primary reason for Ambrose’s suspicion was the Quakers. No doubt Ambrose’s fears
were heightened because the Quakers were particularly strong in Lancashire and
records indicate their presence in Preston during his ministry.^4 While George Fox, the
founder of the Quakers, was raised in a Puritan home he had radically jettisoned those
roots. Geoffrey Nuttall summarizes the outcome asserting that Fox and his fellow
Quakers “disturbed this conjunction ... between God’s Word in Scripture and the
Holy Spirit.”^5 Ambrose confirms Nuttall’s summary, warning his readers to be alert
to the blasphemies of the “Quakers and Ranters” because they do not have “the Spirit
of Christ within them.”^6 Ambrose’s remarks reveal one of the common themes within
Quaker theology that alarmed the Puritans. Fox created a distinction and growing
tension between the internal word of the Spirit from the external Word of Scripture.^7
Over time the internal word grew in importance to the diminishment and even
exclusion of the external Word. Overall, Ambrose seldom mentions the Quakers in
his writing. However, that should not minimize their significance due to Ambrose’s
irenic spirit and his desire to eschew controversies because they reduced his
contemplative attitude. However, it is possible to view the seriousness of the Quaker
danger from a different angle. In his discussion of assurance of heaven and the role
of the Holy Spirit Ambrose declares that, “the holy Ghost works not by enthusiasmes
or dreames” instead a person can find assurance through “the promises of the
(^4) Nightingale, Quaker Movement in Lancashire (^) , 10, 36. cf. Welch, “Quakers, Ranters
and Puritan Mystics,” 66 and Watts, 5 The Dissenters, 195-6.
Nuttall, Holy Spirit in Puritan Faith, 26. cf. Nuttall, “Puritan and Quaker
Mysticism,” 522 and Nuttal, Puritan Spirit, 174-5. For a helpful treatment of the
issues surrounding this conflict see Adam, 6 Word and Spirit: Puritan-Quaker Debate.
Ambrose, Looking Unto Jesus, 901. While there is a technical difference between
Quakers, Ranters, and Seekers they were often combined due to their common
heterodoxy. (^7) Nuttall, Holy Spirit in Puritan Faith (^) , 30.