Tom Harpur

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The Reverend Thomas William Harpur
Photo of Tom Harpur by Hugh Wesley.jpg
Tom Harpur photo by Hugh Wesley
Nationality Canadian
Education B.A. (Toronto), M.A. (Oxon)
Alma mater University of Toronto,
University of Oxford
Occupation Classicist, theologian, priest, and journalist
Website www. tomharpur.com

The Reverend Thomas William "Tom" Harpur (born 1929) is a Canadian author, broadcaster, columnist and theologian. An ordained priest, he is a proponent of the Christ myth theory, the idea that Jesus did not exist but is a fictional or mythological figure.[1] He is the author of a number of books, including For Christ's Sake (1993), Life after Death (1996), and The Pagan Christ (2004).[2]

Background and education

Born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1929, Harpur earned an Honours B.A. in 1951 at University College at the University of Toronto, where he won the Jarvis Scholarship in Greek and Latin, the Maurice Hutton Scholarship in Classics, the Sir William Mulock Scholarship in Classics, and the Gold Medal in Classics. He went on to study Lit.Hum. ("Greats" or Classics) at Oriel College at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar from 1951 to 1954 where he read the ancient historians (Herodotus, Thucydides and Tacitus) completely in their original texts. He graduated in 1954 with the B.A and was conferred the M.A. (Oxon.) two years later. Between 1954 and 1956 he studied theology at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, where he was a tutor in Greek. At Wycliffe he won prizes in homiletics and Greek and was the senior student and valedictorian in his graduating year. He returned to Oxford in 1962 and 1963 for his post-graduate studies where he read the Early Christian writers or Church Fathers (Patristics).

Career

Priesthood

Harpur was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada in 1956. He served as a curate at St. John's York Mills, Toronto from 1956 to 1957. From 1957 to 1964 he served the parish of St. Margaret's-in-the-Pines in Scarborough, Ontario. During this time he lectured on ancient philosophy part-time at Wycliffe College. From 1962 to 1963 he spent a further year at Oriel College, Oxford, doing postgraduate research in Patristics and New Testament studies.

Academia

From 1964 to 1971, Harpur was an assistant professor and then a full professor of New Testament and New Testament Greek at Wycliffe, and from 1984 to 1987 he was part-time lecturer on the Theology and Praxis of Mass Media course at the Toronto School of Theology in the University of Toronto.

Journalism

Harpur worked as a journalist at the Toronto Star for thirty years, twelve of which were as the newspaper's religion editor. Since leaving that position in 1984 he has continued to contribute a regular column on religious and ethical issues. Harpur has also written a number of books on religion and theology, ten of which became Canadian bestsellers and two of which were made into TV series for VisionTV. For a time he had his own TV show, Harpur's Heaven and Hell, and has hosted a variety of radio and television programs on the topic of religion, particularly on VisionTV. He has, over the years, been a frequent commentator on religious news events for most of the Canadian networks, especially CBC. In 1996 his bestseller Life After Death about near-death experiences was turned into a 10-episode TV series hosted by Harpur himself. Harpur's 2004 book The Pagan Christ was named the Canadian non-fiction bestseller of the year by the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

Fellowships and awards

Harpur is a Fellow of the American Religious Public Relations Council, and in 1976 won a State of Israel Silver Medal for Outstanding Journalism. His biography is included in the American Who's Who in Religion, Canadian Who's Who, and Men of Achievement. In 2008 the CBC documentary The Pagan Christ, based upon Harpur's book, won the Platinum Remi Award at the Houston International Film Festival and the Gold Camera Award at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival in Redondo Beach, California. He belongs to the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars and the Writers' Union.

Bibliography

  • Harpur’s Heaven and Hell. Oxford, 1983. ISBN 0-7710-3941-7
  • For Christ’s Sake. Oxford, 1986. ISBN 0-19-540533-1
  • Always on Sunday. Oxford, OUP. 1988 0195406508
  • Prayer Journal Kelowna. B.C. Northstone.
  • Prayer - The Hidden Fire Kelowna, B. C. Northstone.1997 ISBN 1-896836-32-1
  • Would You Believe McClelland and Stewart. (U.S. title: The Thinking Person’s Guide to God, Prima, 1996
  • Harpur vs. Hancock Hantsport, N. S. Lancelot, 1994. ISBN 0-88999-584-2
  • The Divine Lover (Lancelot)
  • The God Question (Lancelot)
  • Life After Death McClelland and Stewart. 1991. ISBN 0-7710-3941-7
  • God help us Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, 1992 ISBN 0-7710-3943-3
  • Communicating the Good News Today (Lancelot)
  • The uncommon touch : an investigation of spiritual healing. Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, c1994. ISBN 0-7710-3944-1
  • Harpur vs. Hancock (Tom Harpur, Maxine Hancock). Hantsport, N.S. Lancelot Press, 1994. ISBN 0-88999-584-2
  • The thinking person's guide to God : overcoming the obstacles to belief. Rocklin, Calif. : Prima Pub., 1996. ISBN 0-7615-0707-8
  • The Spirituality of Wine (Northstone)2004
  • The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light. Toronto.Thomas Allen, 2004. ISBN 0-88762-145-7
  • Finding the Still Point - A Spiritual Response to Stress Kelowna. B.C. Northstone, 2005 1896836712
  • Living Waters (Thomas Allen, 2006) ISBN 0-88762-225-9, 2006
  • Water Into Wine: An Empowering Vision of the Gospels. Thomas Allen, 2007 ISBN 0-88762-277-1
  • Born Again: My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom. Thomas Allen, 2011 ISBN 9780887627385
  • There is Life after Death. (Updated and revised version of Life After Death, 1991) Thomas Allen, 2011 ISBN 9780887627408
Children's books
  • The Terrible Finn MacCoul Oxford, OUP, 1990. 0195407164.
  • The Mouse that Couldn't Squeak (Oxford)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Maurice Casey Jesus: Evidence and Argument or Mythicist Myths? T&T Clark 2014 TOM HARPUR p.19-20
  2. ↑ "The Pagan Christ", CBC, December 6, 2007.

External links

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