View source for Lex, Rex

{{Short description|1644 book by Samuel Rutherford}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2024}}
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{{For|the Glass Hammer album|Lex Rex (album)}}
'''''Lex, Rex''''' is a book by the Scottish Presbyterian minister [[Samuel Rutherford]].  The book, written in English, was published in 1644 with the subtitle "The Law and the Prince".  Published in response to [[Bishop John Maxwell]]'s "Sacro-Sancta Regum Majestas", it was intended to be a comprehensive defence of the Scottish Presbyterian ideal in politics.  The book defends the rule of law and the lawfulness of defensive wars (including [[pre-emptive wars]]) and advocates [[limited government]] and [[constitutionalism]] in politics and the "Two Kingdoms" theory of Church-State relations (which advocated distinct realms of church and state but opposed religious toleration).  Rutherford's ''Lex, Rex'' utilizes arguments from Scripture, Natural Law and Scottish law, and along with the sixteenth century ''[[Vindiciae contra tyrannos]]'', it attacked royal absolutism and emphasized the importance of the [[Covenant (historical)|covenant]] and the rule of law (by which Rutherford included Divine Law and Natural Law as well as positive law).  After the [[Restoration (1660)|Restoration]], the authorities cited Rutherford for [[high treason]], but his death intervened before the charge could be tried.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}  ''Lex, Rex'' itself was burned in Edinburgh (the Scottish capital) and St. Andrews (where Rutherford had been principal of the university) and in 1683 Oxford University included it in what ended up being the last official book-burning in England.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The attack on absolutism, the defence of the rule of law and the emphasis on the importance of the [[Covenant (historical) |covenant]] made ''Lex, Rex'' a precursor to the [[social contract]] idea, and helped pave the way for the political theory of [[John Locke]]. However, Rutherford's views on Church-State relations and his opposition to religious toleration were not shared by Locke. This work ended up playing a role in inspiring the [[American Revolution]] with its strong stance in favor of rebellion against unjust monarchs if they are tyrannical.

== See also ==
*[[Alexander Shields]]
*[[Lex animata]] (law individualised in a prince)
*[[Natural law]]
*[[Rule of law]]
*[[Rule of man]]

==External links==
* {{Citation | url = http://www.tulip.org/Lex%20Rex.htm | title = Discussion of the implications of Lex Rex as the foundation of a civilized government | first = Max A | last = Forsythe | publisher = The Institute for Principled Policy | website = Tulip | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080917124348/http://www.tulip.org/Lex%20Rex.htm | archive-date = 2008-09-17 }}.
* {{Citation | last = Rutherford | first = Samuel | author-link = Samuel Rutherford | url = https://constitution.org/2-Authors/sr/lexrex.htm | title = Lex, Rex |trans-title=The Law & the Prince | type = full text | publisher = Constitution}}.
* {{Citation | last = Rutherford | first = Samuel | author-mask = 3 | url = http://www.portagepub.com/products/caa/sr-lexrex17.html | title = Lex, Rex |trans-title=The Law & the Prince | format = [[Portable document format |PDF]] | type = full text | publisher = Portagepub}}.

[[Category:1644 books]]
[[Category:Books in political philosophy]]


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