Durham E-Theses Samuel Rutherford: the man and his ministry Rendell, Kingsley G. How to cite: Rendell, Kingsley G. (1981) Samuel Rutherford: the man and his ministry, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7668/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk SAMUEL RUTHERFORD THE MAS AND HIS MINISTRY The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Kingsley Gs Rendell Candidate for the degree of Master of Arts September 1981 1. ABSTRACT Several biographies of Samuel Rutherford have been written since the beginning of the 19th century, such as those by Murray, Thomson and Gilmour, principally with the object of eulogising him. Littlep apart from the work of Taylor Innes, has been done to consider the man and his work critically, in spite of the numerous editions of his letters and works published in the last two centuries. This thesis has relied mainly upon the works of Rutherford himself, with supporting reference to such contemporary material as Baillie's Letters and Journal« and Guthrie's Memoirs. It Bets out to present a comprehensive picture of Rutherford from his student days until his death in 1661. Popular biographies, eager to portray Rutherford as the faithful pastor of Anwoth, have paid scant attention to the part he played as reformer at the Westminster Assembly of Divines. By reference to Carruther1s Everyday Work of the Westminster Assembly, Gillespie's Assembly of Divines, and Pitman's Journal of the Westminster Assembly, this work seeks to depict him as reformer as well as preacher, the man who prepared the way for the establishment of Presbyterianism as a national system in 1689» The immense popularity of Rutherford* s sermons in the 17th and 18th centuries gained him reputation as a preacher, but he was probably more able as a propagandist. Accordingly, a chapter has been devoted to him as an apologisto His later years were clouded by the Protester^ Resolutioner controversy, and it is difficult to reconcile the paster of Anwoth with the embittered protagonist of the Protesters. It is this paradox which calls not only for an examination of the controversy itself in chapter 6, but also Rutherford as "the man of extremes", as he described himself, in the final chapter. 20 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1, Student and Professor0 a0 In the wake of the Reformation,, b0 The contribution of Andrew Melville to the Reformation c0 Parentage and Education CHAPTER 20 The Pastor, aD Church and manse0 The religious context of Rutherford's ministry at Anwotho Co Preaching,, do Pastoral ministry^ e„ Personal and public life at Anwothe f» Increasing opposition and banishmenta CHAPTER 3e The Prisoner. a0 Frustration and fearse b0 Debates and further threats9 ce Freedom from confinement0 d0 Activates and anxieties in Aberdeen CHAPTER 4« The Reformere a0 Brief return to Anwothc be St0 Andrewso c0 Westminstere CHAPTER 5o The Apologist. a. The Theologian b0 The Protagonist of Presbyterianisme Co The Political Philosopher0 de The Correspondents CHAPTER 6c The Protesterc aG Roots of discord in the Presbyterian ranks0 be The course of the conflict between Protesters and Resolutionerso Co Rutherford's latter days0 CHAPTER 7o The Man of gxtremego a0 Was Rutherford a mystic? b0 Autocrat or democrat? 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY aG Rutherford s Letters0 9 b0 Rutherford s Sermons0 Co Rutherford8s Workso do General Bibliography^ 3. CHAPTER 1 STOpDENT AMD PROFESSOR Although the life span of Samuel Rutherford does not fall strictly into the Covenanting period of Scottish history, the name of Rutherford will always be associated with the Covenant. Fame has not written it as indelibly upon the page of church history as those of Cameron, Cargill and Renwick, Covenanters of the succeeding generation, but Rutherford is none the leBs worthy of special study. His life and ministry provides an indispensable link between Melville and the Covenanters* It bridges the gap between the late sixteenth and mid- seventeenth centuries. There would have been no Covenanting torch to bear, if Rutherford and his associates had not kindled it in their day. Robert Gilmour aptly described him as "a link in the evangelical succession of Christendom". IS THE WAKE OF THE REFORMATION Rutherford was born into the melee of the Scottish reformation. It is understandable to think of the reformation as centering in the ecclesiastical crisis of 1560. The dramatic events of that year, John Knox's sermon in St. John's Perth, the riot that ensued, and the subsequent rising of those who styled themselves "the Faithful Congregation of Jesus Christ in Scotland", resulted in a sudden severance with Rome. The break with Rome, which was not so unexpected as is often imagined, was largely a negative act, which demanded positive measures if the schism was to be maintained, and a national reformed church established. The Church of Scotland, as we know it today was not the brain child of Knox, but the result of growth from 1560 to 1689. As Professor Burleigh observed, "What shape the Reformed Church of Scotland was to take was left an open question over which there was to be a long and bitter struggle. Not until 1689 can it be said to have been finally settled". ^ in the words 4. of T»C0 Smout, "It emerged as the classic presbyterian church of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with its elders, deacons, ministers and kirk session, presbyterian synods, and General Assembly".*^ That it did so was in no small part due to the work of Hutherforda During the first decade of the reformed faith in Scotland the pressing problem was the spiritual care of the Scottish peoples Joseph Robertson's contention that the church was largely made "up of "rich livings with the care of thousands of souls, held by boys, by infants even, by men deformed in body, imbecile in mind, hardened in 4 ignorance, old in wickedness and sin" may have been something of an exaggeration, but it contains a sad truth. Knox, who is generally recognised as a father of the Scottish reformation, was not primarily concerned with theories of church government, but with the parochial consideration of establishing the reformed faith, and pastoring the flock of God in Scotland* His concern was apostolic success rather than apostolic succession. Unlike many who succeeded, Knox followed Calvin, having no objection to some form of episcopacy. Professor G.D. Henderson pointed out "the question of presbyterian government was not one that interested the reformers. No constitutional document 5 of the Reformation is concerned about it"; while Smout has observed that "nothing in'the polity of the Church can be described as presby- terian".^ He did not deny that national and ecumenical organisation has its uses, but he insisted that the esse of the church was to be found in the local congregation, where there is true preaching of the Word of God, right administration of the sacraments of Christ Jesus — and ecclesiastical discipline uprightly ministered as God9s Word 7 prescribes". The Scottish reformers were careful to distinguish between prelacy and episcopacy. In I56O there was not so much reason to resist episcopacy as there was a century later. It was the patronage 5c of James VI and Charles I that made it so odiouss ItB imposition by the Stuarts, largely for their own convenience, made it unacceptable to the Scots. James Moffat"was of the opinion that "it might have proved stable. What upset it was the absolutism of James and his son"o When we remember that Knox was one of the six presbyters who, in the Confession of Faith of 15^0, allowed for the appointment of superintendents, which to his opponents were bishops in all but name, there is justification in Donaldson's description of the early reformed church in Scotland as 9 "independency with a dash'of episcopacy". Ross, in his "History of Congregational Independency in Scotland", maintained that initially in the Scots Confession and the First Book of Discipline 156l, (both of which were largely drawn up by Knox), the ecclesiastical order was guided by "the principles for which independents have all along contended",^ the polity of the reformation churches in Scotland - being distinctly Independent and Congregational".^^ Episcopacy can be detected too. After the presbyterian system had been established, bishops, abbots and priors were to be found throughout the country, many of whom were protestants and laymen. In the assembly which met on December 25th, I567 Knox himself was appointed to join the Superintendent of Lothian in his visitation from Stirling 12 to Berwick, and thereafter to viBit Kyle, Carrick and Cunningham. In 1578 it was agreed by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities that the names and titles of archbishops and bishops should continue as superintendents, subject to the Kirk and General Assembly. Krvcs had diec{ iy\ IS72. What had raised Ais ire was the flow of church revenue into the hands of laymen, with consequent patronage, which was to vex the Church of Scotland for almost four centuries0 Knox longed to see ecclesiastical revenues used to provide an adequate ministry; efficient educational system, and relief of the poor.