Letters of Samuel Rutherford

This superb collection of Samuel Rutherford's letters includes a biographical account of his life, together with a copious arrangement of notes and an appendix.

As one of Scotland's foremost theologians and authors in the 17th century, Samuel Rutherford was a gifted and busy wordsmith. Throughout a career spanning decades, he wrote a series of valued books on both religious topics and Presbyterianism in the political sphere. A lively and engaged thinker, Rutherford's life and thoughts offers a good portrayal of the evolution in both church and state in his era.

Although most known for his ideas on constitutionalism and on military principles, Samuel Rutherford in the day-to-day lived for ordinary men and women believers who frequented his church in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway. He would often pay visits to the sick, correspond with their families, and offer emotional comfort and reassurance in times of difficulty.

This collection also shows Rutherford to be an efficient and able administrator in church affairs. His eloquent words demonstrate an understanding of the Christian calendar and the traditions of the faith - later in the text, we see the author rise to the challenge of joining the Westminster Assembly in London: a small council of theologians chosen by Parliament for their wisdom and knowledge of the church.

The tumultuous politics of Rutherford's time affected what might have otherwise been a smooth career. The disputatious environment between kings Charles I and Charles II and Parliament meant that Rutherford's suggestions for reform - particularly those advanced in his best-known work Lex Rex - aroused anger and resentment. Set to be put on trial for his views, Rutherford's death at the age of sixty stayed indefinitely any verdict.

Andrew Alexander Bonar edited and arranged these letters according to their chronology, that readers gain an impression of Rutherford's life as a minister. In all, these missives show their author to be a caring and attentive person, ready to comfort and assure his parishioners, officials and friends alike of God's benevolence. Perhaps more vitally, Rutherford is a passionate reformer of idealistic convictions whose early conception of a social contract would inspire John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers.