Navigating the Classics | Lex Rex by Samuel Rutherford

Navigating the Classics is a quarterly podcast series that offers a modern guide to the books that shaped Christianity.

If you have listened to The Whole Counsel for any length of time or gone through the Behold Your God studies, you know that Dr. John Snyder has great appreciation and affection for Samuel Rutherford. But he doesn’t appreciate all of Rutherford’s work equally. In fact, there is one book that he calls, “My least favorite book from my favorite Puritan.” That work is Lex Rex.

Lex Rex: The Law and the Prince, though John’s least favorite, is an incredibly important work by the Scottish minister. It was influential not just in his own day (published in 1644) but also in today’s legal realm. Many lawyers and legal practictioners have found the content to be incredibly helpful in defining, description, and developing the proper boundaries for government and individual liberty.

With John not being well versed in this book, we have called in two men who have both read, benefited, and used this work in their professions. Those who have followed The Whole Counsel have already met Steve Crampton. Steve is a lawyer who has argued cases before the Supreme Court. He specializes in religious liberty litigation and has worked with several organizations across his storied career.

New to our listeners this week is Chris Green. Chris is a Professor of Law and Jamie L. Whitten Chair in Law and Government at the University of Mississippi. He was educated at Notre Dame, Yale, and Princeton. He is the author of several books on constitutional law.

In this episode of Navigating the Classics, the trio walk through the historical setting of Lex Rex, the biblical philosophis that undergird the work, and lastly they bring this 500-year-old work into current events helping us see how we as contemporary Christians are to both submit to and, when necessary, stand against governing powers.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for weekly updates, or listen / subscribe on: iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify