Samuel Rutherford

Samuel Rutherford (1600? – 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author. He was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1661 (MDCLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Theology at: The School of Theology Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines 1643 was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. ...

Born at 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. Roxburghshire (Siorrachd Rosbroig in Gaelic) is a traditional county of Scotland. ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Events A Dutch ship makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. ... Anwoth is a settlement near the Solway Firth in the Stewarty of Kirkcudbright, in South West Scotland, within a parish of the same name in the Vale of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway. ... Galloway (Scottish Gaelic, Gall-ghaidhealaibh or Gallobha, Lowland Scots Gallowa) today refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in southwest Scotland, but has fluctuated greatly in size over history. ... Aberdeen (IPA: ; Scottish Gaelic: ) is Scotlands third largest city with a population of 202,370. ... Non conformism is the term of KKK ... John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure, (1599 - 1634) was a Scottish nobleman and presbyterian. ... A presbytery can be - * the residence of one or more presbyters, priests, or religious elders; - * an area of a church or cathedral reserved for priests; - * the collective college of priests in a diocese, archdiocese, or prelature; - * the local unit in the polity of a Presbyterian church, consisting of presbyters (i. ... Events March 29 - Swedish colonists establish first settlement in Delaware, called New Sweden. ... Divinity has a number of related uses in the field of religious belief and study. ... See St Andrews, New South Wales for St Andrews, Sydney, Australia. ... // Events January 1 - Charles II crowned King of Scotland in Scone. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ...

Rutherford's Writings

Rutherford's political book, Lex, Rex, presented a theory of limited government and constitutionalism. 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 Restoration, English authorities burned Lex, Rex and cited the author for high treason, which his death prevented from taking effect. Limited government is most commonly government where its functions and powers are prescribed, limited, and restricted by law, usually in a written constitution. ... Constitutionalism is the limitation of government by law. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what... “Hobbes” redirects here. ... This article is about John Locke, the English philosopher. ...

Rutherford 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. His 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. The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Separation of powers a term coined by French political Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu[1][2], is a model for the governance of democratic states. ... Covenant, in its most general sense, is a solemn and bilateral promise to do or not do something specified. ... John Lockes writings on the Social Contract were particularly influential among the American Founding Fathers. ... // Events February to August - Explorer Abel Tasmans second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia. ...

See also

• Covenanters
• Andrew Bonar who edited Rutherford's Letters for publication in 1863
• Rutherford Institute, a conservative civil-liberties organization named for Rutherford and inspired by "Lex, Rex."

James VI of Scotland (James I of England) was opposed by the Covenanters in his attempt to bring the Anglican Church into Scotland The Covenanters formed an important movement in the religion and politics of Scotland in the 17th century. ... Andrew Alexander Bonar, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland; born Edinburgh May 29, 1810, youngest brother of Horatius Bonar; died Glasgow December 30, 1892. ... Year 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Rutherford Institute is a public interest law firm and resource center based in Charlottesville, Virginia. ...

Reference

• Cook, Faith (ed), Grace in Winter: Rutherford in Verse, (1996), ISBN 0-85151-555-X
• Coffey, John, Politics, Religion and the British Revolutions: The Mind of Samuel Rutherford, (1997), ISBN 0-521-58172-9

External links

• Lex, Rex in its entirety
• A short biography and selected writings
• Rutherford's Letters, sample
• Selected writings
• A Free Disputation Against Pretended Liberty of Conscience by Rutherford
• Samuel Rutherford by Alexander Whyte, available at Project Gutenberg.

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John W. Cousin, published around 1910. ...