St Mary’s, Highley

Last month the news was announced of the death of the Rev. Don Cupitt. He came to fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then he was the BBC's favourite theologian; the high-point was a TV series he presented called "The Sea of Faith" in 1984. This was the period I was a student at Cambridge University; Don Cupitt was a lecturer in theology at Cambridge, Dean of Emmanuel College there and as a friend of mine recently put it, he "was all the rage". This was not just because he was a gifted speaker and presenter, but also because he was radical in his views. He was an ordained Christian priest, but who freely described himself as a "Christian atheist", or similar. He had studied science as an undergraduate but was fundamentally a philosopher. He had come to reject any notion of the existence of God or the supernatural, but he also knew himself to be a deeply spiritual person. Towards the end of the life, he ceased to be a "communicating" member of the Church of England, but as far as I can tell, that made no difference to his spirituality. I think his work was really an attempt to make sense of these contradictions; his acceptance that we live in a physical world governed by laws of nature and yet also the reality of the spiritual. Some were outraged by him, some claimed he damaged their faith. Personally I was fascinated by his work. He lived in much the same space as I do as a scientist and a priest. I think he came to the wrong conclusions; I am a mainstream Christian who does believe in the reality of God. However, I am very grateful to him for asking hard questions that have allowed me to come to that position. May he rest in peace and, perhaps to his surprise, rise in glory.

St Mary’s, Highley

Thought for the week, 15th February; Don Cupitt, the doubting don

Thought for the week, 22nd February; the Sound of Silence

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