County group invites Tom Harpur to launch spiritual movement of renewal
Administrator | Nov 30, 2011 | Comments 2
http://www.tomharpur.com/
We are approaching the frenzied season when, together with the madness, there are some hopes for a brighter year ahead. One of these is the coming of Tom Harpur to Picton next Spring. He will share his vision for “Re-Creating Christianity” at the Regent Theatre on Sunday, May 6th in the afternoon.
A former Anglican minister, Professor of New Testament and Greek at U of T’s Wycliffe College, and well-respected journalist with the Toronto Star, Tom Harpur is the author of The Pagan Christ, Water Into Wine, and most recently, Born Again. Following the lead of Alvin Boyd Kuhn in the 1960s, Harpur has strongly criticized the reading the Christian bible as history and interpreting its passages literally. He holds highly controversial positions concerning the central orthodox doctrines of the Church.
A grassroots group, co-chaired by Ken Koyama and Jim McPherson, has successfully persuaded Tom Harpur to come to Picton to launch a spiritual movement of renewal in Eastern Ontario. Preparations are now underway to fill The Regent Theatre, and to encourage local congregations to embrace this initiative. The group envisions an open spiritual society that accepts everyone as equals who share the one single mystery called the Divine, our God.
Perhaps marked by the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, the Christian church has strayed into increasingly untenable territory. Its houses of worship are grossly underused. Many are being converted for condos and other-uses. Its congregations are dying off and have a dark future if a rebirth does not happen soon.
Tom Harpur was once a conservative, dedicated Christian who believed in the simple messages of Jesus. He and many prominent theologians now believe that the Church’s problem is rooted in its historic and literal interpretation of the Bible and the firm belief that Jesus is literally the only begotten son of God. With Harpur’s present and fresh approach, we discover Christianity in a new and awakened light. Borders dissolve and we emerge with the Communion of Avatars of all the faiths. The Buddhist Pali Canon, the Bagavad Gita, Jewish Torah, Lao Tse and New Testament all lead toward the One Mystery. With Tom Harpur we see for the first time a glimpse of the Universal Divine that spoke, and still speaks to humankind everywhere. It matters little which avenue we select – church, temple or mosque. They provide the same message: love and compassion for all and the Mystery residing securely within us. The borders are no more and we have “religion without borders.”
In the current darkening universe where armies clash without concern, where protest groups grow in major centres, where neighbourly love, care and compassion are frequently forgotten and where man’s greed and ego have no bounds, Eastern Ontario’s silent majority will have an opportunity on May 6th at the Regent to discover the transforming vision of Tom Harpur for “Re-Creating Christianity”.
-Ken Koyama and Jim McPherson
Picton and Milford
Filed Under: Letters and Opinion
Anything’s possible, and if there was some sort of new movement in the spiritual scene, it would be a welcome change from the usual scenes out there.
I’m interested in reading his books, if nothing else, to learn new perspectives and ideas. Reminds me of Eckhart Tolle.
Tom Harpur is an interesting and intelligent man. His talk would certainly be worth hearing. However, I doubt that he sees himself as starting any kind of movement. And I suspect that he would find that sort of notion grandiose.
Let’s avoid the hyperbole.