Contents
Covers
- Front cover: Another Place, Anthony Gormley
- Back cover: Dover beach, Matthew Arnold
Editorial
- Resisting tides
- Meet the new editors
- A Paean to the Sofia of Dinah by Dominic Kirkham
- Acknowledgements and copyright
Don Cupitt
- Don Cupitt
- Don Cupitt and the Sea of Faith. Andy Kemp discusses the 40th Anniversary Conference
- Listen! A Discussion of the Sea of Faith. Martin Spence reviews the conference at Gladstone’s Library
Resisting
- Mark: a Gospel of Resistance by David Lambourn
- A Resistance to the Appropriate of Scripture James Priestman reviews the first Festival of Biblical Literature
- Resisting the Hegemonic Narrative. David Chapman reviews The Tinderbox
- We Refuse to be Enemies. Christine van Duuren describes a farm in the occupied territories of Palestine
Poetry
- Some Poetic thoughts on Resisting Tides. James Priestman
- A Sea-Side Walk. Elizabeth Barrett-Browning
- Thoughts whilst hitch-hiking. James Priestman
- Dover Beach. Matthew Arnold
Regulars
- Worldviews Navigator. Dave Francis asks: Where have all the children gone?
- Religion in my life: Tom Bulman
Inside the Network
Editorial: resisting tides
Matthew Arnold, in his poem Dover Beach, sees the retreating tide as a metaphor for the decline of religion, but, as discussed by our new poetry editor later in this issue, the sea is a rich source of many more metaphors as well.
The tide of time has sadly taken Don Cupitt from us and this Sofia contains the first of what will be many reflections on his importance to our network and his ongoing legacy. We have a brief appreciation and then reports, by Andy Kemp and Martin Spence, from two events that took place last year in honour of the 40th Anniversary of the broadcast of the Sea of Faith TV series.
Happily not because she has died, but we also say goodbye to the editor of Sofia for the last 20 years: Dinah
Livingstone. Dominic Kirkham reminds us of what an extraordinary achievement that has been, and the exceptional
influence of Dinah on the Network. Sofia has also lost two regular columns: A Penn’orth and Going Green. We thank
Penny Mawdsley and John Pearson respectively for their much appreciated writing over the years.
If we have lost people in the ebbing time, we have gained some in the flow. Your new editors introduce themselves
later in the issue, and we have a new column from Dave Francis: Worldviews Navigator. The Network has a new tag-line, statement of purpose, which is discussed critically by Dave Francis and David Boulton. Another new development in the Network is a new Steering Committee, the members of which are introduced at the back of this issue.
Sofia No. 152 in June 2024 took the theme of ‘Resistance’ and David Boulton’s article on ‘Resistance by name’ in that issue ended thus:
As Sea of Faith takes a new turn, now is surely time to
speak out, upping the volume, about what we resist and
what we want to put in its place.
Sofia in 2025 follows that with an over-arching theme for the year of Resisting Faith. There is deliberate ambiguity here: is the participle being used as an adjective (“a resisting faith”) or for the continuous present tense (“we are resisting faith”)? Is it a faith that is characterised by resistance or is it the faith that is being resisted?.
The theme is launched by David Lambourn’s analysis of St Marks’ as a gospel of resistance. Christine van Duuren describes her experience of spending three weeks last year on a farm in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, resisting the occupation but also resisting the impulse to respond to provocation with hate. James Priestman resists the appropriation of scripture and my review of the film ‘The Tinderbox’, also in the context of Israel and Palestine, considers the need to resist hegemonic narratives.
Finally, remember that we want to hear from you:
- editor@sofn.uk
- poetry@sofn.uk