The Sea of Faith in Context

Abstract

This article charts describes the social and theological background to Don Cupitt’s The Sea of Faith . After discussing the immediate context of the series in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, it goes on to compare Cupitt’s theology with that of the radical theologians of the 1960s, especially the South Bank School including John Robinson. Against the backdrop of different theories of secularisation, it sees the theologians of the 1960s as the last representatives of a ‘national’ Christianity. In distinction, Cupitt’s emphasis on the individual will in The Sea of Faith is seen as much more suited to the social context of his times.