Welcome Home, Francis Beckwith!

(And thank you, God, too, for your servant, Joseph Ratzinger!)

Francis J. Beckwith, former President of the Evangelical Theological Society, has returned to the Catholic Church.

(He's is good company, in more ways than one. Former Evangelical Protestants include Scott Hahn and Father Richard John Neuhaus.)

According to the Washington Post article, some of Beckwith's colleagues are a tad upset with his decision.

"This is a sad day for all true sons and daughters of the Protestant Reformation, for all who lived and died for its truths," Douglas Groothuis, a professor at the evangelical Denver Seminary, said in a posting on Beckwith's own blog, adding sternly: " . . . you are embracing serious theological error."

Personally, I think this is Beckwith's money quote:

"At the end of the day, the reason for the Reformation was the debate over justification. If that is no longer an issue, I have to be Catholic," Beckwith said. "It seems to me that if there is not a very strong reason to be Protestant, then the default position should be to belong to the historic church."

Makes sense, doesn't it?