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
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
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
Francis Etheredge is married with eleven children, three of whom are in heaven. Marriage and family life are a work of graced nature: a single reality which has a history and is a vocation. Through sharing his life, Francis hopes that others will discover the God who comes to help.
Francis is the author of Scripture: A Unique Word, and a trilogy From Truth and Truth (Volume I-“Faithful Reason”; Volume II-“Faith and Reason in Dialogue”; Volume III-“Faith Is Married Reason”), all of which are published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing; The Human Person: A Bioethical Word, The Family on Pilgrimage: God Leads through Dead Ends, The Prayerful Kiss, Conception: An Icon of the Beginning, Mary and Bioethics: An Exploration, and Honest Rust and Gold: A Second Collection of Prose and Poetry, all of which are published by En Route Books and Media.
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.
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.”
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:
OTHER ACADEMIC BOOKS
Teaching Research Processes by William Badke
Teaching Research Processes: The Faculty Role in the Development of Skilled Student Researchers, 2nd Edition by William Badke Today’s students struggle with the research processes required to problem-solve and enlist their findings into cogent academic writing. They...
The Right Way to Live: Plato’s Republic for Catholic Students by Richard Geraghty
The Right Way to Live: Plato's Republic for Catholic Students by Richard Geraghty Plato's philosophical dialogues provide a solid understanding of Catholic moral principles. Geraghty shows within these pages how the truths of the old sage are both delightfully and...
Soulful Organizational Leadership by Arthur William McVey
Soulful Organizational Leadership by Arthur William McVey In the "Postmodern" organizational era, the concept of soul, spirituality, rationality, telos, virtue, happiness, and meaning is becoming increasingly a mainstream component in scientific psychology. This...
A Reader in Recent Catholic Philosophy, ed. by Dr. Alan Vincelette
Out this Weekend!A Reader in Recent Catholic Philosophy: The Twentieth Century Ed. by Alan Vincelette This presentation of readings in Catholic philosophy in the twentieth-century reveals a remarkable diversity of views. Dr. Vincelette presents this diversity in the...
Wisdom Literature
Wisdom Literature by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA The seven books of wisdom include Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom, and Sirach, all of which teach one thing in a universal and essentially poetic manner: wisdom. Wisdom is a practical...
Pentateuch by Very Rev. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA
Pentateuch: A Spiritual Interpretation by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA This book gives a special emphasis to a spiritual interpretation of the Pentateuch in a manner that springs forth from and is based on the literal interpretation, in particular the actual words used...
The Historical Books by Very Rev. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA
Historical Books by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA This book introduces the historical books of the Old Testament as a way by which all, especially those aspiring to the priesthood, can become familiar with the Old Testament and the various spiritual ways, grounded in...
Prophetic Literature by Very Rev. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA
Prophetic Literature by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA This book engages the canonical prophetic literature of the Old Testament, demonstrating how it points to Christ and is fulfilled in Christ. Like Wisdom Literature, prophetic literature teaches perennial moral truths...
Recent Catholic Philosophy: The Twentieth Century
Recent Catholic Philosophy: The Twentieth Century by Alan Vincelette This presentation of Catholic philosophy in the twentieth-century reveals a remarkable diversity of views. Dr. Vincelette presents this diversity in an expository manner without applying the kind of...
Solidarity and Salvation in Christ in the Light of “Gaudium et Spes”: An Anthropologico-Theological Study
Solidarity and Salvation in Christ in the Light of "Gaudium et Spes": An Anthropologico-Theological Study by Msgr. Albert Kuuire Deep within himself, man longs for a better and longer-lasting life. This deep longing reveals both the ephemeral nature of our material...
Help Dante Help Italy
Help Dante Help Italy A new translation by Daniel Fitzpatrick accompanied by the new sculptures of Timothy Schmalz Donate today!The Inferno is now available in Paperback and Kindle! Click a link below to order your copy today! And, as you're ordering, listen to the...
Mary and Bioethics: An Exploration
Mary and Bioethics: An Exploration by Francis Etheredge Whether it is the problem of pain, the messiness of our relationships or the confusion circulating about human identity, it is possible to think that we do not have anything to learn from the Virgin Mary, spouse...
New Paths to God and the Soul by Roger Skrenes
New Paths to God and the Soul by Roger Skrenes Much of what we receive through media of social communications does not concern itself with either God or the soul. So it is up to each of us to make ourselves aware of the pathways to God and the evidence for...
At Mass with Jesus on Calvary: Reflections on the Prayers of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, authored by Fr. Gene Martens, SJ
At Mass with Jesus on Calvary: Reflections on the Prayers of the Mass and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist by Fr. Gene Martens, SJ For the ordinary Catholic, this book will clarify the teaching of the Catholic Church on the Real Presence of Jesus in the...
Spiritual Husbands-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, co-edited by Bishop Estévez and Bishop Cozzens
Spiritual Husbands-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century by Bishop Felipe J. Estévez, S.T.D., and Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens, S.T.D. In Spiritual Husbands-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, Bishops Estévez and Cozzens...
The Destructive Doctrines of our Age by Gerard M. Verschuuren
The Destructive Doctrines of Our Age by Gerard M. Verschuuren There are many doctrines around that try to change and mold our minds—doctrines such as relativism and secularism, to name just a couple, but this book discusses 13 more. These doctrines are...
A Study of the New Testament by Rev. John Paul Heil, S.S.D.
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...
Walking the Parables of Jesus: A Journey into the Words, Life and Times of Jesus Christ, authored by Deacon Bob Evans
Walking the Parables of Jesus: A Journey into the Words, Life and Times of Jesus Christ by Deacon Bob Evans Walking the Parables of Jesus is a unique treatment of Jesus’ parables. Drawing on the work of many scholars, the author takes those who seek a deeper...
The Meaning of the Eucharist by Fr. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R.
The Meaning of the Eucharist by Fr. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. This book highlights some of the major theological voices from the past century who contributed to a deepening of the Church’s understanding of the significance of the Eucharist and whose efforts came to...
Broken Hearts in a Broken World, authored by Gerard M. Verschuuren
Broken Hearts in a Broken World by Gerard M. Verschuuren Brokenness has become endemic in our days. In poll after poll, the vast majority of respondents say that our country is fundamentally broken. Our political system is broken. Our economy is broken....
A Companion to Reading Newman’s Grammar of Assent by Richard Geraghty
A Companion to Reading Newman's Grammar of Assent by Richard Geraghty In this book A Companion to Reading Newman’s Grammar of Assent, Richard Geraghty explains Newman’s truths by illustrating them as they pertain to contemporary Catholic issues. Through his personal...
On the End Times, or the First Return of Christ by Jacques Cabaud
On the End Times, or The First Return of Christ by Jacques Cabaud To pray the "our Father" is to pray for the renewal of humanity by the Holy Spirit. This book explains the implications of our prayer for the conversion of sinners in moral and metaphysical...
The Thomist Tradition: Avoiding Scylla and Charybdis
COMING SOON! The Thomist Tradition: Avoiding Scylla and Charybdis by Dr. Donald Boland As with every great philosopher and theologian, the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, though perhaps the clearest expressed of all, has inevitably been subject to a variety of...
Eastern Civilization from a Catholic Viewpoint
Eastern Civilization from a Catholic Viewpoint by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA, STD Eastern Civilization from a Catholic Viewpoint traces the history of East and South East Asia from ancient times to modern times. In the process, the reader is introduced to the various...
East and South East Asian History
East and South East Asian History by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA East and South East Asian History studies the historical development of countries that make up East Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea) and countries that make up South East...
Western Civilization from the End of the Renaissance to Modern Times
COMING SOON! Western Civilization from the End of the Renaissance to Modern Times by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA This book presents the history of Western Civilization from the end of the Renaissance to Modern and the so-called Post-Modern Times. Topics include the...
Western Civilization from Prehistorical Times to the Protestant Reformation
COMING SOON! Western Civilization from Prehistorical Times to the Protestant Reformation by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA Western Civilization owes a debt of gratitude to three ancient civilizations: Jewish, Greek, and Roman. The first half of this book studies each of...
The Eclipse of God: Is Religion on the Way Out?
The Eclipse of God: Is Religion on the Way Out? by Gerard Verschuuren This book was specifically written for all those who feel lost in a world dominated by ideologies that obscure God. It is hard to pinpoint one particular cause of how we feel in such Godforsaken...
Contemporary Sacred Art: Conversations on Art & Faith
COMING SOON! Contemporary Sacred Art: Conversations on Art & Faith by Dr. Michela Beatrice Ferri In translation now from the Italian. Buy it in the original language here: What is the so-called “Contemporary Sacred Art”? In her book, Michela Beatrice Ferri...
The Narrative Spirituality of Dante’s Divine Comedy: a hundred-day guided journal
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri has captivated the imagination of its readers for over seven centuries as Dante, a pilgrim on a journey to God, is called by Our Blessed Mother through the supernatural realms of the afterlife to witness the state of the souls of...
Voyage to Insight
Voyage to Insight by Dr. Ronda Chervin En Route Books and Media has reprinted Ronda Chervin and Lois Janis’ book Voyage to Insight with fresh, exciting graphics. It can be read straight through or you can add your own insights into the book and even dialogue about...
Economic Science and St. Thomas Aquinas: On Justice in the Distribution and Exchange of Wealth
Economic Science and St. Thomas Aquinas: On Justice in the Distribution and Exchange of Wealth by Dr. Donald Boland This is a book on what is perhaps the most burning and urgent of social issues of our times, namely, the relationship between the science of Economics...
Refractions of Light: 201 Answers on Apparitions, Visions and the Catholic Church
Refractions of Light: 201 Answers on Apparitions, Visions and the Catholic Church by Kevin Symonds For the past several decades, there has been a notable rise in claims of apparitions, visions and messages from heaven. This growth has often led to confusion and...
In Praise of Life
In Praise of Life by Dr. Donald DeMarco This book illustrates how ten different factors can improve our appreciation of life: Evolution prepares it, Meaning justifies it, Love enhances it, Truth directs it, Freedom crowns it, Virtue strengthens it,...
A Not-So-Elementary Christian Metaphysics, Volume 2: An Introduction to Ragamuffin Thomism
A Not-So-Elementary Christian Metaphysics, Volume 2: An Introduction to Ragamuffin Thomism by Dr. Peter Redpath Nothing short of a metaphysical disturbance and metaphysical revolution of the highest order can resolve the West’s and the world’s current...
A Not-So-Elementary Christian Metaphysics, Volume 1: Written in the Hope of Ending the Centuries-old Separation between Philosophy and Science and Science and Wisdom
A Not-So-Elementary Christian Metaphysics, Volume 1: Written in the Hope of Ending the Centuries-old Separation between Philosophy and Science and Science and Wisdom by Dr. Peter Redpath This book’s chief aim is novel and radical: to reunite philosophy,...
The Jesus Code: In the Beginning was the Word
The Jesus Code: In the Beginning was the Word by Roger Skrenes Jesus is the only person in the history of the world whose biography was known before he was born! He wanted everyone on earth to know of this miraculous Old Testament portrait of himself (Luke...
Mary, the Beloved
Mary, the Beloved by Keith Berubé The Magisterium of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary, the Mother of God, is a grace-filled, flesh and blood woman, who unsurpassingly loves each of us by name. Mary, the Beloved, affirms that teaching, providing a theological and...
The Way of Love: The Path of Inner Transformation
The Way of Love: The Path of Inner Transformation by Dr. Ronda Chervin A reprint of Dr. Ronda's The Way of Love: The Battle for Inner Transformation, this new edition under a new subtitle puts back in front of the world the nature of human love alongside...
On the Third Part of the Secret of Fatima
On the Third Part of the Secret of Fatima by Kevin J. Symonds For several decades, there has been much discussion on the famous third part of the secret of Fátima. Originally communicated to the three seers of Fátima in July, 1917, it was not written down until...
The Moral Psychology of St. Thomas Aquinas: An Introduction to Ragamuffin Ethics
The Moral Psychology of St. Thomas Aquinas: An Introduction to Ragamuffin Ethics by Dr. Peter Redpath Through a radical reinterpretation of classical philosophy as an organizational psychology, The Moral Psychology of St. Thomas: An Introduction to Ragamuffin...
The Human Person: A Bioethical Word
The Human Person: A Bioethical Word by Francis Etheredge Is bioethics a technical specialization or a profound expression of human being? Wonderfully answering this question, the book is beautifully enriched by eight Forewords. Beginning again and again, Etheredge...
History of the Eucharist
History of the Eucharist by Roger Skrenes The Eucharist is not a topic of the moment. Like any good teacher, God took “his time” in revealing the Eucharist slowly, step by step, throughout Biblical history. In this history there are two main tracks: 1) the history of...
Political Science from a Catholic Perspective
Political Science from a Catholic Perspective by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA Today, many specializations within the field of political science identify it particularly as a social science, and these are namely political theory, government and politics, comparative...
A Brief Historical Survey of Marian Devotion and Theology by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA
A Brief Historical Survey of Marian Devotion and Theology by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA This book surveys the historical development of Marian belief and devotion by the Holy Spirit through the Church. How Mary was prepared and foreshadowed in the Old Testament is...
God as Father and Priests as Fathers, Brothers, Bridegrooms, and Disciples
God as Father and Priests as Fathers, Brothers, Bridegrooms, and Disciples by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA The vocation to the priesthood does not simply entail doing specific actions that only priests can perform. Being a priest essentially means being grounded in a...
Catholic Church History: Pre-Christian to Modern Times
Catholic Church History: Pre-Christian to Modern Times by Fr. Peter Samuel Kucer, MSA Catholic Church History: Pre-Christian to Modern Times presents how the Catholic Church developed from her earliest days up to modern times. The reader will encounter the mystical...
The First Christians: Keeping the Faith in Times of Trouble
The First Christians: Keeping the Faith in Times of Trouble by Gerard Verschuuren In this book, we speak about these first Christians mainly through the people who gave them a voice and a compass: the Church Fathers. They were their leaders and their teachers, heirs...
Minor Setback or Major Disaster? The Rise and Demise of Minor Seminaries in the United States, 1958-1983
Minor Setback or Major Disaster? The Rise and Demise of Minor Seminaries in the United States, 1958-1983 by Fr. Robert Anello, MSA Interested in how this happened? "Catholic Ministry Formation Enrollment: Statistical Overview for 2017-2018," Center for Applied...