in particular those pertaining to specific time period, geographical boundaries, and
what themes will be examined.^165 For this study Isaac Ambrose, a seventeenth-
century Lancashire Puritan, and his sources, frames the time period and geography.
Since this is a study on the contemplative-mystical piety of the Puritans those themes
as well as the theological foundations of that piety will be the primary focus. Closely
related is the importance of context and culture. Reading Ambrose within his context
requires sensitivity to the political tensions of nonconformity and recognizing the
heavy concentration of Roman Catholics in Lancashire. Additionally, the theological
dynamics exert a great influence as will shortly be illustrated in the motivation behind
Ambrose’s work Media. Further, it has become appropriate to stress the role of
contemplation not only methodologically but also more fully as a hermeneutical
method in the study of Christian spirituality.^166 Significantly this reinforces and
validates the focus of this present study.
While many writers have contributed to the development of hermeneutics this
thesis will follow David Tracy^167 who created his method by interacting with the
Gadamer and Ricoeur. Tracy’s approach is grounded in interpreting the “classic” text
that possesses at least three assumptions:
first, there exists a qualitative difference between a classic and a period piece; second, there exists an assumption that a classic, by definition, will always be
in need of further interpretation in view of its need for renewed application to
a particular situation: third, a classic, again by definition, is assumed to be
any text that always has the power to transform the horizon of the interpreter
and thereby disclose new meaning and experiential possibilities.^168
(^165) Sheldrake, Spirituality & History (^) , 101-5.
(^166) Sheldrake, “Spirituality and Its Critical Methodology,” 26-9.
(^167168) Tracy, Analogical Imagination, 99-153.
Tracy, On Naming the Present, 115.