Tom Harpur, a theologian and former Star religion editor who journeyed on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem, met Mother Teresa and provided spiritual guidance to Torontonians through his weekly columns, died this week at 87.

Born to an evangelical family in Toronto’s east end in 1929, Harpur’s upbringing led him to embark on a life of religion. After attending Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, Harpur studied theology at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College.

He became a priest at St. Margaret in-the-Pines Anglican Church in Scarborough in 1957 and served there for seven years before leaving to teach theology at the University of Toronto.

Harpur joined the Star as religion editor in 1971, where he met his future wife, Susan, who worked in the Star’s legal department. They were married in 1980.

“He was brilliant, sensitive and just had a wonderful sense of humour,” Susan said. “His education had given him such a broad exposure to so many things in the humanities, he had such a breadth of knowledge. And, of course, a quote or quip for every occasion.”

As the Star’s religion editor, Harpur travelled to more than 20 countries, meeting many prominent religious figures — including Mother Teresa (over Christmas) and the Dalai Lama (twice) — as well as embarking on many unique adventures.

In 1976, Harpur made the 161-kilometre trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the first journalist to do so, according to an Israeli official who warned him about flash floods, landmines and terrorist guerrillas. The journey did not get off to a great start.

“Using a donkey to carry part of our gear was not our idea and, in fact, it turned out to be a not very good idea for I had to ‘fire’ it after only one day’s trek,” Harpur wrote of the first day’s adventure.

Harpur’s education combined with a career in journalism, Susan said, helped evolve his views beyond his evangelical upbringing.

“I feel a deep compassion and pastoral concern . . . for the untold thousands right now who want to express the new ways in which they are experiencing God today,” he wrote in 2007. “What is needed, I believe, is not more ‘renewal.’ . . . The time has come for a radical rebirth of the Church.”

Harpur may be best known for his 2004 book, The Pagan Christ, which topped the Star’s bestseller list for original non-fiction that year. He wrote it at the age of 75.

In the book, Harpur digs deep into the origins of Christianity, and argues that there is no evidence that historical Jesus existed. In fact, he said the story of Jesus was largely based on an Egyptian man-god and was simply an allegorical tale, meant to act as a guidepost for those striving to be better people. The book was met with controversy among some Christians, and while some may have doubted his devotion, it merely strengthened his faith.

“He was a leading voice in the religious field and also in the broader spiritual world, in helping people grow in their lives,” Susan said. “He was very much hoping that Christianity could be born again, but it’s very difficult within the established church. That would have been his hope and goal.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

In an interview with the Star in 2011, speaking about his memoir Born Again, Harpur said he had never had any experiences with God, but was “conscious all my life looking at it.”

“It would be nice to have a great mystical experience like Paul, but I guess I have my large feet too firmly planted on the earth,” he said. “I’m not really a religious guy, you know.”