A39675:46
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.
As for me, it hath been my sin, and is now the matter of my Sorrow; that whilst Myriads of Souls (of no higher Original than mine) are some of them beholding the highest Majesty in Heaven, and others giving all diligence to make ⟨image 10⟩sure their Salvation on earth; I was carried away so many years in the course of this World, (like a drop with the Current of the Tide) wholly forgetting my best self, my invaluable Soul; whilst I prodigally wasted the stores of my time and thoughts upon Vanities, that long since passed away as the waters which are remembered no more. *It shall be no shame to me to confess this folly, since the matter of my Confession shall go to the glory of my God. I studied to know many other things, but I knew not my self. It was with me as with a Servant to whom the Master commits two things, viz. The Child, and the Child's Clothes; the Servant is very careful of the Clothes, washes and brushes, starches and steels them, and keeps them safe and clean: but the Child is forgotten and lost. My Body which is but the Garment of my Soul, I kept and nourished with excessive care, but my Soul was long forgotten, and had been lost for ever as others daily are, had not God roused it by the Convictions of his Spirit out of that deep Oblivion and deadly slumber.
As for me, it hath been my sin, and is now the matter of my Sorrow; that whilst Myriads of Souls (of no higher Original than mine) are some of them beholding the highest Majesty in Heaven, and others giving all diligence to make ⟨image 10⟩sure their Salvation on earth; I was carried away so many years in the course of this World, (like a drop with the Current of the Tide) wholly forgetting my best self, my invaluable Soul; whilst I prodigally wasted the stores of my time and thoughts upon Vanities, that long since passed away as the waters which are remembred no more. *It shall be no shame to me to confess this folly, since the matter of my Confession shall go to the glory of my God. I studied to know many other things, but I knew not my self. It was with me as with a Servant to whom the Master commits two things, viz. The Child, and the Child's Clothes; the Servant is very careful of the Clothes, washes and brushes, starches and steels them, and keeps them safe and clean: but the Child is forgotten and lost. My Body which is but the Garment of my Soul, I kept and nourished with excessive care, but my Soul was long forgotten, and had been lost for ever as others daily are, had not God rouz'd it by the Convictions of his Spirit out of that deep Oblivion and deadly slumber.