argues persuasively “that mystics and mystically-inclined individuals naturally grew
out of the soil of moderate Puritanism: they were not hybrid off-shoots, but expected
outgrowths of mainstream Puritan theology and devotion which itself had many
mystical elements.”^2
The secondary question of this thesis is the practical issue of retrieval that lies
behind the historical-theological question. Does Isaac Ambrose have any wisdom to
teach the contemporary Reformed Church about piety and growing in deeper union
and communion with God? In that sense, this thesis is an exercise in practical
theology as much as it is in historical theology. The term “Reformed” is used in its
broader theological context to describe the descendants of John Calvin rather than
limiting it to a cluster of specific denominations. Therefore, it may occasionally be
linked with the term “evangelical” to signify those from outside Reformed Churches
who practice a Reformed theology and spiritual life. In recent years numerous
Reformed Christians who were formed by a strong cognitive emphasis have been
leaving their Churches and searching for deeper and more experiential relationships
of faith. The reality is that some Reformed Christians are weaker and less effective in
their ministries because of ignorance or resistance to contemplative spirituality.
Further, the Reformed tradition has much to learn from her earlier Catholic roots. In
the following chapters it will become evident that many Reformed writers of the
sixteenth and seventeenth-centuries were willing to embrace and even strongly
endorse medieval sources from the Western Catholic Church, not limited to but
especially those of Bernard of Clairvaux. Chapter 4 will explore the continuities
between the Western Catholic and Reformed uses of contemplation while the
(^2) Williams, “Puritan Enjoyment of God,” 9. (^)