Tom Harpur's Vision Statement

I have just finished listening to a broadcast on CBC, where Tom Harpur was being interviewed on the program Tapestry, hosted by Mary Hynes. during this 1 hour segment, Tom Harpur made the following statement which also now appears on the CBC Tapestry website;

...the real miracle isn't about loaves and fishes or walking on water. It's that the transcendence that lies at the heart of the cosmos - and that radiates through every molecule of being in the universe - lies at our own heart's core.
www.cbc.ca...

This resonated well with my own beliefs. I, like Harpur, have Faith in that the soul exists and that God (Deity) can be only be found within (as stated above) ones own heart.

Here, from his website, is Tom Harpur's Vision Statement;

Vision Statement

Seven Principles of Cosmic Spirituality
1) The entire cosmos is the manifestation of Divine Mind-every molecule, every cell, every creature, every rock, tree, mountain, planet, blazing star, whirling galaxy and universe of galaxies.


2) We are all an integral, interconnected part of the whole cosmos and our own inner world is a holograph of the cosmos within us.

3) One basic datum underlies every religion under the sun, the principle of Incarnation. The Word or Logos, God's self-expression made manifest, has given the light of its divine spark to every mind/soul coming into the world. Christians call this the Christ or "Christ in us." Other faiths have different names or modes of expression for this same inner reality.

4) Every religion whose ethical core is summed up by the word "compassion" or "loving-kindness" to all other creatures without exception has a vision of the truth and is a valid "way" to Transcendence.

5)No one faith or religion-whatever its claims may be, alone has The Truth.

6)True cosmic spirituality is steeped in, flows from, and derives its most powerful analogies and metaphors from the natural world -- from the tiniest bit of dust to the spiraling stars above.

7)The core aim of cosmic spirituality is radical transformation, both personal and societal.

www.tomharpur.com...

Who is Tom Harpur?

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Harpur was educated at the University of Toronto, where he won the Jarvis Scholarship in Greek and Latin, the Maurice Hutton Scholarship in Classics, the Sir William Mulock Scholarship in Classics, and the Gold Medal in Classics, as well as full colours for Rugby. He studied at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar from 1951 to 1954, gaining a Full Blue for ice hockey. Between 1954 and 1956 he studied theology at the Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, where he was a tutor in Greek, winning the prizes in homiletics and Greek. Harpur was 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.

en.wikipedia.org...

What is your personal take on the theology which is being presented?

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Primary detractors of Tom Harpur's ideas (among others);

Christian J P Holding
www.tektonics.org...

Catholic New Times
findarticles.com...

Excellent! That pretty much describes what I have come to understand - through experience.

I've never been a truly devoted member of ANY religion; I was baptized in a Christian church when I was 7, but I've never been a Christian in the popular sense of the word. As soon as I moved out on my own, the only time I ever went into a church was for things such as weddings and funerals.

What I believe to be true, in regard to what Mr. Harpur, you, and I seem to generally agree upon, related to the concept of Christ is that Christ IS the spirit of loving-kindness that binds us, as humans, more and more as ONE. And I have, in the last decade, become focused on what the bible REALLY says - quite a scholastic endeavor, as far as peripheral studies in the areas of ancient linguistics, archeology, and the cultures of the times (Egyptian, Hebrew, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman). In the years before, and also presently, I am still avidly interested in all things from all times and cultures, especially the myriad spiritual paths. My understanding has solidified into a conviction that Christ came to unify us all, regardless and outside of religion and culture, through metaphysical truth.

The bible is full of symbolism that is all-inclusive and extremely metaphysically enlightening, when divorced from both Christianity and the opposite ideation (which is that of trying to DISprove GOD through the superficial contradictions, etc., in the bible).

I haven't seen the movie Zeitgeist yet, but from what I understood, initially, I thought that it was going to demonstrate the underlying unity that I perceive. THEN, I found out more detail and was quite disappointed that what could have been used toward that was really just more singularly-oriented disinformation.

I do believe that Christianity is destined, inexorably, for a literal and total extinction - not Christians but rather the institution and the divisive attitude that it promotes...and perhaps the other Abrahamic religions will also have to restructure or dissolve, too. And my main confidence of this happening is actually because the bible's story culminates with the end of religious tyranny - the 'strong delusion' that is a lie is nothing other than Christianity, itself!

The Eastern religions don't incite the violent imperialism that the 'triune' Abrahamic faiths do, so I don't see them as fading away. In fact, I believe that they have always posed the same 'threat' to Christianity that no doubt Mr. Harpur and other forward-thinking people are increasingly sharing with the interested public, along with books like the DaVinci Code and even the Zeitgeist movie. The idea of us all having a fair shake and equal access is the very antithesis of segregating religious doctrine!

God (who embodies truth) is located in the heart through Christ, So it says in the text.

Jesus manipulated the elements and their bonds. Walked on water, walked through matter, transcended death.

As he says,

Matthew 17:20
He replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

The text describes the unreal made real, the impossible, surpassed.

How little faith we have yes? See yourself in every human being. Treat them as if they are you and you are not yourself. Serve others and you yourself are served.

God is not anyone on earth. Only in Christ he came, perfect. So why do people equate evil men with God. The pope is not God, every single pastor is not God, no man, no woman is God. He stands alone.

Emotion is Science, we know it affects our physcial bodies as well as the mental. States of mind affect the universe. Your state of mind, changes your personal world, but it also changes your input into the void, the real world. Faith in Christ is a total transformation of thought, thus being, and action.

Righteousness affects environments, as does repentance, faith, and their respective opposites.

God is all natural. There is no supernatural.

Some, actually quite a few, of the vision statements resonate well with my own beliefs. What is presented is very similar to some of the Gnostic teachings.

I think most people have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no way the Catholic Church got it 100% right when they put the Bible together. In my eyes, if they ommitted just one word that the Lord spoke, let alone entire gospels, then there is a conspiracy. I feel they only administer half truths and that it's no wonder a child had a vision of them all getting assassinated on a hill in some futuristic event. The cost of not getting it right is going to be high. Very high.

I believe the cosmos are a manifestation of his divine mind and that we are all interconnected. I believe we all have within us a divine spark that just needs a little kindling. Once the spark ignites there is no turning back, for it will never lay dormant again. It is our comforter, it is our baptism of fire. It yields fruit and it brings with it gifts. When I think of the Lord - the first word that comes to my mind is compassion. The fruits that we are given by the Holy Spirit are gentleness, goodness, peace, generosity, joy and faithfulness. By our fruits we are known and hopefully they rub off onto others, and radical transformations occur.

Mr. Harpur seems okay in my eyes. I'm leery to agree with his vision statement number 5, that no faith/religion has the truth. I feel Christ did bring every drop of truth, but some of it has been hidden from us, which is so unfair. Like you Maqua, I feel God can be found within us and he is the most awesome loving truth one can ever hope to know.

Thanks for the good thread.

Mr. Harper's comments on CBC caught my attention also; particularly because I have been thinking about how there is an increasing need for a global common ground in spiritual beliefs. In North Amercia the evolution versus creation debate rages on and I wonder if both sides could find a truth in 'cosmic spirituality'. The future of humans could be open to magnificent possibilitis, if thinking on belief systems shifted from defending differences, to building faith together in a belief system serving all of human kind. When the polar ice caps melt, and global climate systems shift to a new balance point, human endeavours will face new challenges and new questions. Humans preparing to inhabit Mars and other planets will be equipped with a powerful spiritual belief system or a weak one. As unthinkable as planetary inhabitation may be, should we ignore the question of how to best prepare our children for a future that will challenge the human species? What importance will the differences in our belief systems have if we no longer exist?

Originally posted by Myrtales Instinct
I'm leery to agree with his vision statement number 5, that no faith/religion has the truth.

What it says, though, is:

5)No one faith or religion-whatever its claims may be, alone has The Truth.

No ONE faith/religion ALONE has the truth - no monopolies on truth according to denomination, theology, or doctrine.

I agree with you and the bible; Jesus Christ IS the truth - however, it just doesn't seem, to me, that he came to start a new religion (Christianity).

The truth of Christ applies to ALL men: love and spiritual unity.

reply to post by queenannie38


I agree, I believe Christ brought with him, the way, not a way.

I have read quite a number of his books. One of which I posted up discussing The Pagan Christ when I was NJE777. I think what he offers up is a contemporary reasoning of Christianity. I don't feel it is all concrete but his books definitely make you think.