Don Cupitt (born 22 May 1934) is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He has been an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest and a lecturer in the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and commentator. He has been described as a "radical theologian", noted for his ideas about "non-realist"

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

Career

Cupitt was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

and educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, and

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activity is training people for ...

. He studied, successively, natural sciences, theology and the philosophy of religion. In 1959 he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, becoming a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1960. After short periods as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in the North of England, and as vice-principal of Westcott House, Cupitt was elected to a Fellowship and appointed

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

late in 1965. Since then he has remained at the college. In 1968 he was appointed to a university teaching post in philosophy of religion, a position in which he continued until his retirement for health reasons in 1996. At that time he proceeded to a life

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

ship at Emmanuel College, which remains his base today. In the early 1990s he stopped officiating at public worship and in 2008 he ceased to be a communicant member of the church. Although he has been a priest, he is better known as a writer, broadcaster and populariser of innovative theological ideas. He has written 40 books—which have been translated into Dutch, Persian, Polish, Korean, Portuguese, Danish, German and Chinese—as well as chapters in more than 30 multi-authored volumes. Cupitt came to the British public's attention in 1984 with his

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

series '' The Sea of Faith'', in which

orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Christian beliefs were challenged. The series took its title from

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the celebrated headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, lite ...

's poem ''

Dover Beach "Dover Beach" is a lyric poem by the English poet Matthew Arnold. It was first published in 1867 in the collection ''New Poems''; however, surviving notes indicate its composition may have begun as early as 1849. The most likely date is 1851.Al ...

'', which reflected on the decline of faith. Cupitt is currently a key figure in the Sea of Faith Network, a group of spiritual "explorers" (based in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia) who share Cupitt's concerns. Prompted by the series,

Giles Fraser Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964) In his early books such as ''Taking Leave of God'' and ''The Sea of Faith'' Cupitt talks of God alone as non-real, but by the end of the 1980s he moved into

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

, describing his position as empty radical humanism: that is, there is nothing but our language, our world, and the meanings, truths and interpretations that we have generated. Everything is non-real, including God. In his writings Cupitt sometimes describes himself as

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

non-realist, by which he means that he follows certain spiritual practices and attempts to live by ethical standards traditionally associated with Christianity but without believing in the actual existence of the underlying metaphysical entities (such as "

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

" and "

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

"). He calls this way of being a non-realist Christian "solar living".

Quotations

Cupitt has an entry in the 8th edition of ''

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations ''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'', first published by the Oxford University Press in 1941, is an 1,100-page book listing short quotations that are common in English language and culture. The 8th edition was published for print and online ...

'': "Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity."''The Independent'' 19 December 1996

Books

(Partial list) *''Crisis of Moral Authority: The Dethronement of Christianity'', Lutterworth Press, 1972, *''Who was Jesus?'' (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1977). With Peter Armstrong. *''The Debate About Christ.'' SCM Press, 1979 *''Taking Leave of God'', SCM Press, 1980, 2001 edition: *''The Sea of Faith'', BBC Books, 1984, Cambridge University Press 1988 edition: *''The Long-Legged Fly: A Theology of Language and Desire'', SCM Press, 1987 *''The Time Being'', SCM Press, 1992, *''After All: Religion Without Alienation'', SCM Press, 1994, *''After God: The Future of Religion'', Basic Books, 1997, *''Mysticism After Modernity'', Blackwell Publishers, 1998, *''The Religion of Being'', SCM Press, 1998, *''The New Religion of Life in Everyday Speech'', SCM Press, 1999, *''Reforming Christianity'', Polebridge Press, 2001, *''Emptiness & Brightness'', Polebridge Press. 2001, *''Is Nothing Sacred?: The Non-Realist Philosophy of Religion'' (selected essays), Fordham University Press, 2003, *''The Way To Happiness: A Theory of Religion'', Polebridge Press, 2005, *''The Old Creed and the New'', SCM Press, 2006, *''Radical Theology'', Polebridge Press, 2006: *''Impossible Loves'', Polebridge Press, 2007, *''Above Us Only Sky'', Polebridge Press, 2008, *''The Meaning of the West'', SCM Press, 2008, *''Jesus and Philosophy'', SCM Press, 2009, In Chapter 13 of his book ''After God:The Future of Religion'', Cupitt documents how the gradual disintegration of religious belief and supernatural views of the world has led to the growth of naturalism. For Cupitt, the abandonment of religion has also been aided by technological advances and the growing number of sources of authority. He goes on to argue that many people still hold on to their religious beliefs purely out of 'ethnic loyalty', and that, despite people's best efforts, religion will continue to liquidate.

Career

Quotations

Books

See also

References

Further reading