Begotten or Made?

How is it that we have so lost sight of the meaning of the human person that our very biological sex is seen as just another medical problem to be solved by technique? In a society that has rejected all moral norms, that refuses to honor God as Creator, what hope do we have of stemming the tide of scientific intervention into even the most sacred dimensions of our humanity? In this prescient volume, originally published in 1984, the eminent theological ethicist Oliver O'Donovan offers a penetrating analysis of our confusion over human nature and the proper boundaries of medical science.O'Donovan exposes the assumptions that underlie new technologies that presume to "make" human life, and offers Christians the philosophical clarity they need to navigate the torrent of increasingly baffling ethical questions they face.Today we need this wisdom more than ever, which is why the Davenant Institute is proud to be publishing this affordable new edition for the 21st century, complete with a new introduction by Matthew Lee Anderson and a retrospective by the author.