A native of New York City, Professor Beckwith received his B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1983, his M.A. in Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University (Now called Trinity Graduate School) in 1984, his M.A. in philosophy from Fordham University in 1986, his Ph.D. in from Fordham University in 1989, and his Master of Juridical Studies from Washington University School of Law in 2001.  Professor Beckwith is the former associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University, and is an Associate Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies at Baylor University.  Prior to arriving at Baylor University in July of 2003, Professor Beckwith held full-time faculty appointments at Trinity International University, Whittier College, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Princeton University as a Visiting Research Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions in the Department of Politics. 

Professor Beckwith is one of the most distinguished scholars in the United States today and writes in the areas of social ethics, legal philosophy, and theology. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books, including Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007); To Everyone An Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview (InterVarsity Press, 2004); Law, Darwinism & Public Education: The Establishment Clause and the Challenge of Intelligent Design (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003); Do the Right Thing: Readings in Applied Ethics and Social Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Wadsworth, 2002); and Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air (Baker Book House, 1998). His forthcoming books are Return to Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic (Brazos Press, 2009) and Is Statecraft Soulcraft?: Christianity and Politics (InterVarsity Press, 2009).