were printed in only one edition no dates will be given in footnote references for these
sources. Ambrose also wrote two dedications for Henry Newcome’s works.^159
Additionally there are a few surviving manuscripts of letters of Isaac Ambrose that
have been printed in various histories of Lancashire. I have had access to all of these
documents for this study.^160
The Hermeneutical Process(^) As previously indicated most early modern or Puritan historians give little
attention to the subject of hermeneutics. Two exceptions to this both point to Quentin
Skinner.^161 However, his primary focus is political thought and this thesis will draw
upon the more appropriate field of hermeneutical theory that is consistent with the
discipline of Christian spirituality.^162 Since this is a historical-theological study of
seventeenth-century Puritanism, history is of the utmost importance. Philip Sheldrake
reminds readers of the critical importance of how we think about the past and the
broader issue of historical consciousness.^163 Therefore, one must approach this
subject carefully, aware of the potential dangers of oversimplifying the complexity of
any person or movement of spirituality, sensitive to the continuity and discontinuity
between sources of different traditions and time periods, and presentism.^164 Further,
Sheldrake asserts that the study of history requires that certain choices must be made,
159
160 Newcome, Sinners Hope and Usurpation Defeated.^
thesis were accessed at the British Library and Dr Williams’s Library and The writings of Isaac Ambrose and other early modern authors consulted for this also
through the Early English Books Online (EEBO) database. 161
Coffey, Theology and British Revolutions, 25-6 and Trueman, “Puritan Theology
as Historical Event,” esp. 257 162 - 60.
See for example Sheldrake, Spirituality & History, esp. 91-112, 171-95; Sheldrake,
“Interpretation.” in Blackwell Companion; Sheldrake, “Spirituality and Its Critical
Methodology”; and Dreyer and Burrows, 163 Minding the Spirit.
(^164) Sheldrake, Sheldrake, “Spirituality and Its Critical Methodology,” 17.Spirituality & History, esp. 17- 3 9, 65-90.