Rev. Samuel Rutherford

Reference RX2 — Roxburghshire, Scotland.

Name and Vital Dates

Ref# RX2
Full Name:Samuel Rutherford , Rev, Dr, the Divine (also recorded as: Samuel Rutherfoord, Samwell Rutherfurde; loc. desc: of Nisbet, Crailing, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland).
Gender: Male.
Titles: Professor of Divinity; Principal of St Mary’s College, St Andrews; Westminster Divine; Commissioner for the Church of Scotland.
Lifespan: Born January 1600 at Nisbet, Crailing, Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland; died 20 March 1661 at St Regulus, Chapel Yard, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland

Lineage: Born into the Nether Nisbet branch, junior cadet of the Hunthill line, of the Border Clan Rutherford.
Parentage: Eldest son of William Rutherford of Nether Nisbet (1576–1638) and Margaret Jane Gibson (1576–1660).
Birth Notes: Tait thought Samuel may have been the son of either Andrew Rutherford in Nether Nisbet or William Rutherford there, both men being involved in the border feud of 1596.^[1]
Siblings:
- RX3 George Rutherford, Rev. (1602–1665)
- RX1 James “Jheemes” Rutherford, Captain; Rutherfoord, Capt. of Nether Nisbet (1605–1668)
Education: Samuel’s father had sufficient means to educate his three sons Samuel was attending college in Edinburgh in 1617, which later became the University of Edinburgh^[2] He attended Jedburgh Grammar School before entering the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an M.A. in 1621. Exceptionally talented in classical languages, he was appointed Professor of Humanity (Latin) at Edinburgh in 1623.

First Marriage: Married 1626 at Anwoth, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, to Euphemia Hamilton (1600–1630). She suffered from a long, painful illness and died in 1630 during his ministry at Anwoth
Issue by Euphemia Hamilton:
- +RX4 Marie Rutherford (1628–)
Second Marriage: Married 1 March 1640 at St Andrews and St Leonards, Fife, Scotland, to Jane McMath (1615–1675). Described as a woman of great piety and intellectual capability, she provided vital support during his years of political turmoil
Issue by Jane McMath:
- +RX5 Robert Rutherford (1643–1651)
- +RX6 Jeane Rutherford (1645–)
- +RX7 Agnes Rutherfoord (1649–1694)
- +RX8 Samuel Rutherford (1651–1661)
- +RX9 Margaret Rutherford (1656–1661)

The Anwoth Ministry (1627): Ordained into the Presbyterian ministry at Anwoth in Galloway. His intense pastoral zeal, early morning prayer vigils, and powerful preaching quickly drew national attention.
Exile to Aberdeen (1636): For opposing the introduction of the English liturgy and bishops under King Charles I, the High Commission stripped him of his office and banished him to Aberdeen. Forbidden to preach, he began writing his celebrated Letters, which were smuggled across Scotland to sustain the Presbyterian resistance.
The National Covenant (1638): Following the overthrow of the bishops, he returned in triumph to the south and signed the historic National Covenant, actively participating in the Glasgow Assembly.
The Westminster Assembly (1643–1647): Chosen as one of only six Scottish commissioners sent to London to draft the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter and Larger Catechisms, and the Directory for Public Worship—the foundational documents of global Presbyterianism.
Author of Lex, Rex (1644): Published his crowning political masterpiece, Lex, Rex (“The Law and the King”). The treatise directly challenged the “Divine Right of Kings,” arguing that political power originates with the people, kings are subject to the law, and tyranny justifies popular revolution.

The Anwoth Ministry (1627): Ordained into the Presbyterian ministry at Anwoth in Galloway. His intense pastoral zeal, early morning prayer vigils, and powerful preaching quickly drew national attention.

The Restoration Persecution: Following the restoration of King Charles II to the throne in 1660,Lex, Rex was condemned as treason and publicly burned by the executioner in Edinburgh and St Andrews.
Demise: Stripped of his university offices and summoned to Edinburgh on a charge of high treason, Rutherford lay dying of natural causes He famously replied to the royal summons: “I have got a summons already before a superior Judge and judicatory and I behove to answer my first summons, and ere your day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks come.” He died on 20 March 1661 at St Regulus, Chapel Yard, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Burial: Buried after 20 March 1661 at Saint Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Succession: His daughter Agnes Rutherfoord (1649–1694), who later married William Chiesley, W.S, left descendants who preserved his theological papers and private letters The loss of his other children is a recurring theme in his famous pastoral letters

Architect of Democracy:Lex, Rex is recognized by modern political scientists as a foundational cornerstone of constitutional democracy. His theories directly influenced British philosopher John Locke and heavily shaped the intellectual framework of the American Constitution and the American Revolution.
Spiritual Classic: His private correspondence, published posthumously asThe Letters of Samuel Rutherford, remains a masterpiece of devotional literature, praised by theologians for centuries for its profound poetic insights into faith and suffering.

Cockburn-Hood, The Rutherfurds of that Ilk and Their Cadets (1884–1903), parts H–T.
Letters of Samuel Rutherford with Sketch of His Life, vol. 1 (1863), 3.