The Society was founded in 1976 with the aim to arrange regular biennial European conferences on the philosophy of religion. These conferences are intended to further the study of the philosophy of religion and the cooperation between philosophers of religion in Europe. Originally the conferences were set up as joint meetings of the British Christian Philosophers Group (later to become the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion), the GermanScandinavian Society for Philosophy of Religion and the Netherlands Society for Philosophy of Religion. However, from the very beginning, philosophers of religion who were not members of these organizations, also from outside Europe, were always welcome.
At the 9th conference in Aarhus, it was decided to have official statutes drawn up for the Society and to have the Society officially registered as such. The draft statutes were approved by the general meeting of the Society in Swansea in September 1994 and officially registered before a notary on the 24th of June 1996 by professors Vincent Brümmer and Henk Vroom, who at the time were president and treasurer of the Society. Included below is a copy of the official statutes of the Society as these are entered in the Register of Societies at the Utrecht Chamber of Commerce [Kamer van Koophandel en Fabrieken], as well as an English translation for use in the Society.

The conferences organized by the society were the following:

1976: 1st conference, in Lund under the presidency of Professor Hampus Lyttkens (Lund).

1978: 2nd conference, in Oxford under the presidency of Dr. Donald Hudson (Exeter).

1980: 3rd conference, in Soesterberg under the presidency of Professor Vincent Brümmer (Utrecht).

1982: 4th conference, in Mühlheim/Ruhr under the presidency of Professor Eilert Herms (Munich).

1884: 5th conference, in Lund under the presidency of Professor Hampus Lyttkens (Lund).

1986: 6th conference, in Durham under the presidency of Mr. Michael Durrant (Cardiff).

1988: 7th conference, in Soesterberg under the presidency of Professor Vincent Brümmer (Utrecht).

1990 8th conference, in Mühlheim/Ruhr under the presidency of Professor Ingolf Dalferth (Tübingen).

1992: 9th conference, in Aarhus on "Traditional Theism and its modern Alternatives" under the presidency of Professor Svend Andersen (Aarhus).

1994: 10th conference, in Swansea on "The Concept of 'Person', human Subjektivity and its Consequences for the Philosophy of Religion", under the residency of Mr. Michael Durrant (Cardiff).

1996: 11th conference, in Soesterberg under the presidency of Professor Vincent Brümmer (Utrecht).

1998: 12th conference, in Hofgeismar on "The Concept of Religion" under the presidency of Professor Ingolf U. Dalferth (Zürich)

2000: 13th conference, in Järvenpää on "The Future of Religion and the Future of Suspicion", under the presidency of Professor Dr. Reijo Työrinoja (Helsinki)

2002: 14th conference, in Cambridge on "Religion, Aesthetics and the concept of the Imagination", under the presidency of Dr. Douglas Hedley (Cambridge)

2004: 15th conference in Leuven on "The Criticism of Enlightenment". Conference commitee: Henk Vroom (Amsterdam), Lieven Boeve (Leuven), Joeri Schrijvers (Leuven).

2006: 16th conference in Tübingen on "Religion after Metaphysics". Conference commitee: Ingolf U. Dalferth (Zürich), Hans-Peter Grosshans (Tübingen).

2008: 17th conference in Oslo in "Sacrifice". Conference commitee: Marius Timmann Mjaaland (Oslo) and Jan-Olav Henriksen (Oslo)