ensoulment

The historic Catholic theory of "ensoulment," traceable to the Middle Ages, further reinforced women's subordinate status, holding that a male fetus attained human form, and therefore a soul, about forty days after conception, a process half as long as for a female fetus.

Michele Swenson: Male Entitlement: Church & State Preserve Male Prerogatives, Female Punishments 2010

The "ensoulment" viewpoint has a Jesus with no human personality that develops over the course of his life: from conception, we are dealing with a pre-existent person dressed up as a human being.

Archive 2009-07-01 James F. McGrath 2009

The tolerance of abortion ended in 1869 when Pope Pius IX issued a papal bull declaring that "ensoulment" occurs at conception.

The 'Incoherence' of Barack Obama at Notre Dame 2009

First, though you haven't mentioned it, I've heard the argument that life derives from the creation of a new, unique genetic identity at the moment of conception (this is usually connected with the word "ensoulment").

America's Deep, Dark Secret 2007

Augustine, Aquinas, and Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory XIV, among others, supported the position that abortion prior to "ensoulment" is not murder because no soul is destroyed.

The 'Incoherence' of Barack Obama at Notre Dame 2009

The "ensoulment" viewpoint has a Jesus with no human personality that develops over the course of his life: from conception, we are dealing with a pre-existent person dressed up as a human being.

Jesus the Mystic in the Gospel of John James F. McGrath 2009

She got hammered by conservatives (liberals averted their gaze), and was schooled by a few bishops who, with varying degrees of charity and bluster, pointed out that the church -- the old Augustinian debates about "ensoulment" notwithstanding -- has always held that abortion is wrong.

Abortion's Foes -- on Both Sides of the Aisle 2008

The Catholic theory of "ensoulment" traceable to the Middle Ages, also served to reinforce women's subordinate status, holding that a male fetus attained human form, and therefore a soul, about forty days after conception, a process half as long as for a female.

Michele Swenson: The Follow-Up Question Charlie Gibson Failed To Ask 2008

It moves away from mystical theories of "ensoulment" to the dangers faced by women in the American society of the 21st Century.

feminist blogs in english » 2007 » January 2007

Early Christians had a perception of "ensoulment" that roughly coincided with "quickening", the time when the mother first felt the child's movements in the womb.

"Are you concerned that you are rehabilitating outdated gender stereotypes that portray women as chatterboxes ruled by female hormones?" Ann Althouse 2006