Puritan Paperbacks - Letters of Samuel Rutherford: A Selection

Book Description:

Like John Bunyan in Bedford gaol, Samuel Rutherford did his best work while suffering imprisonment for the gospel.

His opponents had meant to silence him but instead they perpetuated his ministry through the centuries for it was out of this period that most of his famous Letters came.  Addressed to high and low they were so prized by the recipients that the first collection by Robert McWard appeared in 1664 just three years after Rutherford’s death. the successive editions contained more letters until they grew to the 365 in Andrew Bonar’s classic edition.

From this, ‘the most remarkable series of devotional letters that the literature of the Reformed churches can show’, the great leaders in the Church as well as the humblest Christians have drawn strength. It is said of Robert Murray M’Cheyne that ‘the Letters of Samuel Rutherford were often in his hand.’ This abridged edition contains sixty-nine of these letters.

Endorsements:

"When we are dead and gone let the world know that Spurgeon held Rutherford’s Letters to be the nearest thing to inspiration which can be found in all the writings of mere men."
--C. H. Spurgeon

"Surprising though it may seem in a world of large books, of all those owned by our family this may be the one we have most often lent or quoted to friends."
--Sinclair B. Ferguson

"Apart from the Bible, ‘such a book as Mr. Rutherford’s Letters the world never saw the like.’"
--Richard Baxter

Author:

Born in 1600, Samuel Rutherford converted in 1624 and began reading theology in Edinburgh. He served as a minister for nine years before he was barred from preaching because of his nonconformity. Exiled for two years, he wrote many letters that are now part of the collection titled Letters of Samuel Rutherford. In 1638, after the Covenanter revolution, he was named  Professor of Divinity at St. Mary’s College, St. Andrews; he agreed to accept if he was allowed to regularly preach. He did so and also began publishing material on theology. Samuel Rutherford books include The Loveliness of Christ and Trial and Triumph of Faith. The first of these contains extracts of some of Rutherford’s wisest and most powerful thoughts; one hundred years ago, this book was called “a small casket stored with many jewels.” The second book expounds upon Christ’s gracious words to a Canaanite woman.

Additional Information: