Don Cupitt and Sea of Faith Archive

Biographical History

Don Cupitt was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England, in 1934. He was educated at Charterhouse, Trinity Hall Cambridge, and Westcott House Cambridge, where he studied Natural Science, Theology, and the Philosophy of Religion.

He became an ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1959 and a priest in 1960. He was a curate in the North of England and Vice-Principal of Westcott House before, in 1965, becoming Dean at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. From 1968 until his retirement in 1996 he taught philosophy of religion at the college.

He stopped officiating at public worship in the 1990s and has not been a communicant member of the church since 2008.

Cupitt is best known for his espousal of a ‘non-realist’ understanding of the nature of God. Beginning with his book Taking Leave of God, first published in 1980, Cupitt argued that it is impossible to conceive of an objective, divine Being who exists independent of human language and representation. Instead, we must redirect our religious energies to building up an emergent humanitarian ethic, a this-worldly ‘Kingdom Theology’ embodied in the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. In 1987 Cupitt stated: ‘If I could summarize the view I have come to in one sentence, it might go something like this: all the worlds that human beings have inhabited are now understood to be human social constructions; Christian faith is a corporate commitment to attempt to bring into being the new world proclaimed by the earthly Jesus and symbolized by the exalted Jesus Christ’ (Discussion with J.A.T. Robinson in Where Three Ways Meet, edited by Eric James, SCM, 1987, p. 31).

In 1984, Cupitt collaborated with the award-winning TV producer Peter Armstrong on a six-part series entitled The Sea of Faith, which took its title from the Victorian writer Matthew Arnold’s poem Dover Beach about the loss of faith in the face of modern movements such as historical Biblical criticism and Darwinian evolution: ‘The Sea of Faith | Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore | Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled. | But now I only hear | Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar’.

The Sea of Faith series examined the challenges to traditional belief of a range of radical thinkers, such as Pascal, Marx, Wittgenstein, Freud, and Nietzsche, who argued that rather than representing an objective, all-powerful and supernatural reality, the idea of ‘God’ was an entirely human construction. Cupitt concluded, however, that in place of a belief in a metaphysical God who intervenes in human history, we can embrace a religious ethic that serves as a positive and humanitarian vision for the world.

In subsequent works, Cupitt refined his thinking, attracting many new followers inspired by his presentation of radical theologies beyond a realist God, many of whom founded the Sea of Faith Network. Cupitt has embraced Buddhist and postmodern thought, but insists that many of the dimensions of traditional religious practice – in his case, as an ordained priest in the Church of England – still remain vital and meaningful.

His later work considers how religious devotion continues in the words and phrases of everyday speech (After All, 2012). He has also advocated for the adoption of a ‘solar ethic’ as a redemptive and reparative outpouring of human moral energy into the world (Theology’s Strange Return, 2010; Ethics in the Last Days of Humanity, 2016).

Scope and Content

The archive contains Don Cupitt’s personal records, as well as records relating to the Sea of Faith TV series and network.

His personal records consist of correspondence, newspaper cuttings, journal articles, and many visual, documentary and audio materials from his numerous public lectures, interviews, and media appearances from the 1970s onwards.

The records from the Sea of Faith TV series and network have yet to be processed, however, they contain correspondence relating to the original 1984 BBC TV series, plus its subsequent repeat broadcast in 1986, and offer a measure of the public reaction to the programmes and provides a unique insight into the diverse and changing attitudes towards religion in the last quarter of the twentieth century.  They also contain various theses and dissertations on Cupitt’s thought, as well as collected materials from the SoF Network in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.

Physical Description and Extent

The archive contains seventy boxes spanning 9.28 linear metres, and contains a mixture of published books, paper records, and two boxes of audiovisual materials.

Provenance

The archive was deposited at Gladstone’s Library by Don Cupitt in 2011.

Arrangement

The archive is arranged in three series. The first series contains the published and unpublished work of Don Cupitt as well as published works owned by Don Cupitt that were part of his working library. These are arranged in chronological order. The second contains materials relating to the Sea of Faith TV series. This mainly includes letters received by Cupitt in response to the series between 1984 and 1987. The third series contains records related to the Sea of Faith Network, founded in 1984. This material has not yet been processed.

Originally, the archive also contained Don Cupitt's personal library, however, in 2022 this became a separate special collection.

Access and Finding Aid

The series containing Don Cupitt’s personal records has not been catalogued but an inventory has been created which is available upon request.

The majority of Don Cupitt’s personal records can be viewed upon arrangement by submitting a Request to Read Restricted Archival Items Form to [email protected] at least 14 days in advance of your visit.

As this is a contemporary archive, some items such as Don Cupitt's correspondence are 'Closed Access' under GDPR. To request to view this material, you must fill out an Application to Read Closed Access Archival Items Form and submit this to [email protected] at least 21 days before your intended visit.

The series containing records from the Sea of Faith TV programme and network is still being processed and so it is not available to be viewed. Once it has been processed some items will be ‘Closed Access’ as this is a contemporary archive and some material is subject to GDPR.

Reprographics

All reprographics queries should be directed to [email protected]. Information about Gladstone’s Library’s reprographics services can be found here.

Related Collections

Gladstone's Library also holds a special collection containing Don Cupitt's personal library. This can be found by searching ‘DC’ in MainCAT.

There are several books by Don Cupitt in Gladstone’s Library’s Main Collection in the Theology Room. These can be found by searching MainCAT.

Correspondence between Don Cupitt and James Parkes is held by University of Southampton Library.

Additional Information

Don Cupitt’s official website can be found here.

The Sea of Faith Network webpages can be found here.