The Works of Samuel Rutherford, Volume 9: Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince

The ninth volume in this landmark twenty-one-volume edition presents Samuel Rutherford’s most famous and influential work.

Published in 1644 during the British civil wars, Lex, Rex quickly became one of the defining books of the seventeenth century. Defending limited monarchy, the rule of law, and the legitimacy of resistance to tyranny, its arguments proved so controversial that after the Restoration, royal authorities publicly burned the book, treated its possession as evidence of treason, and summoned Rutherford to answer for its publication.

Yet Lex, Rex is far more than the political manifesto many readers imagine. Often remembered chiefly for its defense of the Scottish Covenanters, it is one of the great works of Reformed political theology. Rutherford enters the foremost political, legal, philosophical, and theological debates of early modern Europe, engaging Scripture alongside Aristotle, Roman law, classical philosophy, medieval jurists, Protestant Reformers, Roman Catholic scholastics, and Royalist thinkers. The result is a sweeping exploration of the origin of government, the nature and limits of political authority, constitutional order, the rule of law, and the relationship between church and state.

This edition helps modern readers recover the full scope of Rutherford’s achievement through a substantial historical introduction, careful editorial annotation, and a full scholarly apparatus that situate Lex, Rex within the wider intellectual world in which it was written. Far more than a historical defense of the Covenanters, it remains one of the most profound and enduring works of seventeenth-century Christian political thought.

Contents

General Preface
Editorial Conventions
Abbreviations and Sigla
Introduction: Monarchy, Parliamentary Sovereignty, and Scottish Presbyterianism During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince
The Preface
The Table of Contents of the Book

1. Government and Divine Law
2. Government and Natural Law
3. God and Governing Powers
4. God and King
5. God and Sovereignty
6. King and People
7. The Designation of Kings
8. Government and People
9. Power and People
10. Royal Birth and Divine Unction
11. Royal Birth and Election
12. Kingdoms by Conquest
13. Royal Dignity and Nature
14. The King Conditioned by Covenant
15. The King as Father
16. The King as Master
17. Princely Power
18. The Manner of a King
19. Royal Dignity and the People
20. Kings and Judges
21. Parliament and King
22. Royal Power
23. Royal Prerogative and Law
24. The Fountain of Law
25. The Safety of the People
26. The King and the Supremacy of Law
27. Interpreting the Law
28. Raising Wars
29. Defensive War and the King
30. Passive Obedience
31. Self-Defense and Natural Law
32. Scripture and Defensive War
33. Romans 13:1 and Resistance
34. Royalists on Defensive War
35. Defensive War and the Martyrs
36. The Power of War
37. The Scottish Alliance
38. On Monarchy
39. Rights of Majesty
40. The People’s Power
41. Jesuit Doctrine
42. Christian Kings and Christ
43. The King of Scotland
44. General Results

Acknowledgments
Biographical Register of Persons and Names
Works Cited
Scripture Index
Subject Index