Thus of the producing of the body of Christ: His soul was produced as the souls of other men are, that is, It was immediately created by the holy Ghost, and infused into his body: only there is difference amongst divines about the time of the infusing of the soul of Christ: for in the ordinary course, Nature proceeds in this manner: first, there is the mass of blood or seed received in the womb, but there is no parts of a body framed at the first: after a certain number of weeks, nature forms that substance into the parts of the body distinctly, but yet it is without life: then is the soul infused, when the body is organical, and so it is quickened & ⟨p. 264⟩a true man, it is not before a man, but Embryo as they call it: Now the question is, how Christ could receive that imperfect Embryo or the flesh at the first conception, seeing it was not a perfect humane Nature? To this some answer, that our Saviour did not follow the ordinary course of taking flesh, as other men do, but in the very instant of the conception, his body was made organical, & had perfect members, and the soul infused at that instant also: and their reason is this, because the Son of God did not become a person to any thing but the Man-hood of Christ: Now the Man-hood must needs have a reasonable soul and body formed, and organical: else we must say, that something did subsist in the Person of his divine Nature that was not man, as Embryo or the lump unformed, and not animated was.
Thus of the producing of the body of Christ: His soule was produced as the soules of other men are, that is, It was immediately created by the holy Ghost, and infused into his body: onely there is difference amongst diuines about the time of the infusing of the soule of Christ: for in the ordinarie course, Nature proceeds in this manner: first, there is the masse of bloud or seed receiued in the wombe, but there is no parts of a body framed at the first: after a certaine number of weekes, nature formes that substance into the parts of the body distinctly, but yet it is without life: then is the soule infused, when the body is organicall, and so it is quickned & ⟨p. 264⟩a true man, it is not before a man, but Embryo as they cal it: Now the question is, how Christ could receiue that imperfect Embryo or the flesh at the first conception, seeing it was not a perfect humane Nature? To this some answer, that our Sauiour did not follow the ordinary course of taking flesh, as other men doe, but in the very instant of the conception, his body was made organical, & had perfect members, and the soule infused at that instant also: and their reason is this, because the Sonne of God did not become a person to any thing but the Man-hood of Christ: Now the Man-hood must needs haue a reasonable soule and body formed, and organicall: else we must say, that something did subsist in the Person of his diuine Nature that was not man, as Embryo or the lumpe vnformed, and not animated was.
