The Rise of the Covenant of Redemption in the Theology of Samuel Rutherford

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-72346-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 212, 274 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Studies in the History of Christian Traditions

The Church of Scotland divine Samuel Rutherford (1600-61) was among the first theologians to say that Christ's saving work took place to fulfill an agreement between God and Christ that had been made in eternity. By placing Rutherford's major statements of this new doctrine in their various social, political, polemical, and pastoral contexts, this book provides a fresh explanation for the dramatic rise of the eternal covenant of redemption to become the cornerstone of Reformed federal theology and offers a case-study in the development of doctrine.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bostock, Sam

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Abbreviations and conventions

1 Introduction

1 The Covenant of Redemption at Kirkmabreck

2 The Rise of the Covenant of Redemption

3 Explanations for the Rise of the Covenant of Redemption

4 Rutherford and the Covenant of Redemption

2 Galloway: The Covenant of Redemption Preached

1 Covenant Theology in Scottish Non-Conformity

2 The Eternal Donation of the Elect to Christ as Mediator

3 A Covenant with the Pre-Incarnate Christ

4 Meanings and Intentions

3 London: The Covenanted Reformation and the Covenant with Christ

1 Challenges to the Covenanted Reformation

2 The Covenant with Christ During the Westminster Asssembly

3 Christ and the Covenanted Reformation in Tryal and Triumph

4 The Covenanted Reformation and Christ’s Covenanted Kingship

4 London: Covenant Theology and Contract Law

1 Crisp’s Critique of Mainstream English Covenant Theology

2 Rutherford’s Definition of a Covenant

3 Saltmarsh and Rutherford on the Word Covenant

4 Crisp’s Reliance on English Common Law

5 Rutherford’s Reliance on the Jus Commune Theory of Contract

6 Conclusion

5 London: Christ’s Place in the Covenant

1 The Place of Christ in the Covenant

2 Christ’s Eternal Consent to the Covenant

3 The Structure of the Eternal Covenant

4 Conclusion

6 London: Christ and His Seed

1 The Promises of the Covenant

2 Surety-Righteousness and Justification Before Faith

3 The Conditions of the Covenant

4 The Covenant-Right to All Things

5 Conclusion

7 St Andrews: The Refusability of Christ’s Blood

1 The Covenant of Life Opened

2 The Necessity of a Covenant of Redemption

3 The Legal Basis for the Refusability of Christ’s Blood

4 Rutherford and the Refusability of Christ’s Blood

8 St Andrews: The Ratio of Christ’s Reward

1 The Question of the Ratio of Christ’s Merit

2 Rutherford on the Ratio of Adam’s Merit

3 Rutherford on the Ratio of Christ’s Merit

4 Christ’s Reward and the Rise of the Covenant of Redemption

9 Conclusion

Appendix: The Date of Rutherford’s Communion Sermons

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Sam Bostock, Ph.D. (2023), Union Theological College, Belfast, is the minister of First Presbyterian Church, Saintfield, in County Down, Northern Ireland, and a Research Associate at Union Theological College. He holds degrees in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and in Divinity from Queen's University, Belfast.