Tom Harpur facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tom Harpur
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| Born |
Thomas William Harpur
April 14, 1929 |
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| Died | January 2, 2017 (aged 87) Lion's Head, Ontario, Canada
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| Known for | Toronto Star religion editor | ||||||
| Spouse(s) |
Susan
(m. 1980) |
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Notable work
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The Pagan Christ (2004) | ||||||
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| Institutions | Wycliffe College, Toronto | ||||||
Thomas William Harpur (1929–2017), known as Tom Harpur, was a Canadian writer, journalist, and religious expert. He was also an Anglican priest. Tom Harpur wrote many books and was known for his ideas about religion. One of his main ideas was the Christ myth theory. This idea suggests that Jesus might be a story or a myth, not a real person. He wrote famous books like The Pagan Christ and Life after Death.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Tom Harpur was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on April 14, 1929. His family was evangelical, which means they had strong Christian beliefs. He was a very good student from a young age.
University Studies and Awards
In 1951, Tom Harpur earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of Toronto. He won several important awards for his studies in Greek and Latin. These awards showed how talented he was in ancient languages.
He then went to Oriel College, Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar. This is a special scholarship that allows students to study at Oxford University. There, he studied "greats," which means he read ancient history books in their original languages. He graduated from Oxford in 1954.
Theology and Postgraduate Work
From 1954 to 1956, Harpur studied theology at Wycliffe College in Toronto. Theology is the study of religious faith and practice. He also taught Greek there. He won awards for his public speaking (called homiletics) and for his Greek studies. Later, he returned to Oxford to study the writings of early Christian leaders.
Career Paths
Tom Harpur had a diverse career, working as a priest, a university professor, and a journalist.
Serving as a Priest
In 1956, Tom Harpur became a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. He worked in churches in Toronto from 1956 to 1964. During this time, he also taught ancient philosophy part-time at Wycliffe College.
Teaching at Universities
From 1964 to 1971, Harpur was a professor at Wycliffe College. He taught about the New Testament and New Testament Greek. The New Testament is a part of the Christian Bible. Later, he also taught about mass media and theology at the Toronto School of Theology.
Working as a Journalist
Tom Harpur worked for the Toronto Star newspaper for 30 years. For 12 of those years, he was the newspaper's religion editor. He met his wife, Susan, at the Star and they married in 1980. Even after leaving his editor role, he continued to write a regular column about religious and ethical topics.
Harpur also wrote many books on religion. Ten of his books became bestsellers in Canada. Two of his books were even made into TV series for VisionTV. He had his own radio show called Harpur's Heaven and Hell. He was also a frequent guest on Canadian TV and radio networks, like the CBC, to talk about religious news. In his later years, he wrote columns for other newspapers too.
Notable Works and Recognition
In 1996, his bestselling book Life After Death was made into a ten-episode TV series. Harpur himself hosted the show. His 2004 book, The Pagan Christ, was named the top non-fiction bestseller of the year by major Canadian newspapers.
Awards and Honors
Tom Harpur received several awards for his work. He was a Fellow of the American Religious Public Relations Council. In 1976, he won a Silver Medal for Outstanding Journalism from the State of Israel. His biography is included in important "Who's Who" books.
In 2008, a documentary based on his book The Pagan Christ won two major film awards. These were the Platinum Remi Award and the Gold Camera Award. He was also a member of the Canadian Association of Rhodes Scholars and the Writers' Union.
The Pagan Christ Book
Tom Harpur's 2004 book, The Pagan Christ, explored a controversial idea. He suggested that the stories in the Christian gospels are similar to older myths from pagan religions. Pagan religions are ancient belief systems that existed before Christianity.
Harpur pointed out similarities between the stories of Jesus and figures like Horus, Mithras, and Buddha. He believed that the early Christian church might have created the idea of a real, historical Jesus. He thought they might have hidden evidence that these stories were symbolic. Harpur felt that seeing the scriptures as symbolic stories, rather than strict history, helped him connect more deeply with the spirit of Christ.
The book received a lot of discussion and some criticism. Another book was even written to respond to his ideas. In 2007, Harpur published a follow-up book called Water into Wine.
Later Life and Death
Tom Harpur passed away in Lion's Head, Ontario, Canada, on January 2, 2017. He was 87 years old.
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Tom Harpur
