250 Years: Founders and Foundations #5 Samuel Rutherford
The U. S. Constitution opens with the words We, the People. It is hard for most of us, almost 250 years later, to realize how radical those words were at the time. The ruling of nations was primarily through the strong arm of a king. If any document were to be published, it would have begun I, the King, declare… Or, after having won their independence from Britain, one might have expected the writers of the Constitution to say We, the delegates… But, instead, they began with We, the people of the United States.
It began with these words because of the work of a humble, Scottish Presbyterian minister whose other writings, while in exile, became famously known simply as Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Charles Spurgeon was to later comment that those letters were the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men.
But it was another writing of Rutherford that brought about not only the opening words of the U. S. Constitution, but the foundational ideas upon which America was built.
That writing was Lex Rex.
Samuel Rutherford is another key founder of America who lived beyond her borders. Where Blackstone had a deep impact upon America’s law, Rutherford had a deep influence upon America’s founding as a constitutional nation. Indeed, one might offer that without Rutherford, America would have remained a subject of the King of England.
Let’s look at three concepts that came from Rex Lex:
- The Rule of Law. Up to this point in time, rulers claimed they were the law or Rex Lex, the King is the Law. This was most likely the reason Rutherford contrarily titled his book Lex Rex, which confrontationally declared that the Law was King and therefore the king was subject to the law just as everyone else.
“…even the king must obey the law, because the king is also under the law.” Lex Rex
This was a radical thought, even treasonous. Rutherford further argued that government is not the personal property of rulers and that the king was, rather, a servant:
"The king is not the proprietor of the kingdom... he is a steward, a servant, a public officer." Lex Rex
One can image the outrage this would bring to one who believes that their high position entitles them to absolute rule and everything belongs to them. But this wasn’t just Rutherford’s personal opinion or desire. He built his case wholly upon the Scripture. Indeed, fair warning to anyone who wants to read this treatise: it is totally filled with biblical references and much Greek exegesis.
- The idea of a constituent power of the people and the constituted power of a governmental steward.
Along with the concept of the rule of law, Rutherford laid forth the covenantal view of civil government and that the covenant was made by the people. While the general authority of the state is ordained by God, the specific right to anoint a leader rested with the people (the constituent power) because God had delegated that right to them. Therefore, the government rests with the people who then grant limited constituted power to the leaders whom they elect. This, too, was highly radical in a world of royal blood lines or kings by conquest.
- Government held a Conditional Trust.
The covenantal view of civil government therefore meant that the government held power and position as a conditional trust. The covenant was initiated by the people and they therefore had the right to remove a leader if he breeched that covenant. If the ruler or rulers broke the trust, abused their power, or became tyrannical, the contract was null and void and the people had the civic and moral duty to lawfully resist or even remove that tyrant.
“Since tyranny is satanic, not to resist it is to resist God—to resist tyranny is to honor God.” Lex Rex
Rutherford was building a radical case from the Scripture against the prevailing divine right of kings and replacing it with the belief that political authority should come from the people and that rulers, chosen by the people, were therefore accountable to the people. It was this treatise, then, that provided a biblical basis for building a constitutional government that was of the people, by the people, and for the people as Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address.
The historical lineage down from Rutherford is innumerable and immense. However, of note, it includes John Locke, who then adapted Lex Rex into his Second Treatise of Government. This book was also heavily used during the founding years. And it includes John Witherspoon, also a Scottish Presbyterian minister, who not only signed the Declaration of Independence, but taught, at Princeton, James Madison, known as the Father of the U. S. Constitution. Witherspoon’s teaching of the principles of Rutherford’s rule of law and the law is king was inculcated in the architects of the new American government.
These, then, were the beliefs that led a group of courageous men to write a document declaring their independence from King George III. They were the beliefs that led them to write a document that began “We the people…” when the prevailing and historical view of nations was that no one established and ruled a nation except the king. One can image the words of Rutherford playing in their minds:
“God Almighty... has given to all men a natural right to be free.” Lex Rex
For Rutherford, it was this burning desire for people to be free that drove him to stand for liberty. He was, at heart, a shepherd to his flock at Anwoth, Scotland. He loved Christ and he loved Christ’s people. But the times compelled him to engage politically. That political engagement set the course for the modern constitutional nation-states who had freedom and liberty as their founding goals.
Today, in America, there is a drive to return to tyranny, where the state runs most everything. May our 250th birthday be a day of awakening as well as a day of celebration.
“Arbitrary governing hath no alliance with God.” Lex Rex
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