Francis J. "Frank" Beckwith (1960-) is an American Christian philosopher. He has a graduate degree in law, and is known in Evangelical Protestant Christianity as a scholar, debater, and lecturer. Beckwith advocates in the areas of social ethics, legal philosophy, philosophy of religion, intelligent design and the Christian countercult movement. Currently, he is the associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and an associate professor of Church-State studies at Baylor University. Beckwith, born in New York City, now resides with his wife in Texas. He is a Fellow of the Discovery Institute, the driving force behind the intelligent design movement. Beckwith returned to Roman Catholicism in 2007.^[1][2][3] Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It is proposed that this article be deleted, because of the following concern: Filled with OR and completely unsourced. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The word evangelicalism often refers to... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Ethics (via Latin from the Ancient Greek moral philosophy, from the adjective of Ä“thos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group. ... Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy and jurisprudence which studies basic questions about law and legal systems, such as what is the law?, what are the criteria for legal validity?, what is the relationship between law and morality?, and many other similar questions. ... Philosophy of religion is the rational study of the meaning and justification ( or rebuttal) of fundamental religious claims, particularly about the nature and existence of God (or gods, or the divine). ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... The Christian countercult movement, also known as discernment ministries is the collective designation for many mostly unrelated ministries and individual Christians who oppose non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, which they often call cults. ... Baylor University is a private, Baptist-affiliated research university located in Waco, Texas. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Beckwith is notable for his philosophical defenses of the pro-life position on abortion and his defense 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 Discovery Institute, hub the intelligent design movement, the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (CBHD) [3] and Baylor's Institute for the Studies of Religion (ISR) [4]. Issues of discussion Pro-life is a term representing a variety of perspectives and activist movements in bioethics. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ...

Beckwith has been an outspoken proponent for allowing the teaching of intelligent design.^[4] Beckwith insists he is not an intelligent design advocate and his interests lie in the legal and cultural questions raised by the movement.^[5] Critics of intelligent design, like PZ Myers and Barbara Forrest, consider Beckwith a proponent, and point to various statements by Beckwith to support their view.^[6][7] Beckwith often speaks on the legal permissibility of teaching intelligent design in public school science classes, arguing that it is legally permissible and 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 repeats the claim of the Discovery Institute that intelligent design is not a religious belief and maintains that the religious motives of the policy's supporters, which he says 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, in other contexts, forbidden the government's assessing of beliefs.^[8][9] Beckwith is closely tied to the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns, both from his arguments and writings being often repeated and promoted by the Discovery Institute,^[10] and as a subject of one; Beckwith benefited from an Institute campaign to counter objections to his tenure at Baylor. The Discovery Institute is the hub of the intelligent design movement, and Beckwith serves as a Fellow of the institute. [5] Beckwith served on the pro-ID Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) Center's Advisory Board through August of 2003.^[11] Paul Zachary PZ Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris and a science blogger via his blog, Pharyngula (previously ). He is currently an associate professor of biology at Morris, works in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), and has... Barbara Forrest, PhD. is a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. ... Tammy Kitzmiller, et al. ... Creationism is the belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their entirety by a deity or deities (typically God), whose existence is presupposed. ... The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... The Bill of Rights in the National Archives The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ... Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns are a series of related public relations campaigns conducted by the Discovery Institute which seek to promote intelligent design while discrediting evolution, which the Institute terms Darwinism. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist campaign that calls for broad social, academic and political changes derived from the concept of intelligent design. ...

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). The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public, coeducational university located in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, known for its programs in engineering, English, hotel administration, and management information systems. ... Trinity Law School (TLS), or the Law School, Trinity International University is a private, nonprofit law school in Santa Ana, California. ... Fordham University is a private, coeducational research university[2] in the United States, with three residential campuses located in and around New York City. ... Washington University in St. ...

A condensed version of Beckwith's 1984 MA thesis on the Bahá'í Faith was published by Bethany House in 1985. Much of the apologetic method he employed was based within the evidentialist school of thought. Seat of the Universal House of Justice, governing body of the Baháís, in Haifa, Israel The Baháí Faith is the religion founded by Baháulláh in 19th century Persia. ... Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group is a publisher of Christian fiction, nonfiction and childrens books. ... Evidentialism is a theory of justification according to which believing proposition p is justified for some agent S at time t iff S s total evidence at t supports p; that, in short, the justified attitude toward a proposition, be it belief, disbelief, or suspension of judgment, is the one...

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 and was published in revised and expanded form in 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield. Affirmative action refers to policies intended to promote access to education or employment aimed at a historically socio-politically non-dominant group (typically, minorities or women). ... This article is about discrimination in the social science context. ... See also Civil union Registered partnership Domestic partnership Timeline of same-sex marriage Listings by country This box:      Same-sex marriage is a term for a governmentally, socially, or religiously recognized marriage in which two people of the same sex live together as a family. ... {{}} Bioethics are the ethics of biological science and medicine. ...

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). The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public, coeducational university located in Las Vegas, Nevada, known for its programs in engineering, English, hotel administration, and management information systems. ... Whittier College in 1912 Hoover Hall and Library Whittier College is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. ... Trinity International University is an evangelical Christian institution of higher education headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. ...

In November 2005, Professor Beckwith became the President-elect of the Evangelical Theological Society, a professional organization of theologians. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Association's Committee on Philosophy and Law. The Evangelical Theological Society (est. ... The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. ...

In May 2007 Professor Beckwith made public his return to the Roman Catholic Church, which took place in late April 2007, and resigned as both President of the Evangelical Theological Society and a member of the society, effective May 7, 2007.^{[3] [12] [1]} Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic...

Other work

Francis Beckwith has applied 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). Francis J. Beckwith is associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and associate professor of church-state studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. ... According to Latter Day Saint belief, Mormon is the name of the compiler of the book of scripture known as the Book of Mormon. ... The Christian countercult movement, also known as discernment ministries is the collective designation for many mostly unrelated ministries and individual Christians who oppose non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, which they often call cults. ... This article or section contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. ... Omniscience is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. ... Blake T. Ostler is a practicing attorney specializing in educational law, employment law and intellectual property. ...

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. New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...

His work, however, extends beyond the sphere of the Christian countercult movement and traditional topics in apologetics. Beckwith has written on the topic of bioethics, and 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. {{}} Bioethics are the ethics of biological science and medicine. ... Euthanasia (from Ancient Greek: ευθανασία, good death) is the practice of ending the life of a terminally ill person in a painless or minimally painful way, for the purpose of limiting suffering. ... Although genes are recognized as influencing behavior and cognition, genetically identical does not mean altogether identical; identical twins, despite being natural human clones with identical DNA, are separate people, with separate experiences and not altogether overlapping personalities. ... Issues of discussion Pro-life is a term representing a variety of perspectives and activist movements in bioethics. ...

Hunter Baker / National Review Online controversy

In 2004 the Harvard Law Review published a note praising a book written by Beckwith that defended the teaching of intelligent design in schools. In response to a scathing review of the note by lawyer and Professor of Philosophy Brian Leiter,^[13] the National Review Online published a response to Leiter written by Hunter Baker defending Beckwith and alleging Leiter was "attacking" both a student writer and "academic freedom."^[14] Hunter's article was republished by the Discovery Institute,^[15] where Beckwith sits as a Fellow and which as part of its intelligent design campaigns consistently casts ID proponents as the victims of efforts to curtail academic freedom. Brian Leiter (born 1963) is an American professor of law and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been teaching since 1995. ... National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine of political opinion, founded by author William F. Buckley, Jr. ... The Discovery Institute is a think tank structured as a non-profit foundation, founded in 1990 and based in Seattle, Washington, USA. The stated mission of the organization is to make a positive vision of the future practical. ... Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns are a series of related public relations campaigns conducted by the Discovery Institute which seek to promote intelligent design while discrediting evolution, which the Institute terms Darwinism. ...

Leiter revealed that Hunter Baker was Beckwith's teaching assistant when he wrote the defense of Beckwith for the National Review, something both Beckwith and Hunter did not disclose.^[16][17] This prompted Leiter to question the journalistic integrity of Hunter and to describe such tactics as "fraud" and a "right-wing slime and smear job."^[17]

During the controversy over Beckwith's tenure Hunter Baker went on to write another National Review article arguing that the denial of tenure was an attack on academic freedom, again without disclosing his relationship to Beckwith.^[18]

According to Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly, this controversy gave rise to creation of The Panda's Thumb (weblog),^[16] which has been one of the most notable fora for critics of intelligent design. The Washington Monthly is a magazine based in Washington DC which covers American politics and government. ... The Pandas Thumb is a weblog on the creation-evolution controversy from a mainstream perspective. ...

Baylor Controversies

In 2003 twenty-nine members of the J.M. Dawson family called on Baylor University to remove Beckwith as associate director of the Baylor's J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies. In a letter the Dawson family members questioned the appointment of Beckwith as associate director of the institute. The letter accused Beckwith of holding church-state positions contrary to the strong stand for separation advocated by J.M. Dawson: "We are troubled because Dr. Beckwith is a fellow of the Discovery Institute. The activities of this organization are widely recognized in the academic community as engaging in political activities that contravene the fundamental principle of the separation of church and state for which J.M. Dawson stood." ... "The Discovery Institute works to get the concept called 'intelligent design' into the science curriculum of public school textbooks, claiming that intelligent design is a scientific, not a religious, concept. In our judgment and in the judgment of the scientific community, this is a ruse for getting a religious notion into the public schools--clearly a violation of the separation of church and state."^[19] The university ultimately allowed Beckwith to remain in the position.

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. is the 83rd day of the year (84th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Baylor University is a private, Baptist-affiliated research university located in Waco, Texas. ...

According to a March 31, 2006 BPNews article Beckwith stated that he was following an appeals process in hopes of having the decision reversed. ^[20] 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[6] and World Magazine[7]. On September 22, 2006, Beckwith won his appeal and was tenured by Baylor University [8], [9], [10],[11] The Discovery Institute, where Beckwith serves as a Fellow, lobbied extensively on his behalf during the controversy,^{[21][22][23][24]} comparing him to others connected to the Institute who've alleged academic or employment discrimination due to their advocacy of intelligent design such as Richard Sternberg and his peer review controversy. [12] Beckwith also received support from an opponent of intelligent design, Ed Brayton, on his blog Dispatches from the Culture War. [13] Richard M. Sternberg is an American scientist. ... Sternberg peer review controversy arose out of a conflict over whether an article published in a scientific journal that supported of the controversial concept of Intelligent Design was properly peer reviewed. ...

Bibliography

• Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007)

• 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).

• 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).

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

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

• Francis Beckwith's website
• Right Reason, a group blog in which he participates
• 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