Francis J. Beckwith

Francis J. Beckwith (1960-) is an American Christian philosopher. He has a graduate degree in law, and is well-known within Evangelical Protestant Christianity as a scholar, debater, and lecturer. Beckwith is renowned for his advocacy in the areas of social ethics, legal philosophy, church-state issues, philosophy of religion, and the Christian countercult movement. He has published articles in a wide-range of academic journals. Currently, he is the associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and an (tenured) associate professor of Church-State studies at Baylor University. Beckwith, born in New York City, now resides with his wife in Texas.

Beckwith is notable for his philosophical defenses of the pro-life position on abortion and his support of the constitutional permissibility of the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. He is affiliated with numerous organizations that advocate for these issues. Beckwith is a fellow at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) [1] and Baylor's Institute for the Studies of Religion (ISR) [2].

Beckwith is a notable figure in the debate over intelligent design, and is a fellow of the leading think-tank promoting the concept, the Discovery Institute. Beckwith is not an intelligent design advocate, though he maintains that its supporters raise important questions on the nature of science and knowledge. His main interests lie in the legal and cultural questions raised by the movement. Beckwith often speaks on the legal permissibility of teaching intelligent design in public school science clases, arguing that it is legally permissible, [3] arguing against the ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that intelligent design is essentially religious in nature, a form of creationism, and thus its teaching as science in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. He maintains that the religious motives of the policy's supporters, which the judge in the case relied on, should have no bearing on assessing the constitutionality of the policy, since a motive is a belief and the federal courts have forbidden the government's assessing of beliefs in other contexts.[4] Beckwith's arguments are often relied upon by the Discovery Institute in its attempts to influence school boards and other policy makers. [5]. The Discovery Institute is the hub of the intelligent design movement, and Beckwith serves as a Fellow of the institute. [6] Beckwith served on the pro-design Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center's Advisory Board through July of 2003. Beckwith, however, resigned from the advisory board because of fundamental disagreements he had with the organization's vision and mission.

Education and career

Beckwith is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (B.A. in Philosophy), Simon Greenleaf School of Law, Anaheim (MA in apologetics), Fordham University (Ph.D. and M.A. in philosophy) and the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis (Master of Juridical Studies).

Beckwith began his training as an academic Christian apologist in the early 1980s as he commenced graduate studies in apologetics at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law (later called Simon Greenleaf University and now merged with Trinity International University [Deerfield, Illinois], and operates under that name as its southern California campus). There he studied under noted Evangelicals such as John Warwick Montgomery and Charles Manske. He was also influenced by the writings of Francis Schaeffer.

A condensed version of Beckwith's 1984 MA thesis on Bahá'ísm was published by Bethany House in 1985. Much of the apologetic method he employed was based firmly within the evidentialist school of thought.

His doctoral studies in philosophy at Fordham University continued the pursuit of apologetic issues, though at Fordham his philosophical horizons were expanded by his study of Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, and contemporary philosophy of science and his exposure to Reformed philosophers such as Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff. His Ph.D. dissertation comprised an analysis of the sceptical argument of the Scottish empiricist philosopher David Hume concerning miracles. Part of his criticism of Hume's position (chapter 5) involved a discussion of legal reasoning, using technical legal criteria of proof, testimony, documentary evidences and so on in examining the question of how to assess evidence for miracles. At Fordham he studied under Catholic philosophers Robert Roth, Gerard McCool, Dominic Balestra, Quentin Lauer, and W. Norris Clarke as well as Protestant philosophers Merold Westphal and Brian Leftow. All made a profound impact on Beckwith's intellectual development as a philosopher.

Largely due to his doctoral work at Fordham, Beckwith modified his position somewhat from a strict form of evidentialist apologetics. His views now partly reflect the influence of Plantinga in the justification of knowledge (epistemology), and some of his analytic arguments for theism reflect the position advocated by William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, who like Beckwith are fellows at the Discovery Institute. The influences of Craig's theistic arguments are evident in Beckwith's co-written book See the gods fall (1997) where he offers critical assessments of Bahá'í Faith, New Age, Mormon, and Humanist philosophies.

His work (especially since the late 1990s) extends beyond the sphere of traditional topics in philosophy of religion and apologetics. Much of his best-known publications deal with bioethical and cultural questions, especially the issue of abortion. Beckwith has published philosophical defenses of the prolife position on abortion in both books and academic journals. His 1993 monograph, "Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights" (Baker), was cited several times in the article on abortion published in the 1996 supplement to the Encyclopedia of Philosophy (MacMillan). Even his recent work on Mormonism and Bahá'í faith deal with issues of metaethics and natural moral law (in "The New Mormon Challenge" [2002]) and the conceptual problems of "religious tolerance" that come out of philosophical critiques on political liberalism (in Ronald Enroth, ed., "A Guide to New Religious Movements" [InterVarsity Press, 2005]; and in "The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology" [Summer 2005]). The influence of Thomistic thinking (including the work of contemporary Thomists Robert P. George, John Finnis, and Francis Canavan) and other philosophers (Hadley Arkes, Michael Sandel, Patrick Lee) can be found in Beckwith's work in bioethics and political and legal philosophy.

Other social ethics questions to which he has contributed include the influence of relativism on public culture, affirmative action and discrimination, same-sex marriage, bioethics generally (including cloning), and interpreting constitutional issues as they touch on religious liberty and practices, such as the inclusion of intelligent design in public school science curricula. The latter work was the result of his Wash. U. M.J.S dissertation, which he completed in 2001 under the mentorship of philosopher of law Stanley Paulsen. It was published in revised and expanded form in 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield.

Beckwith has held full-time academic appointments at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (1989-1996), Whittier College (1996-1997), and Trinity International University (1997-2002).

A 2002-2003 Visiting Research Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions in the Politics Department at Princeton University, he has published articles in a wide-range of academic journals including "Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy," "Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy," "Journal of Law & Religion," "Ethics and Medicine," "International Philosophical Quarterly," "Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society," "San Diego Law Review," "Nevada Law Journal," "Public Affairs Quarterly," "American Journal of Jurisprudence," "Chapman Law Review," "Social Theory & Practice," "Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics," "Christian Bioethics," "Journal of Church & State," "Human Life Review," "Journal of Social Philosophy," "Journal of Libertarian Studies," "Journal of Medical Ethics," "Logos," "The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology," and "Philosophia Christi."

In November 2005, Professor Beckwith became the President-elect of the Evangelical Theological Society, a professional organization of theologians with over 4,000 members. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Association's Committee on Philosophy and Law.

Criticism

Beckwith has been criticised for applying analytic forms of philosophical argument into his critical writings on non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, notably the Mormon view of God. In keeping with the Christian countercult movement, Beckwith argues that the Mormon concept of God is incompatible with orthodox Christian teaching about the Trinity. Part of his analysis is grounded in comparing Mormon sacred texts with passages from the Bible. Another part of his analysis involves a technical argument concerning the omniscience of God, where Beckwith argues that the Mormon position of God's limited knowledge is flawed on metaphysical and logical categories. His philosophical works on the Mormon faith have led to critical clashes with Mormon scholars such as David Paulsen and Blake Ostler, and even to robust disagreements with other Evangelical apologists on methodological issues (see The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism and his chapter in The New Mormon Challenge).

In addition to his writings about the Bahá'í faith and Mormon theology, Beckwith has also published philosophical arguments critical of the teachings of various New Age writers. He has also questioned the role of New Age practices of yogic meditation and tarot readings intruding into the public school system.

His work, however, extends beyond the sphere of the Christian countercult movement and traditional topics in apologetics. Much of his best-known texts deal with bioethical questions. Beckwith is opposed to abortion, active euthanasia, and human cloning, and once defended the moral permissibility of direct intervention protests at abortion clinics (though has since changed his views). He has also been involved as an advisor in pro-life litigation and legislation.

Tenure Controversy

On March 24, 2006, Beckwith was denied tenure by Baylor University. As is typical in such cases, the reasons for denying tenure were not released. The University’s decision was considered controversial because Beckwith's political views have been criticized by some in the Baylor community. A number of conservative bloggers and pundits such as Hunter Baker[7] at National Review Online have argued that the denial is an attack on academic freedom.

According to a March 31, 2006 BPNews article Beckwith stated that he was following an appeals process in hopes of having the decision reversed. In early September 2006 stories concerning the reasons for Beckwith's denial of tenure and the political intrigue behind it were published in the Chronicle of Higher Education[8] and World Magazine[9]. On September 22, 2006, Beckwith won his appeal and was tenured by Baylor University [10], [11], [12],[13] The Discovery Institute, where Beckwith serves as a Fellow, spoke out extensively on his behalf during the controversy. [14] However, Beckwith also received support from ID opponents such as Ed Brayton from the blog Dispatches from the Culture War. [15]

Bibliography

• To Everyone An Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview with William Lane Craig and J. P. Moreland, eds. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004).

• Law, Darwinism, and Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003).

• Do the Right Thing: Readings in Applied Ethics and Social Philosophy editor, 2nd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002).

• The New Mormon Challenge with Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, eds. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).

• The Abortion Controversy 25 Years After Roe v. Wade: A Reader 2nd ed. with Louis Pojman, eds. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1998).

• Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air with Gregory Koukl, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998).

• The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism with Norman Geisler, Ron Rhodes, Phil Roberts, Jerald and Sandra Tanner (Harvest House Publishers, 1998).

• Affirmative Action: Social Justice or Reverse Discrimination? with Todd E. Jones, eds. (Amherst: Prometheus, 1997).

• See the gods fall: Four Rivals to Christianity with Stephen E. Parrish, (Joplin: College Press, 1997).

• Are You Politically Correct?: Debating America's Cultural Standards with Michael E. Bauman, eds. (Buffalo: Prometheus, 1993).

• Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993).

• The Mormon Concept of God: A Philosophical Analysis with Stephen E. Parrish, (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1991).

• David Hume's Argument Against Miracles: A Critical Analysis (Lanham: University Press of America, 1989).

• Bahá'í (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1985).

Other Relevant Sources

• Kenneth D. Boa and Robert M. Bowman, Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity (Colorado Springs: NAV Press, 2001), pp. 214-217.

External links

• Dr. Francis Beckwith's website
• review by Douglas Groothuis] of Law, Darwinism and Public Education, Philosophia Christi, 5/1 (2003)
• A critical book review of The Mormon Concept of God by Blake T. Ostler, a Mormon scholar. FARMS Review 8/2 1996 pp 99-146.
• Antidote to abortion arguments, a favorable review by Jonathan Sarfati of Politically Correct Death