This strand explores Don Cupitt's contribution to academic debates about non-realism, language and the nature of God, including the impact of such ideas on the study of religion, belief and non-belief. Key ideas about the existence and nature of God will be explored, which may be of particular interest to those involved in Religious Education in schools and universities.
This theme investigates the background to the 1984 BBC TV series, The Sea of Faith and its subsequent public reaction. It aims to explore what the series can tell us about representations of religion and religious debate within the media. It will also trace how media coverage of questions of belief and non-belief has adapted to reflect changing patterns of religious belief, understanding and affiliation in UK society over the past 40 years.
This thread will engage with scholarship that continues the trajectory of Cupitt's intellectual legacy, enhancing understanding of his key ideas and the development of his thinking. It will stimulate debate about the future prospects for non-realist philosophy and theological radicalism and will be of particular interest to those studying and researching forms of contemporary Christian theology.
This strand will locate Cupitt's work and related streams of non-realist theology in the broader intellectual climate of his day. It will consider the extent to which Cupitt harnessed an already existing popular and radical public mood or whether he shaped an entirely new religious landscape through his ideas and media work.