The Supremacy of God in the Theology of Samuel Rutherford

by Richard, Guy M.; Fergusson, David A. S.

• ISBN13: 9781606084793
• ISBN10: 1606084798
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-17
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

This book presents the first modern in-depth study of the theology of one of the most influential figures in post-Reformation Scotland, Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600-1661). Although much has been written over the years about Rutherford's political thought or about his nearly mystical piety, very little actually has appeared in print about his theology. Among those hwo have written Rutherford's theology in the past, none have done so in a comprehensive, systematic manner, and none have devoted any attention at all to examining Rutherford's Latin treatises. The current work seeks to fill bothlacunae, by presenting Rutherford's theology, beginning with the doctrine of assurance, and by drawing chiefly upon what is arguably his magnum opus theologiae, theExamen Arminianismi. TheExamen, which consists of lectures Rutherford delivered to his divinity students at St. Andrews University, is the closest thing he has to a proper systematic theology text. But because it is also a polemical treatise, aimed primarily against the Arminians, theExamenprovides a context for us to engage not only with the seventeenth-century dispute over Arminianism, but also with the more contemporary debate of Calvin vs. the Calvinists.

Author Biography

Guy M. Richard, BIE (Auburn University), MDiv (Reformed Theological Seminary) and PhD (New College, University of Edinburgh), currently serves as the Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Gulfport, Mississippi. He has contributed articles on Samuel Rutherford and on Puritan theology to several books and journals, including The Westminster Confession into the 21st Century and The Scottish Journal of Theology.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xvii
Contextualizing Rutherford	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Establishing the Context	p. 6
The Socio-Political and Ecclesial Context	p. 6
The Theological Context	p. 10
The Polemical Context	p. 16
The Formal Context	p. 20
A Note on Methodology	p. 22
Prolegomena to Theology	p. 25
Revelation	p. 26
Theologia archetypa et ectypa	p. 26
Natural and Supernatural Revelation	p. 30
Natural Theology	p. 32
The duplex cognitio Dei	p. 33
The Role of Reason and the Necessity of Supernatural Knowledge	p. 37
Scripture as principium cognoscendi theologiae	p. 45
The Nature of Scripture	p. 48
The Perfection of Scripture	p. 51
Objections to the Perfection of Scripture	p. 53
The Authority of Scripture	p. 61
The Interpretation of Scripture	p. 71
The Doctrine of God	p. 77
The natura Dei	p. 77
The Essence and Attributes of God	p. 78
The Trinity	p. 85
The scientia Dei	p. 89
The voluntas Dei	p. 94
Voluntas ad intra et ad extra	p. 96
Potentia absoluta et ordinata	p. 97
Theologia archetypa et ectypa	p. 101
Voluntas beneplaciti et signi	p. 103
Voluntas efficiens et permittens	p. 105
Voluntas antecedens et consequens	p. 112
Continuity or Discontinuity with the Reformation?	p. 113
Soteriological Applications of the voluntas Dei	p. 116
Predestination	p. 116
Supralapsarianism	p. 117
Election and Reprobation	p. 119
The Order of the Decrees	p. 120
Summary	p. 123
Objections to Supralapsarianism	p. 126
The Atonement of Christ	p. 131
Limited Atonement	p. 131
The Absolute Necessity of the Atonement	p. 133
Soteriology	p. 139
Covenant Theology	p. 139
The Covenant of Redemption	p. 141
The Covenant of Redemption and the Decrees of God	p. 145
The Covenant of Works	p. 147
The Covenant of Works-Continuity or Discontinuity?	p. 151
The Covenant of Grace	p. 156
Conversion	p. 160
God's Work of Regeneration	p. 161
Grace and Free Will	p. 168
Calling and Preparation	p. 177
Our Response of Faith	p. 185
The Nature of Faith	p. 187
The Object of Faith	p. 190
Living by Faith	p. 193
Justification	p. 194
Sanctification	p. 200
Assurance	p. 205
Assurance and Faith	p. 207
The Grounds of Assurance	p. 209
Rutherford's Theology and the Grounds for his Opposition to Arminianism	p. 219
The Grounds for Rutherford's Opposition to Arminianism	p. 221
The Two Strands of Arminianism	p. 221
The Two Ends of Arminianism	p. 229
Concluding Thoughts on the Calvin-Calvinists Dcbate	p. 234
The Legacy of Rutherford's Theology	p. 239
Appendix	p. 241
Bibliography	p. 247
Index	p. 267
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