historical roots of this metaphor in Bernard of Clairvaux and John Calvin, two
individuals who influenced Ambrose. The Puritan exegesis of Scripture, especially as
it relates to the spiritual reading of Song of Songs, will then be investigated. After an
examination of the Puritan celebration of marriage and sex the primacy of spiritual
marriage within Puritan writings will be explored. An extensive survey of Ambrose’s
biblical and theological understanding of spiritual marriage will then be developed,
followed by a summary of the continuities and discontinuities between Bernard and
Calvin in relationship to Ambrose.
Biblical Foundations of Spiritual Marriage
Bernard McGinn stresses the foundational role of Scripture and maintains it
was used as a “sacred text” in the early history of Christian mysticism.^6 Further,
McGinn asserts exegesis was inseparable from mysticism at least through the twelfth-
century. According to A.A. Bialas the most frequently used Scriptures for spiritual
marriage in the early church through the Roman Catholic Reformation were Hosea
2:19; Matthew 9:15; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 21:2.^7 Additionally John 17:21; 1
Corinthians 6:17; 13; 1 John 4:1-19 would inspire mystical responses.^8 In the
seventeenth-century Puritan preachers were turning to many of the same texts in their
sermons on spiritual marriage. Among the more frequently cited Old Testament
passages were Psalm 45; Isaiah 62:4-5; Hosea 2:19 and Malachi 3:1.^9 Prominent
6
7 McGinn, Foundations of Mysticism, 3, cf. 4, 345n1.^
8
Bialas, “Mystical Marriage.” s.v., 105.^
9 McGinn, “Love, Knowledge and Unio Mystica,” 60-62, 65.^
For Ps 45:10-11 see Vincent, Christ the Best Husband; for Is 62:4-5 see Edwards,
Church’s Marriage to Her Son; for Hosea see King, Marriage of the Lambe on Hos
2:20 and Baillie, Implantation, 81-Spiritual Marriage153. on Hos 2:19; for Malachi see Hooker, Soules