Everything about Samuel Rutherford totally explained
Samuel Rutherford (
1600? –
1661) was a Scottish
Presbyterian theologian and author. He was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the
Westminster Assembly.
Born in the village of
Nisbet, Roxburghshire, Rutherford was educated at
Edinburgh University, where he became in
1623 Regent of Humanity (
Professor of
Latin). In
1627 he was settled as minister of
Anwoth in
Galloway, from where he was banished to
Aberdeen for
nonconformity. His patron in Galloway was
John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure. On the re-establishment of
Presbytery in
1638 he was made Professor of
Divinity at
St. Andrews, and in
1651 Principal of St. Mary's College there. At the
Restoration he was deprived of all his offices.
Writings
Rutherford's political book
Lex, Rex (meaning "the law [and] the king" or "the law [is] king") presented a theory of
limited government and
constitutionalism. It was an explicit refutation of the doctrine of "Rex Lex" or "the king is the law." His argument against "Rex Lex" was based on
Deuteronomy, and it supported the rule by law rather than rule by men, based on such concepts as the
separation of powers and the
covenant, a precursor to the
social contract. It laid the foundation for later
political philosophers such as
Thomas Hobbes and
John Locke and thus for modern political systems such as that of the
United States. After the
English Restoration, the authorities burned
Lex, Rex and cited the author for
high treason, which his death prevented from taking effect.
Rutherford was also known for his spiritual and devotional works, such as
Christ Dying and drawing Sinners to Himself and his
Letters. Rutherford was a strong supporter of the divine right of Presbytery, the principle that the Bible calls for Presbyterian church government. Among his polemical works are
Due Right of Presbyteries (
1644),
Lex, Rex (1644), and
Free Disputation against Pretended Liberty of Conscience.
Further Information
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