on religious affairs examines the meaning of Scripture. Today holy texts are not only used selectively to underwrite sometimes arbitrary and subjective views: they are seen to prescribe ethical norms and codes of behaviour that are divinely ordained--they are believed to contain eternal truths. But as Karen Armstrong shows in this fascinating trawl through millennia of religious history, this peculiar reading of Scripture is a relatively recent, modern phenomenon--and in many ways, a reaction to a hostile secular world. For most of their history, the world's religious traditions have regarded these texts as tools for the individual to connect with the divine, to transcend their physical existence, and to experience a higher level of consciousness that helped them to engage with the world in more meaningful and compassionate ways. Scripture was not a truth that had to be believed. Armstrong argues that only if the world's religious faiths rediscover such an open and spiritual engagement with their holy texts can they curtail the arrogance, intolerance and violence that flows from a narrow reading of Scripture as truth.

ââ?¬Ë?Because "God" is infinite, nobody can have the last wordââ?¬â?¢What is this thing, religion, supposedly the cause of bloodshed and warring for centuries? Selected from A Case for God, Fields of Blood and The Lost Art of Scripture VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS.

As long as we have been human, we have been mythmakers. In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong holds up the mirror of mythology to show us the history of ourselves, and embarks on a journey that begins at a Neanderthal graveside and ends buried in the heart of the modern novel. Surprising, powerful and profound, A Short History of Myth examines the world's most ancient art form - the making and telling of stories - and why we still need it.The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.