Sea of Faith [Hardcover]

Don Cupitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 1988

On Dover beach in the 1860s the English poet Matthew Arnold saw in the receding tide at dusk an image of the "melancholy, long, withdrawing roar" of the Sea of Faith. Twenty years later Nietzsche was proclaiming the death of God as an event that had taken place long before, but was still unrealized. The modern crisis of belief has deep roots. Don Cupitt shows how the rise in our science-based, democractic industrial society, of historical criticism and of knowledge of other religions has over the centuries slowly eroded the traditional framework of doctrinal belief--leaving us, as it seems to many, free, alone, and disoriented. But there is another story, for Cupitt also shows a line of creative thinkers, from Pascal to Wittgenstein, responding to each new challenge as it has arisen. A new understanding of religion is emerging which Cupitt calls non-realist, for it is without dogma. Instead, Christianity is seen as a way, a spiritual path, and an ethic. Religion becomes more like an art, for it is a function of our primal capacity to generate stories, symbols, and meanings to live by.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Don Cupitt shows how the rise in our science-based, democractic industrial society, of historical criticism and of knowledge of other religions has over the centuries slowly eroded the traditional framework of doctrinal belief--leaving us, as it seems to many, free, alone, and disoriented.

About the Author

Don Cupitt is Senior Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. --This text refers to the Print on Demand (Paperback) edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Second edition edition (July 29, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521344204
• ISBN-13: 978-0521344203
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,369,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating, April 2, 2000

By 

chris (london england) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sea of Faith (Hardcover)

I must admit to having a more than vested interest in Mr Cupitt, he was a lecturer in the philosophy of religion at the university in which i now study theology. (Cambridge) His work is to my mind of the most fundamental importance to anyone who is not prepared to dismiss religion as "the opium of the people" but finds its claims to supernatural truth unteneble in the scientific age in which we live. He offers the reader a reason to let go of the traditional dogma of the church, not just because it seems unbelievable these days, but it is he says the prerequisite to finding a true spirituality, and a genuine religious experience in which the individual can be an autonomous moral and personal agent. For many people his approach is far too radical to be taken seriously, (some even find it offensive.) But he allows for this in his book, he says that to understand him one has to make fundamental changes to their outlook on the world and that most people will not be able to do this. I am not a religious person, and this maybe why i had less problems with him than many of the people i study with. But whether you agree with all he says or not, one cant miss the passion with which he writes, nor misunderstand depth of his own spirituality. This book fundamentally altered my view on the world, and my approach to the subject both academically and emotionally has been changed through reading it. He is the one author i recommend to any one who tells me that religion or more specifically christianity is outdated or naive. Read this book, even if you disagree with everything he says, it will give you a much greater idea of why you believe what you do.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The new religion, July 29, 2000

By 

Andreas Saugstad - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sea of Faith (Hardcover)

Don Cupitt has for years been teaching philosophy of religion in Cambridge, England. I find him to be one of the most interesting and radical thinkers in England today.

In his book, Cupitt suggests a new spirituality. The old belief in the metaphysical God, Cupitt finds unintelligible. Cupitt is much inspired by thinkers like Wittgenstein, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, and he advocates a human-centred spirituality without belief in the God of Christian theism. God is for Cupitt the sum of our values and ethical standards. "The true God is not God as a picturesque supernatual fact, but God as our religious ideal", he writes. Cupitt's God is not external, but something you can create through your thoughts and form of life.

Cupitt may be critized like the rest of the postmodern movement. When he writes "reality does not determine language: language determines reality", he is far too radical, and I don't think for instance Wittgenstein would agree with this.

But Cupitt is very interesting. One may get the feeling that he has an agenda, and is thinking with his soul, not merely playing an intellectual game. He challenges you. Cupitt is an excellent writer who should be read and discussed!