a Transcriber Notes

00a Transcriber Notes

Hand-typed, modernized, corrected, and annotated by
William H. Gross www.onthewing.org
© Jan 2014. Last updated: Jul 15, 2014 The 1639 Tables of Doctrine were painstakingly reconstructed
by my wife, Lynn. They do not fit the Kindle and ePub formats. The Table of Definitions has been moved to the front. Original page numbers are [bracketed] intra-text. Editor’s marginal notes are omitted. Dr. Ames’ own quotes of Scripture have been modernized, but not replaced with current translations. Paragraphs are numbered, but Dr. Ames calls each one a ‘thesis.’
Scripture in the footnotes is taken from the NKJV (Thomas Nelson Publishers © 1982)
except where otherwise noted.

Nature and scope of changes: The terms, “thee, thine, hast,” etc. have been modernized; archaic and cumbersome syntax has been simplified; obsolete words and phrases have either been revised, or annotated. The original text was inconsistent in spelling, capitalization, numbering, format, and usage, with many typographical errors. These have been standardized and corrected. Parallelism has been employed to help the reader follow the arguments (words that were assumed in the original, have been filled in, and pronouns were given a reference).
Many Scripture citations were incorrect; or they were taken from an alternate translation where the verse numbers differed from the KJV. Those are corrected and standardized according to the NKJV. If the wording was unusual, but used in the text (typically from the Geneva Bible), it has been annotated. Many additional citations have been footnoted for your convenience; and where helpful, the full text of the verse has been footnoted as well.
Some of the wording was so esoteric or technical, or the allusion so vague, that rather than modernize it, I kept the original. For example, the underlined portion here page [43]:
THIRDLY, in that besides ordination properly, whereby each thing seeks its own perfection, they keep as it were a common society; all desire the conservation of the whole more than of themselves, as seen in heavy things which are carried upward to avoid an emptiness.
This may mean that the subject of our prayers concerning our personal sacrifice is so heavy, so burdensome, that we must carry it upwards to God to avoid emptiness and despair. But I have left such interpretations to the reader, rather than impose my own. I avoided paraphrasing to allow his voice (or the translator’s) to be heard in its most original form.
You may recognize some wording which John Owen and Jonathan Edwards later employed in their own writings. Religious leaders in the American colonies referred to Dr. Ames more than perhaps any other writer. We are all indebted to him for his influential and innovative labors in the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you find this version edifying. It is not a light read, but it is a profound and rewarding read.
ONE LAST OBSERVATION: based on grammar, spelling, and style, the English translation from the Latin seems to have been done by two different individuals. The style of the one is clear and forthright, and the other is more obscure. Modernizing the English reduced that obscurity only in part. In 1968 John Dykstra Eusden did a fresh translation from the 1629 Latin edition, which may be more helpful to you than this modernization of the original English.
W.H.Gross
February 21, 2014