--- title: "6 Theologian Quotes By Karen Armstrong" description: "6 Theologian quotes by Karen Armstrong. Plus more from Karen Armstrong and more Theologian sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/karen-armstrong-1053_about_in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential_51447.jpg" --- > [In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/karen-armstrong-1053_about_in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential_51447.jpg) > [We can't say what God is, and until the modern period, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians in the three God religions all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-can-t-say-what-god-is-and-until-the-modern-period-jewish-christian/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aee/karen-armstrong-1053_christian_we-can-t-say-what-god-is-and-until-the-m_1036266.jpg) > [I learned a lot from both, initially Jewish and Muslim theologians that had been missing, perhaps from my rather parochial Catholic upbringing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-learned-a-lot-from-both-initially-jewish-and-muslim-theologians/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/43f/karen-armstrong-1053_catholic_i-learned-a-lot-from-both-initially-jewi_1089573.jpg) > [Theologians in all the great faiths have devised all kinds of myths to show that this type of kenosis, of self-emptying, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/theologians-in-all-the-great-faiths-have-devised-all-kinds-of-myths/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/96b/karen-armstrong-1053_all-kinds_theologians-in-all-the-great-faiths-have_1895591.jpg) > [Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians have insisted for centuries that God does not exist and that there is 'nothing' out there; in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/jewish-christian-and-muslim-theologians-have-insisted-for-centuries/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2cb/karen-armstrong-1053_aim_jewish-christian-and-muslim-theologians_2279113.jpg) > [Religious ideas and practices take root not because they are promoted by forceful theologians, nor because they can be shown to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/religious-ideas-and-practices-take-root-not-because-they-are-promoted/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dab/karen-armstrong-1053_bases_religious-ideas-and-practices-take-root_2784372.jpg) ## Other authors on Theologian - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-martin-luther-64750.jpg) Martin Luther 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/martin-luther/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-richard-dawkins-78503.jpg) Richard Dawkins 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/richard-dawkins/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-r-c-sproul-1006.jpg) R. C. Sproul 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/r-c-sproul/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-karl-barth-55197.jpg) Karl Barth 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/karl-barth/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-gilbert-k-chesterton-38545.jpg) Gilbert K. Chesterton 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/gilbert-k-chesterton/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-friedrich-nietzsche-36363.jpg) Friedrich Nietzsche 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/friedrich-nietzsche/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bertrand-russell-17477.jpg) Bertrand Russell 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/bertrand-russell/) ## More by Karen Armstrong > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [A gentleman is not born but crafted. He had to work on himself in the same way as a sculptor shaped a rough stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-gentleman-is-not-born-but-crafted-he-had-to-work-on-himself-in-the/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I was a lousy nun. I couldn't do it. I couldn't find God. It wasn't suitable for me. It is suitable for very few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-was-a-lousy-nun-i-couldn-t-do-it-i-couldn-t-find-god-it-wasn-t/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The great task of our time is to build a global society, where people can live together in peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-great-task-of-our-time-is-to-build-a-global-society-where-people/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [We want to create, never mind the leaders or the bishops or chief rabbis or imams, or Popes. We want to create a grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-want-to-create-never-mind-the-leaders-or-the-bishops-or-chief/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [If we don't manage to implement the Golden Rule globally, so that we treat all peoples, wherever and whoever they may be, as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-don-t-manage-to-implement-the-golden-rule-globally-so-that-we/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [After I left the convent, for 15 years I was worn out with religion, I wanted nothing whatever to do with it. I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/after-i-left-the-convent-for-15-years-i-was-worn-out-with-religion-i/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“As we have seen, so many of the things we once took for granted have proved unreliable that we may have to “forget” old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/as-we-have-seen-so-many-of-the-things-we-once-took-for-granted-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/yet-a-personal-god-can-become-a-grave-liability-he-can-be-a-mere-idol/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“I discovered that I felt at home and alive in the silence, which compelled me to enter my interior world and around there. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-discovered-that-i-felt-at-home-and-alive-in-the-silence-which/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Each of the world religions has its own particular genius, its own special insight into the nature and requirements of compassion, and has something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/each-of-the-world-religions-has-its-own-particular-genius-its-own/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“all rightly guided religion that submitted wholly to God, refused to worship man-made deities and preached that justice and equality came from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/all-rightly-guided-religion-that-submitted-wholly-to-god-refused-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“advocates of evolutionary theory since Thomas H. Huxley (1825–95) have found altruism problematic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/advocates-of-evolutionary-theory-since-thomas-h-huxley-1825-95-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theologian/karen-armstrong/#itemlist", "name": "6 Theologian Quotes By Karen Armstrong", "numberOfItems": 6, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it clear that it was very difficult to speak about God, because when we confront the ultimate, we are at the end of what words or thoughts can do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karen Armstrong" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/karen-armstrong-1053_about_in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential_51447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/karen-armstrong-1053_about_in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential_51447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/karen-armstrong-1053_about_in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential_51447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides…” — Karen Armstrong", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can't say what God is, and until the modern period, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians in the three God religions all knew that. 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