Return to Rome - Francis J. Beckwith's Reflections on Faith, Ethics and Culture

Return to Rome | Francis J. Beckwith's Reflections on Faith, Ethics and Culture

Please consider helping newborn Jackson Yancey

October 6, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

My graduate assistant, Hilary Yancey, and her husband, Preston, need our generosity. They are proud parents of Jackson, born on September 28th with a craniofacial microsomia. Little Jackson requires a series of expensive surgeries. Please consider donating at gofundme.com. Hilary arrived at Baylor in Fall 2014 as a PhD student in philosophy. She has served as my graduate assistant twice, both for Introduction to Medical Ethics. Preston and Hilary tell their story, and explain Jackson’s condition, more eloquently than I… Read more

An important new blog on moral and social issues

August 24, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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My friend, David Boonin, a philosopher at the University of Colorado (where he also serves as the department chair), has recently put together a philosophically serious blog, What’s Wrong?. Self-identified as “the not quite official blog of cu-boulder’s center for values and social policy,” it includes on its advisory board not only your truly but also Elizabeth Brake (Arizona State), John Corvino (Wayne State), Robert George (Princeton), Dale Jamieson (NYU), Christopher Kaczor (Loyola Marymount), Jan Narveson (Waterloo), Nancy Sherman (Georgetown), and Bonnie Steinbock (SUNY Albany). Although David and I sometimes find ourselves on opposite sides on a… Read more

Serious work on abortion by female prolife scholars

August 10, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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In my previous post, I listed and linked to six books author by prolife authors, only one of which was not a college or university professor. It was brought to my attention by writer Sara Pulliam Baily that none of the authors are women. She writes on twitter: @fbeckwith@between2worlds I could see the point that these authors aren’t consulted. Also, are there women you’d add? Thanks for dialogue. — Sarah Pulliam Bailey (@spulliam) August 10, 2015 To which I replied: @spulliam@between2worlds… Read more

Why do prolifers believe that pre-born human beings are one of us?: Some resources

August 3, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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Given the recent discussions about Planned Parenthood’s alleged selling of fetal parts and organs, and the outrage and responses that have ensued, it’s important to remind ourselves that opponents of abortion, that is, prolifers, have offered a strong case for their position. It is a case that is almost unanimously ignored by the mainstream media as well as online outlets (e.g, Slate, Salon, Huffington Post, Media Matters, etc.) that seem more gifted at issuing rhetorical flourishes rather than assessing sophisticated arguments critical of… Read more

Important article on understanding fetal tissue research by Biola’s Scott B. Rae

August 2, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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With all the attention on the Planned Parenthood videos produced by the Center for Medical Progress, it’s important that both critics and supporters become better acquainted with the case against the research and medical use of organs and parts procured from dead fetuses resulting from elective abortions. Although published over 20 years ago in Christian Research Journal (Fall 1991), I highly recommend Scott B. Rae’s article, “Spare Parts from the Unborn: The Ethics of Fetal Tissue Transplantation? (You can get it… Read more

Call for Papers: “Doing Justice Without Doing Harm”

July 28, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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HT: Rick Garnett at Mirror of Justice This looks really interesting. What follows is republished from Rick’s post at Mirror of Justice: Call for Proposals “Doing Justice without Doing Harm” Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, California March 11-12, 2016 We hope you will join us for the conference discussed below. Mark your calendar, submit a proposal, and forward this message to blogs, list serves, and people who might be interested. Speakers already confirmed include the following: Barbara E. Armacost, Professor of Law,… Read more

St. Anthony, Pray For Us

May 21, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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I have not written anything for The Catholic Thing (TCT) since late January. There were two reasons for this: my semester research leave in Rome and the death of my father, the latter of which occurred 8 days after my wife and I arrived in the Eternal City. My most recent installment over at TCT is about those first days in Rome and our abrupt return to the US upon hearing from my parents about my father’s declining health. The title,… Read more

Another summer at Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado

April 10, 2015 By Francis Beckwith

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During this upcoming summer (2015) I will be lecturing at 4 of the 7 two-week sessions at Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado. (June 11; June 16; July 24; August 10; August 19). I will be giving two talks dealing with philosophical challenges to Christian belief, as well as conducting a one hour open forum. At the open forum students can ask me questions, though this session always develops into an extended conversation on a variety of issues. I have been… Read more

The Smartest Woman You Never Knew: Gretchen Passantino Coburn

October 9, 2014 By Francis Beckwith

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Gretchen Passantino Coburn died last week at the age of 62. Although virtually all of my Catholic readers, and most of my Protestant ones, have likely never heard of her, she was, along with her late husband, Bob Passantino, an important influence on many of us who considered ourselves to be intellectually serious Evangelicals. Although I had heard of the legendary Passantinos during my days in college in the early 1980s, I had never actually met them until April 1991, when I was… Read more

On “Slippery Slopes”: A Response to Richard Mouw

July 18, 2014 By Francis Beckwith

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That’s the title of my latest essay over at The Catholic Thing. It is a response to a First Things blog post by Richard Mouw. Here’s how my piece begins: My friend, Richard Mouw, a philosopher and former president of Fuller Theological Seminary, has raised an important challenge about the use of counterexamples when making one’s case on certain controversial moral and political questions. He shares one of the arguments he employs to explain to his friends why he opposes the legal… Read more