Obituaries

Thomas was born in Toronto, Canada in 1929 to an evangelical family. He was an author, broadcaster, columnist and theologian, and graduated from Oxford in 1954. Afterwards he studied theology and was a tutor in Greek at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. Thomas also became a priest at St Margaret in-the-Pines Anglican Church in Scarborough, 1957, for seven years and then left to teach Theology at Toronto University. In 1971, he became the religion editor at the Toronto Star and undertook extensive travelling to 20 countries. During this time he met prominent religious figures Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. He was also the first journalist to do a 161km trek from Nazareth to Bethlehem despite the risks of floods and guerrilla terrorists. He is known for advocating the Christ myth theory – the idea that Jesus did not historically exist but is an allegorical character to help people live better lives. Thomas authored a number of books including For Christ’s Sake (1993) and The Pagan Christ (2004). Furthermore, he had his own radio show, Harpur’s Heaven and Hell and wrote articles for the Postmedia network and a column for the Sun Media.

Professor William Russell Hardin, studied mathematics and physics at the University of Texas. In 1964, he studied mathematics at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and in 1971 he received his PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hardin was well known for his ground breaking work in political science, moral and social theory, and public policy, as his interdisciplinary perspective allowed him to integrate insights from diverse fields to shed light on the limitations of morality, politics, and knowledge. He spent two decades at New York University, where he came in 1993 to rebuild the department of politics, followed a nearly fifteen year career at the University of Chicago, where he played the key role in establishing and heading the School of Public Policy. At Chicago, he also served as Editor of Ethics, guiding the Journal with a passionate commitment to rigorous interdisciplinary work and his cultivation of free debate among diverse views.

The prolific scholar and author, admired teacher, beloved husband and father, died peacefully in hospice at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, February 24, 2017. Contributions can be made to the American Civil Liberties Union.