Samuel Rutherford

Alexander Whyte (1836 - 1921) entered the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland. In 1909 he became principal, and professor of New Testament literature, at New College, Edinburgh. His works include Characters and Characteristics of William Law (1893), Bunyan Characters (4 Vols, 1893-1908), Samuel Rutherford (1894), An Appreciation of Jacob Behmen (1895), and Lancelot Andrewes and his Private Devotions (1895). Samuel Rutherford (1600? - 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author. He was one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. In 1638 he was made Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews, and in 1651 Rector of St. Mary's College. During the Restoration he lost of all his offices. Rutherford's political book Lex, Rex spoke out for limited government and constitutionalism. This book laid the foundation for political philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and for modern political systems such as that in the United States. After the English Restoration, the authorities burned Lex, Rex and cited Rutherford for high treason. His death prevented this from taking place.