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Born Again: My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom
The search for meaning in our time of change and upheaval continues unabated. Tom Harpur, the bestselling author of The Pagan Christ and Water Into Wine, has been at the forefront of this modern challenge to humankind's spiritual identity. His radical and ground-breaking book The Pagan Christ touched the lives of thousands of seekers.
With Born Again: My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom he tells us the story of his own search and the result is a compelling spiritual odyssey, the story of one man's escape from the narrow grip of religious fundamentalism.
Born into an Irish immigrant family in Toronto, Tom Harpur was groomed for the ministry by his father from an early age. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, then returned to Canada and enrolled in Wycliffe College, the bastion of Anglican evangelicalism. Ordained to the ministry, Tom Harpur served for a number of years in his own parish before seeking a wider ministry in the world of mass media.
In 1971, Tom Harpur joined the Toronto Star as the religion editor and over a number of years reported on and met many important figures from Pope John Paul and Mother Teresa to the Dali Lama, Jean Vanier, and Billy Graham. Here are fascinating anecdotes about these influential people and compelling accounts of the author's travels around the globe.
Perhaps Tom Harpur's most intimate book, Born Again is a important work of spiritual insight, revelation and renewal.
With Born Again: My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom he tells us the story of his own search and the result is a compelling spiritual odyssey, the story of one man's escape from the narrow grip of religious fundamentalism.
Born into an Irish immigrant family in Toronto, Tom Harpur was groomed for the ministry by his father from an early age. He won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, then returned to Canada and enrolled in Wycliffe College, the bastion of Anglican evangelicalism. Ordained to the ministry, Tom Harpur served for a number of years in his own parish before seeking a wider ministry in the world of mass media.
In 1971, Tom Harpur joined the Toronto Star as the religion editor and over a number of years reported on and met many important figures from Pope John Paul and Mother Teresa to the Dali Lama, Jean Vanier, and Billy Graham. Here are fascinating anecdotes about these influential people and compelling accounts of the author's travels around the globe.
Perhaps Tom Harpur's most intimate book, Born Again is a important work of spiritual insight, revelation and renewal.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 12, 2011
6 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Tom Harpur
34 books21 followersTom Harpur, columnist for the Toronto Star, Rhodes scholar, former Anglican priest, and professor of Greek and the New Testament, is an internationally renowned writer on religious and ethical issues. He is the author of ten bestselling books, including For Christ’s Sake and The Pagan Christ. He has hosted numerous radio and television programs, including Life After Death, a ten-part series based on his bestselling book of the same name.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 15, 2017
You know that game about who would you like to go to a dinner party with, alive or dead? I think Tom Harpur has just jumped to the top of my list.
I've only read one book by Tom Harpur in the past; his best seller, The Pagan Christ, since the subject matter intrigued me. After reading Born Again, I definitely will have to read more of his work.
Harpur is a very interesting person. A Canadian of Irish descent (although Protestant instead of Catholic), he group up with deeply devout parents. His father had his life planned out for him -- religious studies, become a priest, get a doctorate in theology, become a professor. At first, Harpur followed his path, but eventually (primarily after his father's death), he started to deviate. He lost his belief in the bible as historical fact (while still embracing it as myth with great lessons to teach). His time as a Rhodes Scholar (like other accomplished people, including Bill Clinton) clearly led him to the tools to examine church teachings, rather than just accepting it without questioning.
He eventually moved from ministry to journalism, which let him travel the world and learn about other faiths through his reporting as a religious journalist. His first marriage dissolved, and then he married his second wife. Eventually he was pointed at the writings of Alvin Boyd Kuhn (who I will have to look into), which headed him down the road to writing The Pagan Christ, the controversial best seller that goes into the theory that Christ was a myth, adapted from the myths of other civilisations, and not a historical person that can be verified.
Finally, he covers the a bit of the aftermath of that book. Needless to say, there was a lot of aftermath, since a large part of the Christian faith is invested in the concept of Jesus as an actual person, while he argues that Jesus is a myth, and no less valuable for it.
The progression from devout christian following his father's plan for him through to religious rebel without ever really losing his faith (it just evolves) was fascinating, and told in a conversational tone that draws you in. I will admit to being well disposed towards his arguments, so I'm not sure what one of those Christ as history people would think of this book, but even if I completely disagreed with him, I think I would still find him a fascinating person.
Unfortunately, Tom Harpur died earlier this year (2017) at the age of 87, so other than that mythical dinner party, I won't ever get the chance to meet him in person.
A pity.
I've only read one book by Tom Harpur in the past; his best seller, The Pagan Christ, since the subject matter intrigued me. After reading Born Again, I definitely will have to read more of his work.
Harpur is a very interesting person. A Canadian of Irish descent (although Protestant instead of Catholic), he group up with deeply devout parents. His father had his life planned out for him -- religious studies, become a priest, get a doctorate in theology, become a professor. At first, Harpur followed his path, but eventually (primarily after his father's death), he started to deviate. He lost his belief in the bible as historical fact (while still embracing it as myth with great lessons to teach). His time as a Rhodes Scholar (like other accomplished people, including Bill Clinton) clearly led him to the tools to examine church teachings, rather than just accepting it without questioning.
He eventually moved from ministry to journalism, which let him travel the world and learn about other faiths through his reporting as a religious journalist. His first marriage dissolved, and then he married his second wife. Eventually he was pointed at the writings of Alvin Boyd Kuhn (who I will have to look into), which headed him down the road to writing The Pagan Christ, the controversial best seller that goes into the theory that Christ was a myth, adapted from the myths of other civilisations, and not a historical person that can be verified.
Finally, he covers the a bit of the aftermath of that book. Needless to say, there was a lot of aftermath, since a large part of the Christian faith is invested in the concept of Jesus as an actual person, while he argues that Jesus is a myth, and no less valuable for it.
The progression from devout christian following his father's plan for him through to religious rebel without ever really losing his faith (it just evolves) was fascinating, and told in a conversational tone that draws you in. I will admit to being well disposed towards his arguments, so I'm not sure what one of those Christ as history people would think of this book, but even if I completely disagreed with him, I think I would still find him a fascinating person.
Unfortunately, Tom Harpur died earlier this year (2017) at the age of 87, so other than that mythical dinner party, I won't ever get the chance to meet him in person.
A pity.
September 25, 2015
Tom Harpur, a Rhodes Scholar, one time pastor, many years a journalist and religion editor for the 'Toronto Star' newspaper, writes about his research on many Biblical themes, and questions the existence of a historical Jesus. He is not afraid of controversy.
An interesting and prolific writer, Harpur tells his life story growing up in Toronto, his dedicated work with the Aboriginal people in Canada's north, when just a youth, his experiences years later as a journalist reporting from the Vatican when three Popes were changing within a month, and his views on the long-term Pope, John Paul II. So much more in this book! Very readable, although intellectual.
Harpur seeks his own 'quest for truth' which evolves over the years. He explains the nature of change with a quotation of Muhammad Ali: "The person who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."
You go on this journey and adventure with him. I really enjoyed it. And I like that he sounds positive, is spiritual, and wrote this book when already over the age of eighty!
An interesting and prolific writer, Harpur tells his life story growing up in Toronto, his dedicated work with the Aboriginal people in Canada's north, when just a youth, his experiences years later as a journalist reporting from the Vatican when three Popes were changing within a month, and his views on the long-term Pope, John Paul II. So much more in this book! Very readable, although intellectual.
Harpur seeks his own 'quest for truth' which evolves over the years. He explains the nature of change with a quotation of Muhammad Ali: "The person who views the world at fifty the same as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."
You go on this journey and adventure with him. I really enjoyed it. And I like that he sounds positive, is spiritual, and wrote this book when already over the age of eighty!
January 3, 2020
Tom Harpur has changed my life. His view of the bible and gospels as a collection of myths has transformed my perspective of what it means to believe, and I can actually believe in something divine now. I only wish I would have been able to meet him.
This book is more like a biography, which examines Tom's life from a boy to a student studying in Oxford, to a journalist at the Star, and finally to an author, undergoing transformations along the way in his own views and beliefs.
In the end, he talks a little more about the cosmic faith he has endorsed. It's too bad that he never got the chance to write another book to elaborate about it more. I'm trying to undergo my own research and transformation to find my own faith. This book was an important stepping stone in that pursuit.
This book is more like a biography, which examines Tom's life from a boy to a student studying in Oxford, to a journalist at the Star, and finally to an author, undergoing transformations along the way in his own views and beliefs.
In the end, he talks a little more about the cosmic faith he has endorsed. It's too bad that he never got the chance to write another book to elaborate about it more. I'm trying to undergo my own research and transformation to find my own faith. This book was an important stepping stone in that pursuit.
September 1, 2011
Would most interest those who had read his newspaper columns over the years or who had followed a similar path from fundamentalism to a broader Christian perspective.
March 19, 2017
Loved this book! It tells of his life, and how he developed his thinking over the years in Harpur's usual elegant writing style. What a life he led and places he experienced.
December 15, 2016
Great book!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews