A39675:1478
Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man
Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man wherein the divine original, excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened, its love and inclination to the body, with the necessity of its separation from it, considered and improved, the existence, operations, and states of separated souls, both in Heaven and Hell, immediately after death, asserted, discussed, and variously applied, divers knotty and difficult questions about departed souls, both philosophical, and theological, stated and determined, the invaluable preciousness of humane souls, and the various artifices of Satan (their professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered, and the great duty and interest of all men, seasonable and heartily to comply with the most great and gracious design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls, argued and pressed / by John Flavel ...Pneumatologia, a treatise of the soul of man wherein the divine original, excellent and immortal nature of the soul are opened, its love and inclination to the body, with the necessity of its separation from it, considered and improved, the existence, operations, and states of separated souls, both in Heaven and Hell, immediately after death, asserted, discussed, and variously applyed, divers knotty and difficult questions about departed souls, both philosophical, and theological, stated and determined, the invaluable preciousness of humane souls, and the various artifices of Satan (their professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered, and the great duty and interest of all men, seasonable and heartily to comply with the most great and gracious design of the Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls, argued and pressed / by John Flavel ...
London: printed for Francis Tyton, 1685
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
There is an active vigilant Providence that superintends every Creature upon Earth: there is not the most despicable diminutive Creature that lives in the World, left without ⟨p. 384⟩the line of Providence. God is therefore said to give them all their meat in due season, and for that end they all wait upon him, Psal. 104.27. as a great and provident Housekeeper orders daily convenient provisions for all his Family, even to the least and lowest among them: the smallest Insects and Gnats which swarm so thick in the Air, and of the usefulness of whose Being it is hard to give an account; yet as the incomparably learned Dr. More well observes,1 these all find nourishment in the World, which would be lost, if they were not, and are again convenient nourishment themselves to others that prey upon them.
- 1Antidote, p. 82.
But Man is the peculiar, special care of God, and the Soul of man much more than the body. Hence Christ fortifies the Faith of Christians against all distrusts of Divine Providence, even from their Excellency above other Creatures, Matth. 10.31. Ye are of more value than many sparrows: and Matth. 6.26. your heavenly Father feeds the Fowls of the Air, and are ye not much better than they? and vers. 30. he clothes the grass of the field, and shall he not much more clothe you? And so the Apostle, 1 Cor. 9.9. Doth God take care for oxen? or saith he it altogether for our sakes? for our sakes no doubt this is written. In all which places the dignity of man above all Animals and Vegetables, in respect of both natural Excellency of his reasonable Soul, but especially the gracious endowments of it, which endear it far more to its Maker: this is the very hinge of the Argument, and a firm ground for the Believers Faith of Gods tender care over both parts, but especially the Soul. The body of a Believer is Gods Creature as well as his Soul; but that being of less value, hath not such a degree of care and tenderness expressed towards it, as the Soul hath: the Fathers care is not so much for the Child's clothes, as it is for the Child himself. Besides, the immediate wants and troubles of the Soul, which are Idiopathetical, are far more sharp and pinching than those it suffers upon the bodies account, which are but Sympathetical; and therefore when-ever such an excellent Creature, as a sanctified Soul, which is in Christ, or a Soul designed to be sanctified, which is moving towards Christ, fall under those heavy pressures and distresses, (as they often do) and are ready to fail; let it be assured its merciful Creator will not