stir up the proper response.^26 He then provides three very detailed examples of
meditations, the first of the soul’s love to Christ, the second of the eternity of hell, and
the third of the eternity of heaven.^27
The purpose of these meditations is to deepen the understanding and stir up
the affections so a person might experience Jesus more fully. A major component of
this process is the soliloquy which Baxter defines as “a preaching to one’s self.”^28
Throughout both the understanding and the affection sections Ambrose and other
Puritans liberally sprinkle the phrase “[o] my soul” as a way of directing and
personalizing these meditations. Significantly his three sample meditations are
replete with the abundant use of Scripture, repetitive reminders of God’s assurance
and mercy regardless of the theme, including even that of hell, but little indication of
the content or style of Ignatian sensory imagination, though the passages are richly
described.^29 Further, each one reflects a contemplative attitude of approaching the
subject with a loving and grateful stance towards God. More specifically the
meditation on the eternity of hell reminded listeners that hell was a place of loss of
everything and that humanity has been created for God and must recognize the
seriousness of sin so that this awareness creates a “pang of love” to Jesus Christ.^30
Again he mentions Bernard, “let us go down to hell whiles we are alive, that we may
not go down to hell when we are dead.”^31 Ambrose concludes this meditation with
grateful delight affirming, “[m]ethinks after all my tremblings in this meditation of
(^26) Ambrose, Media (^) (1657), 223. (^)
(^27) Ambrose, Media (1657), 223-72.
(^28) Baxter, Saints Everlasting Rest, 316. cf. Sibbes, Soul’s Conflict, 199 and Knott,
Sword of the Spirit 29 , 58, 71-2.
For a more detailed comparison of the Ignatian and Puritan use of imagination see
pages 177 30 - 8 and 187-8 below.
31 Ambrose, Ambrose, MediaMedia (1657), 249.(1657), 251. cf. Calamy,^ Art of Divine Meditation, 126.