Francis J. Beckwith Explained

Francis J. Beckwith
Birth Place:New York City, U.S.
Main Interests:Christian philosophy, Christian apologetics, ethics, applied ethics, legal philosophy

Francis J. "Frank" Beckwith (born November 3, 1960) is an American philosopher, professor, scholar, speaker, writer, and lecturer.

He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Affiliate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy, at Baylor University, where he first served as Associate Director of Baylor's J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies.[1] [2] [3] [4]

Biography

Beckwith was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a graduate of Bishop Gorman High School, where he was a member of the 1978 AAA Basketball high school state championship team.[1] [5] [6] His siblings include the writer, comic, and actress Elizabeth Beckwith.[7]

Francis Beckwith earned a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He later earned his MA in apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University, Anaheim, which merged with Trinity International University, Illinois in 1996. Beckwith earned his doctorate from Fordham University (PhD. and M.A. in philosophy), and his MJS (Master of Juridical Studies) from the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis.[1]

A condensed version of Beckwith's 1984 M.A. thesis on the Baháʼí Faith was published by Bethany House, as Baha'i: A Christian Response in 1985.[8]

In 2001, Beckwith completed his Wash. U. M.J.S dissertation on the inclusion of intelligent design in public school science curricula. In 2003, Rowman and Littlefield published his dissertation in revised and expanded form as Law, Darwinism, and Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design.

Prior to arriving at Baylor in July 2003, he was a Visiting Research Fellow (2002–2003) in the James Madison Program in the Politics Department at Princeton University.[9] He has also held full-time academic appointments at UNLV (Lecturer in Philosophy, 1989–96), Whittier College (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 1996–97),[10] and Trinity International University (Associate Professor Philosophy, Culture, and Law, 1997-2002).[11] Beckwith has also held two visiting endowed appointments: (2008-2009) Mary Anne Remick Senior Visiting Fellow in the de Nicola Center for Ethics & Culture at the University of Notre Dame,[12] and (2016–2017) Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy in the Benson Center for Western Civilization, Thought, and Policy at the University of Colorado, Boulder.[13]

In November 2006, Beckwith became the 58th president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS),[14] only to resign both his presidency and membership in May 2007, a week after he returned to the Catholic Church.[15] Over a decade later, he became the 90th president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA).[16] From 1995 to 2007, he was a fellow at The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity[17]

In 2003, after his appointment as associate director of the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor, 29 members of the Dawson family called on Baylor University to remove Beckwith as associate director. The Dawson family members questioned the appointment, accusing Beckwith of holding church-state positions contrary to Dawson's beliefs on the separation of church and state,[18] largely because of Beckwith's affiliation with the Discovery Institute (DI) and his work on intelligent design and public education.[19] Beckwith argued that their concerns were not well founded and that they represented a fundamental misunderstanding of his positions.[20] In summer 2007 Beckwith dropped his affiliation with Discovery. He has subsequently published works highly critical of intelligent design, including chapters in his award-winning 2015 book Taking Rites Seriously[21] and his 2019 book Never Doubt Thomas: The Catholic Aquinas as Evangelical and Protestant. [22]

Personal life

In May 2007, Beckwith returned to the Catholicism of his youth, after decades as an Evangelical Protestant.[23] This inspired him to write a book describing his faith journey, titled Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic published by Brazos Press.[24] It is compared with Scott Hahn's Rome Sweet Home, as a significant work of Catholic Apologetics.[25] He currently resides with his wife in Texas.

Work

Beckwith works in the areas of ethics, legal and political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and church-state jurisprudence.[26]

Beckwith is well known for his legal and philosophical work on abortion, arguing in defense of the sanctity of life in several academic publications including his 2007 book Defending Life, published by Cambridge University Press,[27] and his 1993 book, Politically Correct Death, published by Baker Publishing Group.[28] He has also published multiple books examining current philosophical questions regarding religion, law and politics. His 2015 book, Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics and the Reasonableness of Faith, (Cambridge University Press),[29] was the winner of the prestigious American Academy of Religion's 2016 Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the category of Constructive-Reflective Studies.[30]

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: bio | Francis J. Beckwith . sites.baylor.edu.
  2. Web site: J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies . J.M Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies | Baylor University. February 2, 2022 .
  3. Web site: Beckwith, Francis | Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion | Baylor University.
  4. Web site: Francis J. Beckwith. August 4, 2023 .
  5. Web site: Bishop Gorman High School | Catholic Private School in Las Vegas, NV . www.bishopgorman.org.
  6. Web site: Bishop Gorman High School | Championships . www.bishopgorman.org.
  7. News: Elizabeth Beckwith . HarperCollins.
  8. Book: 0871238489 . Baha'i . Beckwith . Francis . 1985. Bethany House .
  9. Web site: James Madison Society | James Madison Program . jmp.princeton.edu.
  10. Book: In Defense of Miracles: A Comprehensive Case for God's Action in History . 9780830897742 . Douglas Geivett . R. . Habermas . Gary R. . April 2, 2014. InterVarsity Press .
  11. Book: The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement . 9780310873419 . Zondervan . December 21, 2010. Zondervan Academic .
  12. Web site: Authors | Baker Publishing Group . bakerpublishinggroup.com.
  13. Web site: Life as a visiting scholar of conservative thought at a major public university (essay) | Inside Higher Ed . www.insidehighered.com.
  14. Web site: ETS Past Presidents | The Evangelical Theological Society . www.etsjets.org.
  15. Web site: ETS President Frank Beckwith Resigns | The Evangelical Theological Society . www.etsjets.org.
  16. Web site: American Catholic Philosophical Association – About . www.acpaweb.org.
  17. Web site: Francis J. Beckwith . cbhd.org . February 21, 2020 . February 21, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200221165539/https://cbhd.org/content/francis-j-beckwith-phd . dead .
  18. Book: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/taking-rites-seriously/how-to-be-an-antiintelligent-design-advocate-science-religion-and-the-problem-of-intelligent-design/3BF5F302E4E32E60C69E10814974AE45 . How to Be an Anti–Intelligent Design Advocate: Science, Religion, and the Problem of Intelligent Design. Francis J.. Beckwith . September 8, 2015 . Cambridge University Press . 139–171 . 10.1017/CBO9781316285671.006. Taking Rites Seriously. 9781316285671.
  19. Book: Law, Darwinism, and Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design . rowman.com.
  20. Web site: Briefly Noted | Various . First Things. March 2020 .
  21. Book: Beckwith, Francis J. . Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith . September 8, 2015 . Cambridge University Press . 10.1017/CBO9781316285671 . 9781316285671 .
  22. Web site: Never Doubt Thomas. March 15, 2024.
  23. Web site: Cooperman . Alan . May 12, 2007 . Evangelical Leader Returns To Catholicism . www.washingtonpost.com.
  24. Web site: Return to Rome | Baker Publishing Group . bakerpublishinggroup.com.
  25. Web site: June 10, 2009 . Returning to Rome | Christian Research Institute . www.equip.org.
  26. Web site: Francis J. Beckwith . sites.baylor.edu.
  27. Book: Beckwith, Francis J. . Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case against Abortion Choice . September 8, 2007 . Cambridge University Press . 9780511804885 . 10.1017/CBO9780511804885.
  28. Book: Beckwith . Francis . Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights . Baker Books . 1993 . 0801010500.
  29. Web site: Taking Rites Seriously | American government, politics and policy . Cambridge University Press.
  30. https://www.aarweb.org/about/2016-aar-book-awards-announced 2016 AAR Book Awards Announced

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