1662 with “the dashing at the Restoration of so many Puritan hopes.”^100 Ambrose
wrote all but his two final works before 1662. Further, Baxter’s popular Saints
Everlasting Rest that was essentially a guide to heavenly meditation or contemplation
was written in 1649. Interestingly both of these works were based on texts from the
book of Hebrews.
Imagination in the Writings of Isaac Ambrose
Previously the comparison between Roman Catholic and Puritan approaches
to meditation recognized that heavenly meditation inspired a greater usage of the
imagination in the Puritans. Before examining this significant topic it must first be
framed within the Puritan awareness of the faculties of the soul.^101 Ambrose follows
the typical Puritan and medieval practice that the faculties consisted of the
understanding, will, and the affections.^102 He also included the memory as a
component of the faculties.^103 While according to Ambrose, a person could enjoy
God through both their understanding and the will,^104 the primary purpose of
meditation was to stir up the affections so that the person would respond
appropriately.^105 However, since the affections could be directed either towards God
or the world they required the proper guidance through the understanding so that “the
100
Dewey Wallace, Spirituality of Later Puritans, xvii. See Rowe, Heavenly-Mindedness (^101) The best Puritan treatment on the faculties of the soul is Reynolds, as a post-Restoration example of this. (^) Passions and
Faculties of Soul. cf. Fulcher, “Puritans and the Passions” and Kapic, Communion
with God 102 , 45n49.
Ambrose, Ultima in Prima, Media, Ultima (1654), 21; Media (1657), 140, 259,
465; and 103 Looking Unto Jesus, 325.
Ambrose, Prima in Prima, Media, Ultima (1654), 3 and Ultima in Prima, Media,
Ultima 104 (1654), 67.
(^105) Ambrose, Ambrose, UltimaLooking Unto Jesus in Prima, Media, Ultima, 319. (1654), 212.^