CONCLUSION
This thesis began by asking two questions: was Isaac Ambrose a Puritan
mystic and can the contemporary Church retrieve any wisdom from his writings?
Jean Williams’ detailed analysis of Puritan sermons, commentaries, diaries, letters,
and other literature has persuasively argued and clearly established that Puritan
mysticism was not uncommon nor was it an aberration as many scholars have
previously thought but rather a common reality among many moderate Puritans.
However, this present study is greatly indebted to the ongoing research of Bernard
McGinn. He articulates that a broader definition of the mystical element of Christian
spirituality is more helpful for studying the possibility of Christian mysticism. The
present author strongly agrees. For not only does this open up the possibilities of
discovering mystical elements within the more traditional field of the Western and
Roman Catholic tradition, in which one is more likely to find them, but also is very
suggestive for that within Protestantism in general and more particularly, within
Puritanism. This thesis has renamed McGinn’s concept of the mystical element as
contemplative-mystical piety. This terminology is more conducive to Reformed
theology and experience and hopefully removes the residual fears and gross
exaggerations that may still exert influence in certain sections of the Reformed
community.
Unlike William’s research that covered a broad spectrum of seventeenth-
century Puritans this present work focuses primarily on Isaac Ambrose. Ambrose
was a moderate Lancashire Puritan divine who was ejected in 1662 for
nonconformity. Writers from previous generations have called him “the most