Marilyn McCord Adams (October 12, 1943 – March 22, 2017) was an

American philosopher American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can neverthe ...

and Episcopal priest. She specialized in the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known Text (literary theo ...

philosophical theology Philosophical theology is both a branch and form of theology in which philosophical methods are used in developing or analyzing theological concepts. It therefore includes natural theology as well as philosophical treatments of orthodox and het ...

, and

medieval philosophy Medieval philosophy is the philosophy that existed through the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century until after the Renaissance in the 13th and 14th centuries. Medieval philosophy, ...

. She was Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

from 1998 to 2003 and

Regius Professor of Divinity The Regius Professorships of Divinity are amongst the oldest professorships at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. A third chair existed for a period at Trinity College Dublin. The Oxford and Cambridge chairs were founded by ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 2004 to 2009.

Early life and education

Adams was born on October 12, 1943, in Oak Park,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. She was the daughter of William Clark McCord and Wilmah Brown McCord. In 1966, she married the philosopher

Robert Merrihew Adams Robert Merrihew Adams (September 8, 1937 – April 16, 2024) was an American analytic philosopher. He specialized in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, and the history of early modern philosophy. Life and career Adams was born on Se ...

. Adams was educated at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(AB) degree. She continued her studies at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, completing her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) degree in 1967. She undertook studies and training for ordained ministry at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

, graduating with a

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

degree in 1984. She was awarded a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD) by the

in 2008, thereby becoming the first woman to become an Oxford DD.

Career

Academic career

Adams spent the majority of her academic career at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

: she was an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

(1972–1978) and then

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of philosophy from 1978 to 1993, and chair of the Department of Philosophy between 1985 and 1987. She was President of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy from 1980 to 1982. Having moved to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, she was professor of

historical theology Historical theology is the study of the history of Christian doctrine. Alister McGrath defines historical theology as 'the branch of theological inquiry which aims to explore the historical development of Christian doctrines, and identify the fa ...

from 1993 to 2003 and the Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at

from 1998 to 2003. In 2004, Adams moved to England where she had been appointed

at the

. The chair is linked to a canonry at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, a colle ...

, and so she also became a residentiary canon. She was the first woman and the first American to be appointed the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. In 2009, after five years abroad, she returned to the United States to join the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

as a distinguished research professor of philosophy. She moved to

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, where she was a visiting/distinguished research professor from 2013 to 2015. Adams was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015. Adams was a cofounder and president of the

Society of Christian Philosophers The Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) was founded in 1978. The society is open to anyone interested in philosophy who considers himself or herself a Christian. Membership is not restricted to any particular "school" of philosophy or to any b ...

Ordained ministry

Adams was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in the

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

in 1987. She served at parish churches in Los Angeles,

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, Chapel Hill,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. From 2004 to 2009, she served as a residentiary canon of

. During that time, she was elected as a university representative to the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

Work and writing

Adams' work in philosophy focused on the

, especially the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an Omnipotence, omnipotent, Omnibenevolence, omnibenevolent, and Omniscience, omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ...

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

, and

. Her work on the problem of evil largely focused on what she calls "horrendous evils". She was an avowed Christian universalist, believing that ultimately all will receive salvation and restoration in Christ:

Traditional doctrines of
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
err again by supposing either that God does not get what God wants with every human being ("God wills all humans to be saved" by God's antecedent will) or that God deliberately creates some for ruin. To be sure, many human beings have conducted their ante-mortem lives in such a way as to become anti-social persons. Almost none of us dies with all the virtues needed to be fit for heaven. Traditional doctrines of hell suppose that God lacks the will or the patience or the resourcefulness to civilize each and all of us, to rear each and all of us up into the household of God. They conclude that God is left with the option of merely human penal systems – viz., liquidation or quarantine!

Personal life

In 1966, Marilyn McCord married

. Adams died on March 22, 2017, in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 73; she had cancer.

Works

* Adams, Marilyn McCord. "Is the Existence of God a 'Hard' Fact?". ''The Philosophical Review'' Vol. LXXVI, No. 4 (October 1967) 492-503. * Adams, Marilyn McCord, trans. ''

Paul of Venice Paul of Venice (or Paulus Venetus; 1369–1429) was a Catholic philosopher, theologian, logician and metaphysician of the Order of Saint Augustine. Life Paul was born, according to the chroniclers of his order, at Udine, about 1369 and died at ...

, On the Truth and Falsity of Propositions and On the Significatum of a Proposition'', ed. Francesco del Punta. London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1977. * Adams, Marilyn McCord and Norman Kretzman, eds. and trans. William Ockham's ''

Predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...

, God's Foreknowledge, and Future Contingents''. 2nd ed. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett, 1983. * Adams, Marilyn McCord. ''William of Ockham'' (2 vols.) Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame University Press, 1987. * Adams, Marilyn McCord, and Robert Merrihew Adams, eds. ''The Problem of Evil''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. * Adams, Marilyn McCord. ''Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999. . * Adams, Marilyn McCord. "What Sort of Human Nature? Medieval Philosophy and the Systematics of Christology" (Aquinas Lecture 1999). Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1999. * Adams, Marilyn McCord. ''Christ and Horrors: The Coherence of Christology''. Based on the Gifford Lectures for 1998–1999. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. * Adams, Marilyn McCord. ''Some Later Medieval Theories of the Eucharist:

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

, Giles of Rome,

Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( ; , "Duns the Scot"; – 8 November 1308) was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher and theologian. He is considered one of the four most important Christian philosopher-t ...

, and William Ockham''. New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2010. * Adams, Marilyn McCord. "Mark 1:9–15: Theological Perspective" in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2; David l. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors; Copyright 2008 Westminster John Knox Press. See https://www.wjkbooks.com/Products/0664239641/feasting-on-the-word-year-b-volume-2.asp

References

External links

McCord Adams' faculty page at Oxford University

Episode of ''In Our Time'' (May 2007), "Ockham's Razor", BBC Radio 4.

On Adams' "aesthetic" theodicy.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Marilyn Maccord 1943 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American Episcopal priests 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century Christian universalists 21st-century American Episcopal priests 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century Christian universalists American Christian universalists American Episcopal theologians American women philosophers Analytic philosophers Anglican philosophers Anglican universalists Christian philosophers Christian universalist clergy Christian universalist theologians Cornell University alumni Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Women Anglican clergy American philosophers of religion Presidents of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy Presidents of the Society of Christian Philosophers Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford) Scholars of medieval philosophy University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Yale Divinity School faculty