Samuel Rutherford is perhaps the best known Scottish Puritan. But his life and history seem not to be as widely remembered as other Puritan ministers. Rutherford’s legacy lays chiefly in collections of his profound and moving personal letters.
Richard Hannula brings renewed attention to Samuel Rutherford in his contribution to the “Bitesize Biographies” series from Evangelical Press (2014).
Rutherford had humble beginnings and even a possibly scandalous start to his ministry. He ended up resigning his post at the University of Edinburgh after some possible impropriety with his fiance. This may have been just an ill rumor, and Hannula doesn’t take pains to sort out the facts too closely, but moves on in his simple and straightforward account of Rutherford’s life.
The next chapter of Rutherford’s life finds him as a humble pastor in Anworth. And there he labored in preaching and declaring the loveliness of Christ. His life was caught up in the perils of Scotland’s church, and his Reformed stance eventually landed him in exile 200 miles to the north. And it was this exile that may have birthed his precious letters. He wrote to his flock at Anworth and encouraged them to remain true to the Reformed faith.
Eventually when the Reformed party was in ascendancy, Rutherford was appointed as a professor against his will, in the University of St. Andrews, where he would serve for the remainder of his life. Rutherford’s scholarship was important and his devotion for Christ was unquestioned. He was needed to help shape the future pastors for Scotland. And so he did.
Rutherford was influential as a member of the Scottish delegation to the Westminster Assembly in London, which gave to the church the most enduring English confession, the Westminster Confession of Faith. He played a part in its shape, defending a Presbyterian form of church government. He also helped work on the catechisms.
This story includes the founding of the National Covenant in Scotland and the various wars against Charles I, and the eventual betrayal brought by Charles II when Scottish Covenanters unwisely accepted his promises in exchange for help. The intricacies of Scottish history still baffle me, but the phrase “for Crown and Covenant” has new meaning for me. Ultimately, the Crown was restored and went on to persecute the Reformed branch of the Church of Scotland mercilessly and again Samuel is found writing letters of encouragement to ministers who will soon lose their lives. Rutherford himself would have faced a martyr’s death but for his own sickness that eventually took his life. After his death, Rutherford’s letters were collected and published, and they continue to be widely readable and an enduring devotional classic.
This little book is not a true biography and includes no end notes or footnotes at all. It does recommend works for further study. It is a sympathetic biography too. And further, it is packed with quotes from Rutherford’s much prized correspondence and so it is part biography, part devotional classic in itself.
A few snippets from Rutherford’s letters may encourage my readers to pick up this book and learn more:
I find it a sweet and rich thing to exchange my sorrows with Christ’s joys, my afflictions for that sweet peace I have with Him.
Believe Christ’s love more than your own feelings.
Your heart is not the compass that Christ sails by.
O if you saw the beauty of Jesus, and smelled the fragrance of His love, you would run through fire and water to be at Him.
It is not I, but Christ; not I, but grace; not I, but God’s glory; not I, but God’s love constraining me; not I, but the Lord’s Word; not I, but Christ’s commanding power in me!
You must in all things aim at God’s honour; you must eat, drink, sleep, buy, sell, sit, stand, speak, pray, read, and hear the Word, with a heart-purpose that God may be honoured.
Woe unto us for these sad divisions that make us lose the fair scent of the Rose of Sharon!
When the head is filled with topics, and none of the flamings of Christ’s love in the heart, how dry are all disputes? Far too often, fervour of dispute in the head weakens love in the heart.
Glory, glory dwelleth in Emmanuel’s land. [Rutherford’s last words]
(pp. 64-65, 106, 115-116, 132)
The work makes for a quick read, but many of the quotations merit contemplation and extended meditation. In fact, this book makes me want to get a copy of Rutherford’s letters to read the quotes in their fuller context. I recommend this book for those looking to learn from the spiritual journey of a man whose writings continue to bless the Church as a whole. It is an admirable introduction to Rutherford’s life and a testament ultimately to God’s grace.
Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers: Amazon, Monergism Books, or direct from EP Books.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
I wonder why the reformed message did not hold sway in the North of Ireland and Scotland. Why are they now some of the coldest and lifeless regions of Europe when it comes to the gospel. Why is that so in New England in our own country? They are all some of the least receptive areas to the message of redeeming hope. But why? Why does that seem to be the inevitable ending in those places where the reformers once flourished? Switzerland and the Netherlands are dead to the gospel. There are very few protestsnt churches of any stripe left in those places, much to the dismay of evangelicals all over the world. What is it that causes the zeal of the Lord (and for the Lord) to waste away? I realize that God has His people everywhere, even in New England. But they are not there in great numbers. What happened to the great revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries in New England? Has the glory departed? Why?
Good question Rick. Turkey is where the Disciples were first called Christians. Straight Street and Damascus was once where Christians thrived. Rome abounded with Christians too, as did Jerusalem and North Africa. The Gospel’s progress is slow at times, but always steady. Revivals come because God is faithful, even now there are movements of God in China, Latin America and Africa. We can trust God is still at work even if we may not know his reasons or his ways. Mysterious providence, but sure.
I’m not convinced that “mysterious providence” has anything to do with it. There are still large communities of Christians in all the areas you mentioned. Western civilization owes its progress over thousands of years to Christianity. Terrible and bloody wars with those “principalities” with whom we wrestle have driven out that positive influence from nations now largely Muslim. The strongholds of reformed theology, however, seem to have died on the vine rather than being driven out or even being resisted by the enemies of the gospel. What is it about the message of the reformed that withers over time?
If you think there are large communities of Christians in Turkey, then you are playing loose with the term.
I get it, you have an axe to grind and don’t like Reformed theology.
Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the success of Christianity in America is a direct outcome of Reformed theology? Reformed Puritans and Separatists fled persecution and came to America. The earlierst Baptist confessions in America were almost totally decisively Reformed. Even the SBC originally was Reformed in doctrinal emphasis.
Actually, the SBC has never been reformed in its emphasis Bob. The split between the Primitive Baptists and the Missionary Baptists in the 19th century (resulting in the NBC) was in large measure the consequence of weeding out reformed theology out of the SBC. As for the number of Christisns in Turkey, their numbers are easily verifiable. Even in a Muslim nation, there are more than 100,000 committed believers living there.(You better be in a nation where your faith can get you killed). Don’t forget that the Christian community in Asia Minor has been there for 2000 years. I’ll match the total number of believers in Turkey over 2000 years against the total number of Puritan believers in New England over the same time period. I know that’s facetious. But you get my point. The community of believers in Asia Minor has staying power. What happened to New England? Scotland? Switzerland? Great Britain? I have no axe to grind Bob. My concerns over reformed theology are not founded in animus, but rather sadness. I am merely pointing out the apparent history of reformed theology, and posing questions that cry out for answers. Admittedly, I see no hope for the lost sinners of the world in that theology. There’s only hope for the elect. And without hope, the vision of the reformers perishes. Inevitably. As for the Puritans being responsible for the establishment of America, their reach never went beyond New England. They were not a major influence in the South, Mid-West, or the Frontier. You know that Bob. Worse, you also know their influence in New England was gone by the late 19th century. The history of the Puritans in New England was also not nearly as glamorous as you think. The Salem witch trials was not a high point.
In short, the influence you want to attribute to the reformers of the past 500 years can’t be established in historical fact. And worse, the influence they did have couldn’t be sustained. The church of believers in Turkey, however, can teach us both an awful lot about a faith that stands the test of time. Finally, if your blogs are only intended to echo like-minded ideology, and isn’t intended to evoke critical thinking so that iron can sharpen iron, then you should post that disclaimer.
I’m fine with disagreement. I just think you are not going to be convinced – you have your mind made up. In areas where Catholocism predominated, since it still does, does that make it successful theology?
I did read a work a while back that points out the Reformed influence on the mission work and church growth in Asia – specifically China and Korea. Particularly in Korea, it is still a Reformed flavor wtih Presbyeterianism so widespread there.
Great Britain still has more than 100,000 Christians – to measure it by Turkey’s stick. Secularism has made inroads, but against churches of all types not just the Reformed.
Therein lies my concern for the reformers’ mindset. If we measure out the message of truth and hope only to those we think will be convinced, we grieve the Holy Spirit. When we decide that its ok to summarily dismiss folks or will not engage them because they don’t think like we do, we become just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. If we love only those that love us …. Luke 6:32
Only the truth of God’s word convinces those mired in error. I know you agree with that. But when either of us reads God’s precious word with an ideological bias going in, we blunt the edge of that sword. It is still possible to make the word of God of none effect by our preconcieved “traditions.” Mark 7:13. That prospect terrifies me. For myself, I found that when I put down all the writings of men (even the Puritans) and claimed the promise of John 14:26, the message of hope sprang forth. As a consequence, I am resolved never to limit His love, never to diminish His purpose, and never to cheapen His sacrifice. Join me in that commitment, Bob. May the driving purpose behind both our lives be Proverbs 11:30. “He that winneth souls is wise.”