(c.1600–March 1661), was Rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Scotland and one of the commissioners at Westminster Assembly in London, 1643–47. In 1644, he wrote the controversial book, Lex, Rex or, The Law and the Prince, which challenged the “divine right of kings.” Instead of the king being God’s appointed regent whose word is law, Rutherford stated that all men, even the king, were under the law and not above it. He reasoned that even though rulers derived their authority from God, Romans 13:1–4, they received their authority through the people.
Samuel Rutherford cited the following biblical passages in support:
II Samuel 16:18, “Hushai said to Absalom, Nay, but whom the Lord and the people, and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide”; Judges 8:22, “The men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us”; Judges 9:6, “The men of Shechem made Abimelech king”; II Kings 14:21, “The people made Azariah king”; I Samuel 12:1, II Chronicles 23:3.226
This book brought immediate opposition, being banned in Scotland and publicly burned in England. Rutherford was placed under house arrest and summoned to trial before the Parliament in Edinburgh. He died before the orders could be carried out. In his book, Lex, Rex, Samuel Rutherford introduced the phrase:
All men are created equal.227
Samuel Rutherford’s last words were:
Glory, Glory dwelleth in Emmmanuel’s land.228