 Samuel Rutherford was born in Nisbet in 1600. He entered the University
of Edinburgh in 1617, graduated in 1621, and in 1623 was appointed
regent of humanities, in recognition of his "eminent abilities of mind and
virtuous disposition." He demitted that charge in 1626 after it was
found that he was guilty of fornication with a local woman, whom he later
married. It is said that he spent the rest of his life making
reparation for what he had done. But this scandal caused him to become much more
serious about the state of his soul. In 1627 he became pastor of the
church at Anworth, where his schedule was to rise at 3 AM and study until
noon, and then spend the afternoons in visiting his flock and doing his
pastoral duties of counseling and catechizing. For his non-conformity,
in 1637, he was forbidden to preach, which was a great hurt to him. Of
this he said, "I had but one eye, one joy, one delight, forever to
preach Christ." During his 18 months of exile, he spent his time writing
letters to friends, which letters have been collected and published
repeatedly under the title Letters of Samuel Rutherford. He was appointed
professor of divinity at St. Andrew's College in 1638.
In 1643 Rutherford was appointed one of the Scottish members of the
Westminster Assembly. He moved to London for that work and remained there
for four years. He then returned to St. Andrew's, and continued to
write, preach, and address various controversies. Soli Deo Gloria has
published Quaint Sermons of Samuel Rutherford, a collection of sermons that,
prior to their original publication in 1885, had been sitting in
obscurity. Rutherford died in 1661. |
|
|
