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Conception: An Icon of the Beginning, authored by Francis Etheredge
Conception: An Icon of the Beginning
by Francis Etheredge
A book to plunge into the debate on the beginning of life like a life-boat dropping into the stormy seas filled with a variety of arguments both simple and more complex, drawing on reason, evidence and expert human biologists, the wisdom of Scripture, the Fathers and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, with extensive contents for searching the many varied and diverse kinds of contributions and launched in the hope of helping the unborn, the frozen and all who are open to be touched by the wonder of life but lost in a bewildering maze of difficulties.
Each one of us is a witness to a beginning. Learning to speak about that beginning is a personal work that we share with others. This book, then, takes up those initial questions, sources and terms that help us to make sense of human conception and express it “a-freshly”. Each of us comes to exist through others: a child has a father and a mother and is embedded in a family. Indeed, if to be conceived is to be “conceived-in-relationship” then we are an Icon of the Beginning. Just, however, as “the beginning of creation” expressed an act of the mystery of God, so does the conception of each one of us; and, therefore, exploring human conception is at the same time an exploration of how human conception “recapitulates” the mystery of man’s creation.
The book is invaluably enriched by a variety of contributors: Dr Mary Anne Urlakis’ General Foreword, two poems by her daughter, Grace Marie Urlakis, and by helpful Forewords to each of the chapters from Dr. Joseph Tham, LC, Dr. Ronda Chervin, Dr. Michael Baggott, LC, Sr. Helena Burns and Kathleen Sweeney; there is an invaluably discerning review of the scientific knowledge of human conception provided by Professors Justo Aznar and Julio Tudela (in Chapter V: Part II); in addition, there are a variety of modern images from the Unesco Bioethics in Art Competitions; and, finally, there is a challenging End Word: A New Beginning, by Dr. Elizabeth Bothamley Rex.
Paperback $29.95 | Kindle $9.99
See also Humana Communitas, the Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life for the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Academy.
INTERVIEWS
In this episode of The Catholic Current, Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ, interviews Francis Etheredge, co-founder of the Donum Vitae Institute and author of Conception: An Icon of the Beginning and The Prayerful Kiss. (February 5, 2020)
TESTIMONIALS
“A fresh brilliant analysis of the moment of human conception in the light of God’s creation.” – Dr. Ronda Chervin, author of The Way of Love: The Path of Inner Transformation
“In this beautifully crafted work, Francis Etheredge argues that the human embryo is absolutely the ‘first jot’ of a person’s life story. Human persons are also relational beings for persons cannot understand themselves without reference to the other. The creative act integrates body and soul, echoing the beginning of creation. Each of us is thus an icon of the beginning. The argument put forward in favour of human beings existing body and soul from conception is robust: the Church teaches that Mary is the perfect creature from conception. She is full of grace from conception. If there is no soul, there is no grace as the soul is the recipient of grace. Her conception defines the moment of our creatureliness for us. This work is a wonderful argument in favour of the close harmony between Genesis and human generation.” – Pravin Thevathasan, MB.BS, MRPsych, MSc (Medical Ethics), Consultant Psychiatrist and Editor, Catholic Medical Quarterly
“This is a remarkable book. I know of no other that brings together philosophy, theology, embryology, the visual arts, and poetry in celebration of the beauty and inviolability of human life in the womb. It reminds me of the words of King David in the Psalm: ‘Didst thou not form me in my mother’s womb? I praise thee for my wondrous fashioning.'” – Fr. John Saward, author of Redeemer in the Womb
Author Articles
“Conception: A Contradiction?” by Francis Etheredge, Homiletics and Pastoral Review (December 11, 2020), available here.
Announcement on UNESCO’s Website
For the listing on UNESCO’s Website, click here.
Announcement on the Catholic University of Valencia’s Website
“The Bioethics Observatory participates in the writing of an American book on the origin of human life.” Bioethics Observatory. Click here to see the announcement.
Announcement on One Of Us’s Website
Reviews
“The cure for loneliness the world won’t tell you about” by Fr. Robert McTeigue, SJ. Aleteia (February 10, 2020), available here.
“Conception” by Dr. Eileen Quinn Knight. Profiles in Catholicism (November 20, 2019), available here.
Review by Bishop John Keenan
Conception: An Icon of the Beginning
Francis Etheredge
This book arose in response to the question: When does the life of a human being begin? It is a question as old as humanity itself, and the paths taken to answer it are now well worn and known.
In that sense it is a rare event indeed to find the question take us in quite a new direction, one that has its beginning before tired and tested words and concepts, and opens its vista to include the insights of origins, of art and spirit. Where others have seen a crossroads separating the paths of faith and science, Etheredge has noticed a highway of mystery that allows more sense. In this world of his we begin to understand how the dilemmas that have plagued questions around human life and love are not lacking in arguments but have become stuck out of a failure of imagination more than anything.
In bringing the gift of new intuitions into play Francis Etheredge opens the mind to wonder at what creation would have meant to our world before its sights were lowered to mere notions of fabrication and reproduction. Where the world seems blinded by techne and asks only about usefulness, he sees its poiesis and is lost in contemplation; where it sees only stuff and obsolescence, he sees eternal significance.
At the moment of conception, Etheredge sees not just fusion but light as, who knows, some radiation of that first Light. The body and soul are not two entities but sacramentally one, as outward and inward expressions of the one reality of the human person, itself an icon embodying the idea of God. In widening the horizon, he invites us to consider human sexuality way beyond pure function and satisfaction, and to imagine it as a harmony whose tune begins in the breath of divine intercommunion itself.
It makes sense, then, that his work is carried out in the company of poets and artists, philosophers and theologians. Only this method opens the intuitions of creation and revelation, of beginnings and incarnations, of mysteries and their expressions. All of this is the living environment where the central thesis breathes; that where the body lives, there is the soul, and where there is both there is the human person, created whole as the only way God knows how.
I invite you to accompany Etheredge on the adventure of where the life of a human being begins, not so much as to have some ready-made answer to the controversies of our times, but so that this long contemplative gaze into the eyes of the human person allows you, at the same moment, to see something of the face of God and know, for what it is worth, the vast beginning and end of man.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mr. Francis Etheredge is married with eight children, plus three in heaven.
Francis is currently a freelance writer and speaker and his “Posts” on LinkedIn can be viewed here. Poetry; short articles; autobiographical blog; excerpts from books; and “Philosophize: A Ten Minute Write.”
For a list of all of Francis’ books published by En Route Books and Media, click here.
See Francis’ other books, too, entitled Scripture: A Unique Word, From Truth and truth: Volume I-Faithful Reason, From Truth and truth: Volume II: Faith and Reason in Dialogue, From Truth and truth: Volume III: Faith is Married Reason.
He has earned a BA Div (Hons), MA in Catholic Theology, PGC in Biblical Studies, PGC in Higher Education, and an MA in Marriage and Family (Distinction).
Enjoy these additional articles by Francis Etheredge:
John Paul Heil is a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Ordained in 1974, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he received his Doctorate in Sacred Scripture in 1979. After teaching at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis for 27 years, he joined the faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at CUA in 2006.
This book focuses on worship in the letters of Paul in an effort to shed some light upon this key theme and bring the various dimensions of its significance into the foreground of Pauline studies. Each of the thirteen New Testament letters attributed to Paul are treated exclusively from the aspect of worship, as understood in its most comprehensive sense in the biblical tradition, with the liturgical and the ethical facets of worship held in dynamic interrelationship. The result is a fresh way of reading and listening to the letters of Paul for a deeper appreciation of their original purpose and message.
John Paul Heil presents an original analysis of the theme of worship in the book of Revelation guided by a new illustration of its comprehensive chiastic structure. The worship that Revelation exhorts and enables is in the divine Spirit of prophetic witness against all forms of idolatrous worship on earth in favor of a true, heavenly, and universal worship of the Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb, for an eternal and heavenly life. The audience begins this worship in the eucharistic supper into which Revelation leads them by inviting them to respond to the promise of Jesus, “Yes, I am coming soon” with “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus” They thereby affirm and welcome the coming of the Lord Jesus, the exalted sacrificial Lamb, to the eucharistic supper that anticipates his final coming and the divine grace, the gift of eternal life, of the Lord Jesus that is intended to be the destiny of all -“The grace of the Lord Jesus with all”
The Gospel of Matthew encourages and inspires its audience to practice the true, authentic, and holistic worship required for believers in Jesus to live in the kingdom of heaven. In accordance with all that Jesus taught and exemplified regarding authentic worship, believers are invited to complement their worship of God by worshiping and praying to Jesus as God’s beloved Son, who represents “God with us.” They are also invited to complement their ritualistic worship, especially the baptism and Eucharist instituted for them by Jesus, with an ethical worship that extends to others, especially to disciples, children, and “the least ones” with whom Jesus identifies himself, the mercy God desires for a holistic worship. Indeed, a compassionate mercy toward all is the distinctive and noteworthy hallmark that characterizes the theme of worship in the kingdom of heaven, according to the Gospel of Matthew.
This book demonstrates that Luke-Acts provides its audience with a basic foundation for all of the various dimensions of Christian worship. With the arrival of Jesus, and especially his being raised from the dead by God, the preeminent locations, leadership, and times for worship move beyond the Jerusalem temple, Jewish synagogues, Sabbath, and the Jewish feasts of Passover and Pentecost to worship in and by the Christian community. As Son of God and Lord, Jesus becomes an object of true worship along with God the Father. Jesus serves as a subject for laudatory worship. Jesus teaches about prayer, engages in it, and serves as an object for supplicatory worship. Jesus not only took part in the ritual worship of being baptized by John, but as the risen and exalted Lord baptizes believers with the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of baptism. In addition, the many meal scenes throughout Luke-Acts provide numerous insights foundational for proper celebrations of the Eucharist.
This book proposes new and comprehensive chiastic structures as well as new unifying themes for the often-neglected New Testament letters of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude. In accord with these structures, which organize the oral performance of these letters in a context of communal worship, the subtitle of the book, “Worship Matters” expresses the letters’ main concern. By “worship” is meant not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it for a holistic way of worshiping God. “Matters” refers not only to the “matters” or issues regarding worship in these letters but also to the fact that worship “matters” in the sense of making an all-important difference to Christian living, not only for the original audiences of letters, but equally for their contemporary audience. Accordingly, this book proposes that: 1 Peter exhorts its audience to worship for life, both present and eternal, through the sufferings of Jesus Christ; 2 Peter exhorts its audience to worship in the knowledge regarding the final coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and Jude exhorts its audience to worship in the mercy and love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This book proposes a new and comprehensive chiastic structure as well as a new unifying theme for the Letter of James. In accord with this structure that organizes its oral performance, the words “worship to live by” express what the letter as a whole is exhorting its audience to adopt. “Worship” includes not only liturgical worship but also the ethical behavior that complements it, so that the result is a holistic way of worshiping God. And the words “to live by” embrace the worshipful conduct by which to live out presently one’s birth to a new life as a believer before the final coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, with a view to the future eternal life to be granted at the last judgment as the outcome of such worship. In short, the Letter of James urges its audience to practice the worship to live by now in order to live eternally.
This book seeks a more comprehensive understanding and appreciation for the Letter to the Hebrews by examining it from the viewpoint of its prominent theme of worship. It aims to demonstrate the topic of worship in all of its rich and varied dimensions provides the major concern and thrust that embraces Hebrews from start to finish. The author of Hebrews encourages his audience to hold on to the letter he has written to them as “the word of the encouragement” (Heb 13:22). In a very carefully concerted and masterfully artistic way, the letter persistently encourages the members of its audience with regard to their worship. Indeed, Hebrews was intended to be presented orally in a public performance as a liturgical or homiletic letter, an act of worship in itself, heard by its audience gathered together as a worshiping assembly. Hebrews exhorts the members of its audience not only with regard to their liturgical worship in which they engage during their communal gatherings, but also with regard to their ethical or moral worship in which they engage by the way they conduct themselves outside of their communal gatherings. This close examination of Hebrews through the lens of worship is intended to inform and enrich the worship of Christians today. Hebrews presents important and unique points about worship not found in any other New Testament writing. The goal is to illustrate and illuminate these points for the benefit of those who desire to deepen their worship as Christians by deepening their understanding of the magnificent literary masterpiece that the poetically lively letter to the Hebrews articulates for all Christians.
Dcn. Bob Evans and his wife Rose live in Phoenix where he serves as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, ministering at Blessed Sacrament parish in Scottsdale. They have three children and six grandchildren. His formal training in Scriptures was at the Kino Institute.Since 2004, he has been engaged in extensive biblical studies and is a popular teacher who draws heavily from the works of many others in bringing people deeper into Sacred Scriptures. He teaches Biblical Foundations with the parish-level U of Faith, Scripture for Homiletics to candidates in deacon formation and Jesus’ Parables in a diaconate post-ordination program. He mentors newly-ordained deacons, serves as the Asst. Director of Deacon Personnel for the Diocese of Phoenix, and helps as a Spiritual Director on Cursillo retreats. His website may be found at 
