Background and Activities

In 1991 the Committee of the Tyndale Fellowship asked Paul Helm, then Reader in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, to form a Philosophy of Religion Section so as to develop further the multi-disciplinary work of the Fellowship. Paul agreed to do so and he delivered the first Tyndale Philosophy of Religion Lecture in July 1993, by which time he had been appointed Professor of the History and Philosophy of Religion at King’s College, London.

In spite of variations in location – on some occasions the group met in Regent’s College, Nantwich - the basic pattern of the TF Philosophy of Religion conferences has remained remarkably constant:  two papers on the first evening, two the following morning, an afternoon in the Fitz  Museum or in the sunshine on the banks of the Cam, two more papers on the second evening and two more the following morning. So familiar (and so enjoyable!) has the pattern become that some now regard this as the perfect Conference format – The Ideal Form of all Conferences - and feel irritated when they go to conferences that organise things differently. The highlight, of course, is the annual Tyndale Philosophy of Religion Lecture on the second evening which is a slightly more formal affair.

In the past this has exhausted the activities of the group. Other sections of the Fellowship sometimes organise one day mini-conferences in Cambridge or elsewhere in the country to discuss any major intellectual issue which needs discussing. Important Philosophy of Religion issues are always popping up and so this is a format which we may explore in the future.

Occasionally ‘plenaries’ take place. A plenary is when all of the groups meet and address a topic of interest from their different disciplinary perspectives. These occasions are enjoyable in a different kind of way and allow one the opportunity of meeting amazingly interesting and learned people such as Egyptologists that one would not otherwise encounter in the course of a life-time of hanging around with philosophers.

Due to the generosity of Paternoster Press, young philosophers can compete for an annual essay Prize.
The Philosophy of Religion section of the Tyndale Fellowship is fun!