This republication of Dr William Ames work seeks to promote the doctrines of distinguishing grace. Dr John Gill quotes often from Dr Ames in his works and for this reason we have made The Marrow of Sacred Divinity available for the reader of today. The gospel truths are clearly Calvinists and clearly beneficial for all to read. This work was translated for the latin and we have done our best to correct the old fashion way of spelling words so please excuse the erroWilliam Ames ( 1576 - 14 November 1633) was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Calvinists and the Arminians. The Arminians, or Remonstrants as they were better known opposed the "rigid" Calvinism of the Dutch Reformed churches-a "rigidity" also shared among the English Puritans. The Remonstrants argued two main points: that the human will played a significant, if not a controlling role in salvation and that Christ died for all men, not just the elect. On the second point, Arminius had made a special attack on theory of predestination held by William Perkins, Ames' respective Cambridge tutor. Ames did battle in several tracts with Jan Uitenbogaert, Simon Episcopius, and especially Nicolaas Grevinchoven, an influential Remonstrant minister in Rotterdam. In the winter of 1618-1619 the whole Arminian conflict came to a climax during the Synod of Dort to which Reformed theologians came from England, Holland, France, Switzerland and Germany. Ames served as a consultant to the moderator of the Synod, which finally condemned Arminian theology. He prepared this work as his Medulla Theologiae (The Marrow of Theology), a manual of Calvinistic doctrine, for his students. His works, which the Biographia Britannica (1778) testifies were known over Europe, were collected at Amsterdam in five volumes. Only a small proportion was translated into English. Ames' thought was particularly influential in New England.
About the Author: Dr. William Ames (1576-1633) was born in 1576 at Ipswich in Suffolk, that region east of Anglia where Puritanism had first "begun", and where the persecution of the crown was least effective. His father was a merchant who was sympathetic to the Puritan cause; his mother was a relative of later colonist Pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Both his parents died, and William was taken in by his uncle, Robert Snelling of Oxford, who took William into his home, and with understanding and generosity saw to his needs and educationWilliam Ames ( 1576 - 14 November 1633) was an English Protestant divine, philosopher, and controversialist. He spent much time in the Netherlands and is noted for his involvement in the controversy between the Calvinists and the Arminians. He prepared this work as his Medulla Theologiae (The Marrow of Theology), a manual of Calvinistic doctrine, for his students. His works, which the Biographia Britannica (1778) testifies were known over Europe, were collected at Amsterdam in five volumes. Only a small proportion was translated into English. Ames' thought was particularly influential in New England. Thus, he who was the greatest influence on early America never arrived there. He may have been the first president of Harvard, instead of Thomas Shepherd, but "come what may" were not part of God's ordained plan for his life. According to Daniel Neal, the first furniture at Harvard were the books of Ames, the famous professor of divinity at Franeker. He was of such profound influence upon the theology of New England that he was quoted more than Luther or Calvin combined. Jonathan Edwards often began with the thought of the Franeker professor.Ames chose the centre of Puritan learning, Cambridge University, over Oxford for his higher education. Cambridge was dominated during Elizabethan and Jacobean time by the teaching and preaching of Thomas Cartwright (1535-1603), William Perkins (1558-1602), and John Preston (1587-1628). Ames had the good providence to become close to William Perkins, and their relationship not only grew as teacher/student, but also as friends.