Karen Armstrong

Author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain · United Kingdom · On the map · Writers · Born 1944 · age 82

Karen Armstrong is a British author and commentator known for her books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic religious sister, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical Christian faith. She attended St Anne's College, Oxford, while in the convent and graduated in English.

Karen Armstrong is read about 235 times a day, in 41 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2017Princess of Asturias Award for Social SciencesAward2009“The cosmology of the ancient world was telling you about the nature of life here and now. Genesis is not about the origins of life.”In their wordsOctober 2009"The reason of faith" by Michael Brunton, in Ode magazine (September - October 2009)Read the whole statement

“It's not easy to talk about transcendence, just as it's not easy to play or listen to a late Beethoven quartet … You have to practice quite hard, like you do with any art form.”In their wordsOctober 2009"The reason of faith" by Michael Brunton, in Ode magazine (September - October 2009)Read the whole statement

“Religion is hard work. Its insights are not self-evident and have to be cultivated in the same way as an appreciation of art, music, or poetry must be developed.”In their wordsCh. 1 : Homo religiosus, p. 8Read the whole statement

Dr. Leopold Lucas PrizeAward2008“A project like Pangea, which enables us to enter in to the situations of others, imaginatively, is fulfilling what the religions call the Golden Rule...”In their words"Karen Armstrong Joins Pangea Day!" (2008)Read the whole statement

TED PrizeAward2005Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward2004“The one and only test of a valid religious idea, doctrinal statement, spiritual experience, or devotional practice was that it must lead directly to practical compassion.”In their wordsThe Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (2004)Read the whole statement

2002“There are some forms of religion that must make God weep.”In their words1 March 2002NOW Interview (1 March 2002) with Bill Moyers, at PBSRead the whole statement

1944Born14 November 1944

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Karen Armstrong

4 statements, newest first

People like Thomas Aquinas would say we can't talk about God as a creator because we can only have in our heads the idea of a human creator and that can't apply to God.
October 2009 · "The reason of faith" by Michael Brunton, in Ode magazine (September - October 2009), Own words
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.
2009 · As quoted in Profile at TEDprize.org (2009), Own words
I tremble for our world, where, in the smallest ways, we find it impossible, as Marshall Hodgson enjoined, to find room for the other in our minds.
2004 · The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (2004), Own words