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Dr. Frank Beckwith has resigned as president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) as a result of his decision to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church (HT: Between Two Worlds). Here are several pertinent links on the controversy:

Dr. Beckwith’s explanation of his actions are found here.
The ETS statement concerning Beckwith’s resignation is here.
A David Neff interview with Beckwith can be found here.
A Christianity Today article by Collin Hansen on the issue is here.

Beckwith’s actions have caused a flurry of reaction, ranging from “Welcome Home” from Catholics to shame, shock, and disappointment from Protestants. Dr. Beckwith has been a well-respected philosopher and Christian scholar for some time. A discussion of the relationship between Catholicism and Protestant faiths is always complex and often full of emotion. While some of the issues are rather clear cut, it seems not all are. A positive that will hopefully come from this development will be a reexamination of the issues which divide Catholics and Protestants.

One of the most discussed issues has to do with the respective views on the innerancy and authority of Scripture. All members of the ETS must be able to affirm a doctrinal statement which contains the following phrase: “The Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the Word of God written and is therefore inerrant in the autographs.” Dr. Beckwith stated that he would have no problem affirming this statement. The ETS statement on this controversy has this to say regarding the stance of Catholicism on scriptural authority:

Confessional Catholicism, as defined by the Roman Catholic Church’s declarations from the Council of Trent to Vatican II, sets forth a more expansive view of verbal, infallible revelation.

Specifically, it posits a larger canon of Scripture than that recognized by evangelical Protestants, including in its canon several writings from the Apocrypha. It also extends the quality of infallibility to certain expressions of church dogma issued by the Magisterium (the teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church), as well as certain pronouncements of the pope, which are delivered ex cathedra, such as doctrines about the immaculate conception and assumption of Mary.

We recognize the right of Roman Catholic theologians to do their theological work on the basis of all the authorities they consider to be revelatory and infallible, even as we wholeheartedly affirm the distinctive contribution and convictional necessity of the work of the Evangelical Theological Society on the basis of the “Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety” as “the Word of God written and . . . inerrant.”

This controversy may help us better understand both the distinctives of Protestants and Catholics, as well as the doctrinal beliefs which they hold in common.