Karen L. King
Education
- BA, University of Montana
- PhD, Brown University
Profile
Karen L. King was appointed to the Divinity School in 1997 and from 2003 to 2009 served as the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History. In October 2009, she became the first woman appointed as the Hollis Professor of Divinity, the oldest endowed chair in the United States (1721). She became the Hollis Research Professor of Divinity in 2024.
Trained in comparative religions and historical studies, she pursues teaching and research specialties in the history of Christianity. Her books include The Secret Revelation of John; The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle; and What Is Gnosticism?
Her particular theoretical interests are in discourses of normativity (orthodoxy and heresy), gender studies, and religion and violence. She has received research grants and awards for excellence in teaching and research; among them are grants from the Luce Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst, and the Graves Foundation. King is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, the International Association for Coptic Studies, and Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.
Professor King retired from active teaching duties at HDS in 2024 and is now working as a research professor.
Selected publications
- The Secret Revelation of John (Harvard University Press, 2006)
- The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle (Polebridge Press, 2003)
- What Is Gnosticism? (Harvard University Press, 2003)
See also
- "The Place of the Gospel of Philip in the Context of Early Christian Claims about Jesus’s Marital Status" (PDF) (New Testament Studies)
- "Jesus" (Oxford Handbook of the New Testament, Gender, and Sexuality)
- "What Truth Do Martyrs Tell?" (Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Spring/Summer 2020)
Support
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