His views more closely followed that of an atheist seeking to live a morally good life, separate from any belief in, or need of, a relationship with God.

[2] While vice-principal of Westcott House, Cupitt was elected to a fellowship and appointed dean at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, late in 1965.

In 1968, he was appointed to a university teaching post in philosophy of religion, a position in which he continued until his retirement for health reasons in 1996.

He wrote 40 books—which have been translated into Dutch, Persian, Polish, Korean, Portuguese, Danish, German and Chinese—as well as chapters in more than 30 multi-authored volumes.

Cupitt came to the British public's attention in 1984 with his BBC television series The Sea of Faith, in which orthodox Christian beliefs were challenged.

[7] In his early books such as Taking Leave of God and The Sea of Faith Cupitt spoke of God alone as non-real,[8] but by the end of the 1980s, he moved into postmodernism, describing his position as "empty radical humanism":[9] that is, "[T]here is nothing but our language, our world, and the meanings, truths and interpretations that we have generated.