and other love-language reminiscent of the Song of Songs might encourage a greater
desire and hunger for God.
Fourth, this dissertation has examined specifically the contemplative-mystical
piety of Isaac Ambrose. Ambrose used the metaphor of “soul recreation” as one of
his primary images of contemplation. In one sense, all of his writings are a
commentary on how the soul might engage in recreation with God. Again, while
there has been some very helpful research on the nature of contemplation within
Puritan piety, this writer has not discovered anyone who has followed Dewey
Wallace’s observation regarding the importance of heavenly meditation within
Puritanism. This study has been attentive to Ambrose’s teaching and practice of
heavenly meditation. Therefore, it accepts Wallace’s challenge and also takes it as a
motivation for this writer’s future research. Frequently Ambrose spoke of beholding
or gazing at God and his massive and most popular Looking Unto Jesus is a sustained
meditation of looking at Jesus in love and gratitude. Chapter 4 indicated that one of
the primary benefits of looking at Jesus in a contemplative manner is that the person
is transformed to become more like him. The biblical foundation for this
transformative looking is 2 Corinthians 3:18 which has been a favorite text in the
history of Christian mysticism. Chapter 6 included the importance of recovering
heavenly meditation as a form of contemplation for the Church today that leads to the
final conclusion.
Fifth, and finally, it has previously been stated that this thesis asked two
questions. The first four conclusions all reinforce that Isaac Ambrose’s understanding
of basic Christianity reflected a strong contemplative-mystical piety. In many ways,
the second question is even more critical for this author. If Ambrose’s ministry was