Reformation CD#10 - Samuel Rutherford 2
	Quantity in Basket:none Code:S_R10 Price:$9.99 Shipping Weight:0.30 pounds
	Quantity:

And Cecil notes, "It is one of my classics. Were truth the beam, I have no doubt that if Homer, and Virgil, and Horace, and all that the world has agreed to idolize, were weighed against that book, they would be lighter than vanity. He is a real original" (Remains cited in Johnston's The Treasury of the Scottish Covenant).

Walker adds his voice to this chorus of praise calling these, "letters which, I may say, stand all alone in religious literature... So far as I know, they are the only letters two centuries old (i.e. when Walker wrote this--RB) which are still a practical reality in the religious life of Scotland, England, and America. And criticism cannot get rid of the fact that they continue to retain their hold of human hearts, -- that they have won a place for themselves besides such books as Augustine's Confessions or Thomas a Kempis." (Theologians..., p. 8).

All the above sections, which we have added, have been left out of many former editions of Rutherford'sLetters-- including the Banner of Truth hardcover that was in print a couple of years ago.This is the first time, to our knowledge, that these valuable additions (which were at various times published together with these letters) and the full edition of Ruthrford'sLetters have all been gathered into one publication.

Without a doubt one of the greatest books on political philosophy ever written. Rutherford's teaching, taken from Scripture, decimated the "divine right of kings" doctrine and set up Scripture as the standard by which to judge the actions, beliefs and constitutions of civil government.Picking up where Brutus, inA Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants(http://www.swrb.com/catalog/d.htm), left off, Rutherford here has penned agreat Christian charter of liberty against all forms of civil tyranny -- vindicating the Scriptural duty to resist tyrants as an act of loyalty to God.

Subtitled: "A dispute for the just prerogative of King and people: containing the reason and causes of the most necessary defensive wars of the kingdom of Scotland, and their expedition for the aid and help of their dear brethren of England; in which their innocency is asserted, and a full answer is given to a seditious pamphlet, entitled, ... The Sacred and Royal Prerogative of Christian Kings..."Also includes George Buchanan's De Jure Regni apud Scotos (in English). 283 pages.

The title continues: "Or, A modest and Brotherly Dispute of the government of the Church of Scotland, Wherein, Our Discipline is demonstrated to be the true Apostolic way of divine Truth, and the Arguments on the contrary are friendly dissolved, the grounds of Separation and the Independents of particular Congregations, in defence of Ecclesiastical Presbyteries, Synods and Assemblies, are Examined and tried." 340 pages.

Hewison writes of this paper, "(t)he Protesters compeared (at the pretended assembly of the Resolutioners--RB) to lodge a protestation subscribed by 63 ministers and 80 laymen, who declared the Assembly to be 'unlawful, unfrie, and unjust.' The Assembly threatened them with discipline" (The Covenanters, vol. 2, p. 43). Rutherford and the other Protesters held their ground and refused to have ecclesiastical fellowship with the backsliding, covenant-breaking Resolutioners -- a lesson on faithful biblical separation that has long since been forgotten. This work gives us a little slice of the Protesters views during this most important period of controversy in the Church of Scotland: for as Anderson notes, "(f)uture events showed the impolicy of these Resolutions. The men who were admitted by them into places of power and trust in the army and state, became, as the Protesters always predicted, the persecutors of the Church. Had the counsels of the Protesters prevailed, the twenty-eight years' persecution might not have existed" (cited inTreasury of the Scottish Covenant, p. 120). Dodds adds this testimony, "Last fatal sign that the ancient spirit and the freedom of Scotland were about to disappear under a total eclipse, the Kirk hitherto impregnable, unyielding Kirk, stooped down from her old height and emitted Resolutions in favour of those proceedings of the royalists. Against these Resolutions, a large, bold, fierce minority headed by James Guthrie of Stirling protested that the principles of the Covenant should be maintained" (Ibid.). Finally, Johnston writes, Durham's last treatise had reference to the 'scandalous divisions' thus created, and what is particularly noticeable is the circumstance that David Dickson's last hours were embittered by the recollection of his short-sightedness in adopting these Resolutions. To a lady who visited him on his death-bed he said, 'Madam, I must confess, the Protesters have been truer prophets than we were'" (Ibid.) 20 pages.

The subtitle reads: "Opening the Secrets of Familisme and Antinomianism in the Antichristian Doctrine of John Saltmarth, and William Del, the present Preachers of the Army (headed by Oliver Cromwell--RB) now in England, and of Robert Town, Tobiah Crisp, H. Denne, Eaton and others. In which is revealed the rise and spring of Antinomianism, Familists, Libertines, Swench-feldians, Enthysiasts, etc. The minde of Luther a most professed opposer of Antinomianism, is cleared, and diverse considerable points of the Law and the Gospel, of the Spirit and the Letter, of the two Covenants, of the nature of free grace, exercise under temptations, mortification, justification, sanctification, are discovered. In Two parts." Also contains Rutherford's "A brotherly and free Epistle to the patrons and friends of pretended Liberty of Conscience."

In this book Rutherford refutes Hooker's Independent views of church government in great detail. In doing so he has left us much to ponder regarding Presbyterianism, the constitution of the visible church (as it is revealed in Scripture), covenanting, separation, discipline, Arminianism, church communion and much more.

A Testimony to the Covenanted Work of Reformation Between 1638-1649 in Britain and Ireland(This is Rutherford's dying testimony).

The Trial and Triumph of Faith (406 pages).

As Andrew Bonar notes in his preface to this book, "Samuel Rutherford never fails to set Christ on high, for truly he had 'a thirst no earthly stream could satisfy -- A hunger that must feed on Christ, or die.'" 384 pages.

"The object of the present work is to present to the public, in a form that may be generally accessible, the history of one of the most interesting periods in the annals of our National Church, by the republication of the Acts and Proceedings, at, and subsequent to, the era of hersecond Reformation; and, combined therewith, such historical documents and sketches as are calculated to preserve the memory of an important, and, ultimately beneficial revolution," notes Peterkin in his introduction.

This is one of the most valuable publications we offer related to second Reformation history and the many important questions that were debated (and oftentimes settled) during this watershed period -- before, during and after the sitting of the Westminster Assembly. The interaction between the Scottish general Assembly and the Westminster Assembly is most fascinating and instructive -- affording many insights into the production and development of the Westminster Standards!It also contains some indispensable information on theProtester/Resolutioner controversy(which reveals many valuable lessons for Reformed Christians today), including excerpts from some lost books and papers written by the Protesting Covenanters. The excerpts from James Guthrie'sThe Waters of Sihor, or the Lands Defectione, in which Guthrie enumerates the errors of the Resolutioners, as well as the marks of malignancy, is one prime example.Other rare Protester documents (inveighing against the "pretended Assemblies" of the Resolutioners), signed by the likes of Samuel Rutherford and Robert Traill are also included.Very rare and very valuable -- a gold mine for the serious student of the covenanted Reformation! 684 pages.

An exceedingly rare title marking the continuing rise, at a critical juncture, of the covenanted Reformed Presbyterian church.Members of this General Assembly and signatories to this protestation include Samuel Rutherford, David Dickson, Robert Baillie and even James Sharp (who later apostatized to the camp of the Prelatical antichrist and persecuted [and murdered] the covenanters he once owned as brothers). This book refutes the charges of the prelates, while exposing their many errors (which included teaching Arminianism, Popery, conditional election, the power of free-will resisting effectual grace, that the Pope is not the Antichrist, that Rome is the true church [constitutionally], that worship is not regulated by the Word of God [the regulative principle], that the earlier reformers were deformers; and denying limited atonement, justification by faith alone, predestination, and a number of other revealed truths of Scripture.)

A biographical and historical study in the history of the Scottish Covenant. In Critical Reviews Relating Chiefly to Scotland , compiled by Hay Fleming, we read, "Mr. Gilmour has produced an excellent volume, which is worthy of being placed alongside any of its predecessors... Scattered throughout its pages there are numerous quotations from Rutherfurd's own works... Rutherfurd's admirers will relish it, because of its keen sympathy with and high appreciation of him." Rutherfurd was a master scholar of Scripture, a great devotional writer (see his Letters), a devoted minister of Christ, one of the Scotch commissioners to the Westminster Assembly, and a world class political philosopher (whose Lex Rex forever changed the face of political thought). Gilmour writes, "that, as regards religious fervour, scholastic subtlety of intellect, and intensity of ecclesiastical conviction, Samuel Rutherford is the most distinctively representative Scotsman in the first half of the seventeenth century." Few saints in history were given the gifts this man possessed.

Memoirs of distinguished Scottish female characters (some who were martyred), embracing the period of the covenant and the persecution.Samuel Rutherford's (and others) correspondencewith these exceptional Christian women is noted throughout. 494 pages of soul-stirring history!

This title was written after the two volumes, The Homes, Haunts, and Battlefields of the Covenanters. It represents the author's continuing studies and contains some new information regarding incidents and people noted in the earlier volumes. This is especially true concerning the portrayal of Alexander Peden. Others covered include Renwick, Cargill, Sharp, the Howies, and many more. The story regarding Samuel Rutherford's "two witnesses" is classic Scottish lore. Official acts (e.g. the proceedings surrounding the signing of Covenants), martyrdoms, Declarations, battles, etc., are all covered.

This book is one of the best easy-reading historical accounts published concerning this unsurpassed Assembly. This title is in the free books file on all the Reformation Bookshelf CDs.

The best easy-to-read book on the history of the Covenanters. May also be used for home schooling or in other teaching settings, as it contains a convenient list of questions at the end of each chapter.

Most commonly known as "Scots Worthies,"this edition contains Howie's footnotes (defending the Covenanters) and Howie's appendix titled "The Judgment and Justice of God" (which chronicles God's judgments upon Reformation apostates and those who persecuted the Covenanters). It is theonly edition in print which contains both these sections intended for publication by the author(as later editors often removed either one or both of these parts of this book).Biographia Scoticana is one of our best history books (over 700 pages), covering all of the major Scottish Reformers.

Quotes from Calvin, Edwards, Owen, Rutherford,and numerous others citing and expounding on the old Reformed position. Instrumental music in public worship was a regulated circumstance of Old Covenant worship and thusCalvin writes, "From this it appears that the Papists, as I shall have occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people as to ape it in a sense less and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament which was figurative and terminated with the gospel."You may be shocked to see the strong and unanimous testimony, given by these famous and much respected Reformers, against the use of musical instruments in public worship of the one true and living God.

END NOTE: William Hetherington's History of the Westminster Assembly(above), John Howie'sBiographia Scoticana: or, A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies, better known as just The Scot's Worthies (all above), J.C. Mcfeeter'sSketches of the Covenanters (above), Thomas Smith'sSelect Memoirs (on Reformation Bookshelf CD #2), and many other books also feature sections on the life and work of Samuel Rutherford. Furthermore,two contemporary books which are among the best we know of for understanding the thought of Samuel Rutherford, are Greg Barrow's The Covenanted Reformation Defended and A Brief Defense of Dissociation in the Present Circumstancesby the Session of the Puritan Reformed Church of Edmonton. Both of these books are available in the free bonus books section (below) on this CD!

Also freeon this CD are the following audio (MP3) tracks: