College News

It is with great sadness that we announce that the Reverend Don Cupitt, Life Fellow of Emmanuel, died on 18 January in Addenbrooke’s Hospital after a short illness. 

Don Cupitt was born in 1934 in Lancashire, England, and educated at Charterhouse, Trinity Hall Cambridge and Westcott House Cambridge. He studied, successively, Natural Sciences, Theology and the Philosophy of Religion. In 1959 he was ordained deacon in the Church of England, becoming a priest in 1960. 

After a short period as a curate in the North of England, and as Vice-Principal of Westcott House, Cupitt was elected to a Fellowship and took up office as Dean of Emmanuel College in 1966. He served as Proctor (Senior) 1967-68. In 1968 he was appointed to a University Assistant Lectureship in the Philosophy of Religion and became a University Lecturer in 1973. He resigned as Dean in 1992 and stopped officiating at public worship around the same time. Four years later he retired from the University, becoming a Life Fellow of Emmanuel.  

Don Cupitt is best known for his radical interventions in contemporary theological debates, which attracted both a devoted following and controversy. His global influence on thinking about theology, religion and ‘non-realist’ philosophy has been immense and he is rightly regarded as a key theorist of the postmodern age, embracing a radical philosophical non-realism in every field: every human construction of religion, knowledge and culture is as equally untrue as it is true. He first provoked hostile notice through his participation in the symposium The Myth of God Incarnate (1977), and then became known for his media work, especially the three BBC television projects Open to Question (1973), Who was Jesus? (1977), and the acclaimed Sea of Faith series (1984), recently re-aired on BBC4. The publication of Taking Leave of God (1980) confirmed him as a non-realist and ‘the most radical theologian in the world’ in the eyes of the press. The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Robert Runcie, the Bishop of Ely, Peter Walker, and the Master of Emmanuel, Derek Brewer, defended his right to put forward his ideas.  

Don Cupitt’s thinking continued to develop through a long line of further publications, including The New Religion of Life in Everyday Speech (1999), Philosophy’s Own Religion (2000), What is a Story? (2012), moving increasingly towards a new ethical vision defined by ‘solarity’ in Solar Ethics (1995) and Ethics in the Last Days of Humanity (2015). His thinking gained wide currency through the formation of the international Sea of Faith Network (https://www.sofn.uk). His legacy survives not only through his published works but also in the Sea of Faith archive at Gladstone’s Library, Hawarden (https://doncupitt.chi.ac.uk/sea-of-faith-archive/), and in the influence he has had on subsequent generations of theologians, many of whom were his students. This wide influence was recognised in an international conference to mark the 40th anniversary of the Sea of Faith series at Emmanuel College in July 2024, and in a special feature of the Church Times (28 June 2024). 

Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Susan, and children and grandchildren as they come to terms with his death. 

A book of condolence will be available in the Chapel. If you can't sign the book in person, you can leave a message of remembrance online, to be included with the physical book. 

An event to celebrate the life of The Reverend Don Cupitt was held in the Chapel at Emmanuel College on Friday 14 February at 11am, followed by a private interment. To allow as many as possible to participate, the service was also streamed live online.

A recording of the service may be viewed here.

The Order of Service can be viewed here.

• View a recording of the service

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