That’s the title of my latest installment over at The Catholic Thing. Here’s how it begins: Well, George Lewis told the Englishman, the Italian and the Jew “You can’t open your mind, boys To every conceivable point of view” – Bob Dylan, “High Water (For Charley Patton),” 2001 Many years ago I was a guest on a national radio show to discuss one of my books. I forget which one, but I vividly remember an encounter I had with a listener who called... Read more
My niece, Riley Jane Beckwith, as I have already noted, was named a National Merit Finalist, earned a full ride to the University of Dallas (beginning in Fall 2013), and is the 2013 Dayton High School valedictorian. What follows is the text of her valedictorian address, which she delivered in Dayton, Nevada on May 30, 2013: 2013 Dayton High School Valedictorian Address by Riley J. Beckwith The title of valedictorian demands that I give some sort of wisdom to the... Read more
I’m very proud of my niece, Riley Beckwith, who graduates tomorrow from Dayton High School (Nevada) as its valedictorian. Here’s an article about her from this morning’s Reno Gazette-Journal: Dayton High School senior Riley Beckwith has been named a National Merit Finalist Scholarship recipient, the most prestigious and highly competitive award given through the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Beckwith, the Dayton High Class of 2013 Valedictorian, has also accepted the school-sponsored National Merit Finalist Scholarship offered by the University of... Read more
That’s the title of my latest entry over at The Catholic Thing. Here’s how it begins: Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace –John Lennon, “Imagine” (1971) The late John Lennon implied in this famous tune that utopia requires the absence of real human differences and firm convictions, as if the communities, beliefs, and civil societies that arise from a... Read more
From Baylor media communications: WACO, Texas (April 22, 2013) — Francis J. Beckwith, Ph.D., a professor of philosophy at Baylor University and Resident Scholar in Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, will travel to Rome in mid-June to speak at The Celebration of Evangelium Vitae: Faithful to Life conference, sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. Beckwith is one of three speakers invited to speak at the event, to be held June 15-16. >>>Continue reading For more... Read more
The President, on Easter Sunday at the White House: Me, two weeks ago in my backyard sports court. (My wife, Frankie, is making commentary) We’re roughly the same age. He was born in 1961, and I was born in 1960. He played high school basketball, and so did I. Clearly, even then, I had better legs: Read more
On March 30, 2013, Edith Schaeffer died at the age of 98. Born on November 3, 1914, she was the widow of Francis A. Schaeffer. (November 3 is my birthday as well). In my book, Return to Rome: Confession of An Evangelical Catholic (Brazos Press, 2009), I tell of my encounter with Mrs. Schaeffer at a bookstore in New York City on April 29, 1986, when I was 25 years old: During my second year in New York City I had the... Read more
One of our most gifted students at Baylor University, Emily Edmondson, has created a new blog, “The Papal Translation Project.” Emily, who is bilingual, has taken it upon herself to publish some of Pope Francis’ works, including some of his homilies as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Monsignor Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. Emily translated four of the six she has published so far. You can find them all here. Emily also helps direct the RCIA class at St. Peter’s Catholic Student Center... Read more
My esteemed colleague, Alexander Pruss, late last year published the book, One Body: An Essay on Christian Sexual Ethics (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012). I selected it as one of the best books I read in 2012. If you have been looking for a philosophically sophisticated, though clearly written, presentation of Christian sexual ethics by a leading scholar in the field, one that has distinguished himself in the wider academic world, this is the book for you. Thus, I... Read more
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