Karen Armstrong

Una mirada completa y profunda de una de las religiones más influyentes del mundo Durante siglos, la ignorancia y la desinformación han creado una visión distorsionada del islam en el imaginario occi

Un extraordinario alegato contra los prejuicios hacia una religión 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 situacion en que se encontraban las tribus beduinas en la Arabia del siglo VI. En este ambiente, politeista y desunido politicamente, Mahoma, vivio durante el mes de Ramadan de 610 una experiencia mistica que cambio el curso de la historia: el comienzo de las revelaciones que pronto fructificarian en el Coran. La autora narra los inicios de la nueva religion, el islam, y las disputas teologicas y politicas que desgarraron la vida de numerosas familias de La Meca o de Medina. Mahoma se perfila en estas paginas como un hombre complejo, apasionado, fragil, dotado para la politica y fiel a lo que entendia como una mision personal y trascendente.

En La gran transformación, su obra más ambiciosa, Armstrong traza el apasionante desarrollo de los primeros pasos espirituales del hombre. Examinando las aportaciones de figuras como Buda, Sócrates, Confucio, Jeremias, Ezequiel o los desconocidos misticos del Upanishad, la autora explora en las raices de nuestras tradiciones religiosas para comprender las claves del presente que brotan de un pasado espiritual comun.

Armstrong nos muestra cómo a lo largo de los siglos cada una de las religiones monoteístas ha abrazado un concepto ligeramente distinto de Dios. Al mismo tiempo, la autora aborda las semejanzas fundamentales y profundas entre ellas, demostrando que, en las tres, Dios ha sido y es experimentado de forma intensa, apasionada y a menudo traumatica.

Desde el principio de los tiempos la humanidad ha mirado a la naturaleza y ha visto lo divino. En los escritos de los grandes pensadores de todas las religiones, el mundo natural inspira desde el miedo hasta el asombro, pasando por la contemplacion tranquila; Dios, o como quiera que se defina lo sublime, estaba presente en cada escenario. Sin embargo, hoy en dia, incluso cuando miramos un arbol o contemplamos un paisaje impresionante, rara vez vemos la naturaleza como algo sagrado.Naturaleza sagrada revela las conexiones mas profundas entre los seres humanos y el mundo natural. En esta deliciosa obra, Karen Armstrong nos invita a pensar y sentir de forma diferente para reavivar nuestro vinculo con la naturaleza y reconstruir nuestra conexion con ella.

La historia del mito es la historia de la humanidad. Nuestras narraciones y creencias, nuestra curiosidad y nuestras tentativas de comprender el mundo nos vinculan directamente con nuestros antepasados y con los demas seres humanos: los mitos nos ayudan a dotar de sentido al universo. El libro de Karen Armstrong, referente mundial en el estudio de la historia de las religiones, supone una concisa, certera y absorbente aproximacion a las mas diversas expresiones del mito, desde los cazadores del Paleolitico hasta su descredito en Occidente en favor de la ciencia y lo que su perdida supone para el mundo moderno.

There is widespread confusion about the nature of religious truth. For the first time in history, a significantly large number of people want nothing to do with God. Mlitant atheists preach a gospel of godlessness with the zeal of missionaries and find an eager audience. What has happened? Tracing the history of faith from the Palaeolithic Age to the present, Karen Armstrong shows that meaning of words such as 'belief', 'faith', and 'mystery' has been entirely altered, so that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God - and, indeed, reason itself - in a way that our ancestors would have found astonishing. Does God have a future? Karen Armstrong examines how we can build a faith that speaks to the needs of our troubled and dangerously polarized world.

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 Misunderstood Apostle, 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.

A rich and subtle exploration of the sacredness of nature filled with a timeless wisdom and deep humanity Guardian In this hugely powerful book Karen Armstrong argues that it isn t enough to change our behaviour to avert environmental catastrophe we must rekindle our spiritual bond with the natural world From gratitude and compassion to sacrifice and non violence Armstrong draws themes from the world s religious traditions to offer practical steps to reconnect you with nature Speaking to anyone interested in our relationship with nature worried about environmental destruction or searching for new actions to save our planet Sacred Nature will uncover the most profound connections between humans and the natural world A lamentation in the key of Greta Thunberg with undertones of Carl Jung Wall Street Journal Warm and witty a challenge to think differently in the face of climate change Tablet Karen Armstrong is one of the handful of wise and supremely commentators on religion Alain de Botton

The centuries between 800 and 300 BC saw an explosion of new religious concepts. Their emergence is second only to mans harnessing of fire in fundamentally transforming our understanding of what it is to be human. But why did Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jeremiah, Lao Tzu and others all emerge in this five-hundred-year span? And why do they have such similar ideas about humanity?In The Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong examines this phenomenal period and the connections between this disparate group of philosophers, mystics and theologians.

The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Translated into over two thousand languages, it is estimated that more than six billion copies have been sold in the last two hundred years alone. In this seminal account, Karen Armstrong traces the gestation of the Bible to reveal a complex and contradictory document created by scores of people over hundreds of years. Karen Armstrong begins her analysis with the origins of the very earliest books of the Hebrew Bible, in which God was called both Yahweh and Elohim. She then traces the development of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament to reveal the disparate influences that helped to form these sacred texts. From the Jewish practice of Midrash and the Christian cult of Jesus; to the influence of Pauls letters on the Reformation and the manipulation of Revelations by Christian fundamentalism, Armstrong explores the contexts in which these sixty-six books were understood and explains the social needs they answered. In the process she reveals an unfamiliar and paradoxical work that will permanently alter our understanding of the Bible.

The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Translated into over two thousand languages, it is estimated that more than six billion copies have been sold in the last two hundred years alone. In this seminal account, Karen Armstrong traces the gestation of the Bible to reveal a complex and contradictory document created by scores of people over hundreds of years.Karen Armstrong begins her analysis with the origins of the very earliest books of the "Hebrew Bible", in which God was called both 'Yahweh' and 'Elohim'. She then traces the development of both the "Hebrew Bible" and the "New Testament" to reveal the disparate influences that helped to form these sacred texts. From the Jewish practice of Midrash and the Christian cult of Jesus; to the influence of Paul's letters on the Reformation and the manipulation of Revelations by Christian fundamentalism, Armstrong explores the contexts in which these sixty-six books were understood and explains the social needs they answered. In the process she reveals an unfamiliar and paradoxical work that will permanently alter our understanding of the Bible.

The centuries between 800 and 300 BC saw an explosion of new religious concepts. Their emergence is second only to man's harnessing of fire in fundamentally transforming our understanding of what it is to be human. But why did Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Jeremiah, Lao Tzu and others all emerge in this five-hundred-year span? And why do they have such similar ideas about humanity? In "The Great Transformation", Karen Armstrong examines this phenomenal period and the connections between this disparate group of philosophers, mystics and theologians.

Una obra paradójica y desconocida que cambiará para siempre nuestra visión de La Biblia. La Biblia es el libro más famoso del mundo. Traducido a más de dos mil idiomas, se calcula que ha vendido más