Water Into Wine. Tom Harpur

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      Tom Harpur, former 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 tenpart series based on his bestselling book of the same name.

       Water into Wine

      ALSO BY TOM HARPUR

       Living Waters

       The Pagan Christ

       The Spirituality of Wine

       Harpur’s Heaven and Hell

       For Christ’s Sake

       Always on Sunday

       Life After Death

       God Help Us

       The Uncommon Touch

       Would You Believe?

       Prayer: The Hidden Fire

       Finding the Still Point

      TOM HARPUR

      WATER

       INTO

       WINE

      An Empowering Vision

      of the Gospels

      Thomas Allen Publishers

       Toronto

      Copyright © 2007 by Tom Harpur

      First paperback edition copyright © by Tom Harpur 2008

      All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems – without the prior written permission of the publisher, or in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

       Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Harpur, Tom

       Water into wine : an empowering vision of the Gospels / Tom Harpur.

      Includes bibliographical references.

      ISBN 978-0-88762-277-9 (bound).

      ISBN 978-0-88762-364-6 (pbk).

      1. Bible. N.T. Gospels—Criticism, interpretation, etc.

      2. Jesus Christ—Parables 3. Jesus Christ—Miracles I. Title.

      BS2555.52.H28 2007 226'.06 C2006-906995-6

      Editor: Patrick Crean

      Cover image: istockphoto/Olympus

      The excerpts from Egyptian Light and Hebrew Fire in Appendix C are by permission of the author, Karl W. Luckert, Ph. D.

      Published by Thomas Allen Publishers,

      a division of Thomas Allen & Son Limited,

      145 Front Street East, Suite 209,

      Toronto, Ontario M5A 1E3 Canada

       www.thomas-allen.com

      The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council for its publishing program.

      We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $20.0 million in writing and publishing throughout Canada.

      We acknowledge the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative.

      We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.

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      Printed and bound in Canada

       Dedicated to Joan and Bud whose loving union blessed me with the priceless gift of Susan.

       If they say to you, “Where have you come from?” Say to them, “We have come from the light, From the place where the light came into being by itself . . .”

      – THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, Saying #50

       Contents

Acknowledgment

1 Our Journey Begins

2 The Myth and You

3 The Virgin Birth and Jesus’ Childhood

4 Transformative Stages in the Jesus Story

      5 Miracles of Wholeness

      6 Nature Miracles

      7 The Sermon on the Mount

      8 The Parables

      9 Palm Sunday

      10 The Passion

      11 Entering into Glory

      12 Reaching for Transcendence

       Appendix A: Differences between John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels

       Appendix B: Mystic Parallels between the Gospels and the Vedic Scriptures

       Appendix C: The Egyptian Theological and Philosophical Roots of Christianity

       Glossary

       Notes

       Bibliography

Acknowledgment

      I owe a debt of gratitude to my publisher and editor, Patrick Crean. His constant enthusiasm and commitment to the message of this book and his sensitive awareness of its potential to make a vital difference were a tremendous asset. Working with you, Patrick, was entirely a pleasure from start to finish.

      Tom Harpur

      Spring, 2007

       Water into Wine

1 OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

       The problem for and the function of religion