The Rev. Dr. Marilyn McCord Adams, one of the world’s leading philosophical theologians, and a priest of the Episcopal Church, will deliver the annual Stern Lectures, sponsored by St. Matthew’s on August 16 and 17 at the church, 1031 Bienveneda.
The two-day program, titled “Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God,” Dr. Adams will address the classical theological and spiritual questions: How can a good and all-powerful God preside over a world that abounds in evil and suffering? How can we be in a relationship with God when suffering is so much a part of our lives, and what does God intend to do about it?
Dr. Adams brings a unique combination of intellectual rigor, spiritual depth and profound compassion to this most challenging issue. During her academic career she has been Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, the Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at Yale University and Professor of Philosophy at UCLA.
On Friday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Adams will consider “God as Horror-Perpetrator.” On Saturday at 9 a.m., she will discuss the dichotomy of “God as Horror-Participant” and “God as Horror-Defeater.” A luncheon on the parish courtyard will follow Saturday’s presentation.
Elizabeth Naffziger Stern, born in San Francisco in 1924, graduated from UC Berkeley and Berkeley’s School of Nursing in San Francisco. She was married in 1946 to Walter Eugene Stern, Jr. and bore four children. A resident of Santa Monica from 1952, she was an unstinting worker in the community who founded Meals on Wheels of West Los Angeles.
Known as Libby to her friends, she was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church, junior warden of the Parish of Saint Matthew, and member of its Altar Guild and that of the Diocese of Los Angeles. Her buoyant humor, her superb judgment of people, her devotion to family and her steadfast loyalties to friends reflect the attributes of this great lady. She died while hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains.
The Memorial Fund, established in 1989, supports the Elizabeth Naffziger Stern lectures. The public is invited. Admission is free.
Reservations are required for the luncheon at sternlecture@stmatthews.com.
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