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 ...

PROP. III. The Souls of the damned are exceeding large and capacious subjects of wrath and torment; and in their separate state their capacity is greatly enlarged, both by laying asleep all those affections whose exer∣cise is relieving: and throughly awakning all those passions which are tormenting.

THE Soul of man being by nature a Spirit, an intelligent Spirit, and in its substantial faculties assimilated to God whose image it bears: it must for that reason be exquisitely sensible of all the impressions and touches of the wrath of God upon it. The Spirit of man is a most tender, sensible and appre∣hensive Creature. The eye of the Body is not so sensible of a touch, a nerve of the Body is not so sensible when pricked; as the Spirit of man is of the least touch of Gods indignation up∣on it. A wounded spirit who can bear? Prov. 18.14. Other external wounds upon the Body, inflicted either by man or God, are tolerable; but that which immediately toucheth the Spirit of man is insufferable. Who can bear or endure it?

And as the Spirit of man hath the most delicate and exquisite sense of misery; so it hath a vast capacity to receive, and let in the fulness of anguish and misery into it: it is a large vessel, cal∣led, Rom. 9.22. a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction. The large capa∣city of the Soul is seen in this, that it is not in the power of all the creatures in the World to satisfie and fill it. It can drink up (as one speaks) all the rivers of created good, and its thirst not quenched by such a draught; but after all, it crys, Give, give. Nothing but an infinite God can quiet and satisfie its appetite and raging thirst.

And as it is capable and receptive of more good than is found in all the Creatures; So it is capable of more misery and an∣guish than all the Creatures can inflict upon it. Let all the ele∣ments or men on Earth, yea, all the Devils and damned in Hell conspire and unite in a design to torment man; yet when they have done all, his Spirit is capable of a farther degree of tor∣ment, a torment as much beyond it, as a rack is beyond an hard bed, or the Sword in his bowels is beyond the scratch of a pin. The Devils indeed are the executioners and tormentors of the damned; but if that were all they were capable to suffer, the torments of the damned would be comparatively mild and gen∣tle, to what they are. O the largeness of the understanding of man! What will it not take into its vast capacity?

But add to this, That damned Souls have all those affections laid in a deep and everlasting sleep, the exercises whereof would be relieving by emptying their Souls of any part of their misery: and all those passions throughly and everlastingly awakened which increase their torments.

The affections of joy, delight and hope are all benummed in them, and laid fast asleep, never to be awakened into act any more. Their hope in Scripture is said to perish: (i. e.) it so pe∣risheth, that after death it shall never exert another act to all eter∣nity. The activity of any of these affections would be like a cooling gale, or refreshing Spring amidst their torments; but as Adrian lamented himself, nunquam jocos dabis, thou shalt never be merry more.

And as these affections are laid asleep, so their passions are rouz∣ed and throughly awakened to torment them. So awakened, as never to sleep any more. The Souls of men are sometimes jog'd and startled in this World, by the words or rods of God, but presently they sleep again and forget all: but hereafter the eyes of their Souls will be continually held waking to behold and consider their misery; their understandings will be clear and most apprehensive; their thoughts fixed and determined; their con∣sciences active and efficacious: and by all this their capacity to take in the fulness of their misery enlarged to the uttermost.