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 ...

Inference I.

IS this the state of ungodly Souls after death? Then it follows, that neither death nor annihilation are the worst of evils, incident to man. Aristotle calls death the most terrible of all terribles: and the Schoolmen affirm Annihilation to be a greater evil than the most miserable being: but it is neither so, nor so; the Wrath of God, the Worm of Conscience, are much more bitter than death. The pains of death are natural and bodily pains; the Wrath of God and anguish of Conscience, are spiritual and inward: that is but the pain of a few hours or days, these are the unrelieved torments of eternity.

And as for Annihilation, what a favour would the damned ac∣count it! Indeed if we respect the glory of Gods justice which is exemplified and illustrated in the ruine of these miserable souls, it is better they should abide as the eternal monuments thereof, than not be at all; but with respect to themselves, we may say as Christ doth of the Son of Perdition, Matth. 26.24. Good had it been for them if they had never been born: For a mans Soul to be of no other use than a vessel of wrath, to receive the indignation, and be filled with the fury of God; surely an un••timely Birth that was never animated with a reasonable Soul, is better than they: for alas, they seek for death, but it flies from them. The immortality of their Souls, which was their dignity and priviledge above other Creatures, is now their misery, and that which continually feeds and perpetuates their flame. Here is a Being without the comfort of it, a Being only to howl and tremble under Divine wrath: a Being therefore, which they would gladly exchange with the contemptiblest Fly, or most loathsome Toad, but it cannot be exchanged or annihilated.