Tom Harpur

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Thomas "Tom" Harpur (born ca. 1930, Scarborough, Ontario) is a Canadian author, broadcaster, journalist and theologian.

Harpur is best known for his work with the Toronto Star where he worked as a journalist 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. He has also written a number of books on religion and theology and has hosted radio and television programs on the topic, particularly on Vision TV.

After attending Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in the 1950s, he studied theology at the University of Toronto's Wycliffe College until being ordained an Anglican priest. From 1957 until 1964 he served the congregation of St.-Margaret's-in-the-Pines in the Scarborough, Ontario community of West Hill.

From 1964 to 1971, Harpur was Professor of New Testament at the University of Toronto's Toronto School of Theology.

Harpur is a liberal theologian who has concluded that there is no historical evidence of Jesus' existence [link] and views Christianity as having pagan roots[link]. He believes the bible should be intrepreted allegorically rather than literally.

Books by Tom Harpur

The Spirituality of Wine (Northstone Publishing)
The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2004) ISBN 0887621457
Harpur’s Heaven and Hell (Oxford, 1983) ISBN 0771039417
For Christ’s Sake (Oxford, 1986) ISBN 0195405331
Always on Sunday (Oxford)
Communicating the Good News Today (Lancelot)
Life After Death (M&S)
God Help Us (M&S)
The Uncommon Touch (M&S)
The God Question (Lancelot)
The Divine Lover (Lancelot)
Harpur vs. Hancock (Lancelot)
Would You Believe (M&S) (published in the U.S. as The Thinking Person’s Guide to God, Prima Press, 1996)
Prayer - The Hidden Fire (Northstone Publishing)
Prayer Journal (Northstone Publishing)
Finding the Still Point - A Spiritual Response to Stress (Northstone Publishing, September, 2002)

External links

[Jesus Never Existed Website] Jesus Never Existed Website
[Tom Harpur] official website
[A critical view of Tom Harpur's Pagan Christ.] Negative review by conservative Christian J. P. Holding.
[Tom Harpur's false choices] review of Pagan Christ from the Catholic New Times.
[Is There Anything New in Christianity?] A Critical Response to Tom Harpur, by A. James Reimer.
[Reading the Pagan Christ in Tom Harpur's Old Office] A critical response (pp. 12-13) by [Terry Donaldson].
[The Leading Religion Writer in Canada ... Does He Know What He's Talking About?] A critical response by W. Ward Gasque.
[Neither Scholarly nor a Solution] A Response to Tom Harpur's The Pagan Christ (p. 126) by [Gordon L. Heath].
[Several Arguments for Jesus' Existence] A critical response by Barry Henaut.
[Paul Maier vs. Tom Harpur] From an interview with Paul Maier.

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