Meet Baylor’s nationally recognized expert on church-state relations

Baylor professor Francis Beckwith’s combination of education — a master’s and doctorate in philosophy from Fordham, plus a law degree from Washington University — and experience have made him a uniquely qualified expert on church-state relations.

Since 2007, Dr. Beckwith has stayed busy in his many roles at Baylor: teaching both introductory and upper-level courses on politics, law, morality and religion; advising Honors College students on their theses; co-directing the philosophy department’s graduate program; and serving as a resident scholar in Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Beckwith is also a prolific author, having written or co-written eight books (and edited many more). Among his works: 2009’s Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic, which details his personal journey and offers theological reflection on whether one can be both evangelical and Catholic; 2012’s Politics for Christians: Statecraft as Soulcraft, which focuses on how Christians have a rich heritage of sophisticated thought and a responsibility to contribute to shaping public policy; and 2015’s Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith, which examines how religious beliefs and believers are assessed (and sometimes misunderstood) by judges and legal scholars.

His work has caught the eye of countless media outlets, ranging from The New York Times to Christianity Today, as Beckwith frequently writes and speaks on topics such as abortion and Catholicism, focusing on both the religious and political aspects of such issues.

Sic ’em, Dr. Beckwith!