Lex, Rex, or the Law and the Prince

by Samuel Rutherford

Publishers:

Brown & Co.; D. Dewar; Hamilton, Adams & Co.; J. Nisbet & Co.

and

5 more

, 1843

Overview

Published in response to Bishop John Maxwell’s “Sacro-Sanctum Regus Majestas,” Lex, Rex is a comprehensive defense of the Scottish Presbyterian ideal in politics that defends the rule of law and the lawfulness of defensive wars. Advocating for limited government, it supports a “Two Kingdoms” theory of church-state relations and utilizes Scripture and Natural Law arguments. Highly controversial, this book was burned in Edinburgh and St. Andrews, and at Oxford University. Many scholars contend that this work was a major influence in the formation of modern political theory, and it remains one of the most comprehensive expressions of Calvinistic political theory to date.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Now God only by a divine law can lay a band of subjection on the conscience, tying men to guilt and punishment if they transgress.” (Page 1)

“I conceive all jurisdiction of man over man to be as it were artificial and positive, and that it inferreth some servitude whereof nature from the womb hath freed us, if you except that subjection of children to parents, and the wife to the husband; and the law saith,⁵ De jure gentium secundarius est omnis principatus.” (Page 2)

“The power of creating a man a king is from the people.” (Page 6)

“All civil power is immediately from God in its root” (Page 1)

“They hold, (I believe with warrant of God’s word,) if the king refuse to reform religion, the inferior judges, and assembly of godly pastors, and other church-officers may reform; if the king will not kiss the Son, and do his duty in purging the House of the Lord, may not Eliah and the people do their duty, and cast out Baal’s priests. Reformation of religion is a personal act that belongeth to all, even to any one private person according to his place.” (Page xxiii)

Product Details

• Title: Lex, Rex, or the Law and the Prince
• Author: Samuel Rutherford
• Publishers: Brown & Co., D. Dewar, Hamilton, Adams & Co., J. Nisbet & Co., M. Ogle, Oliver and Boyd, R. Ogle, W. M‘Comb, William Collins
• Print Publication Date: 1843
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Divine right of kings; Prerogative, Royal › Early works to 1800
• Resource ID: LLS:LEXREXRUTHERFORD
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T04:20:14Z

About Samuel Rutherford

Samuel Rutherford (1600?–March 1661) was a Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author, and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly.