'''Samuel Rutherford''' (1601-1661) was a Scottish [[Puritan]] minister who defended the doctrine of grace, a key tenet of Calvinism. He was an advocate of limited government at a time when there was a struggle between the British Parliament and the king for power.
He published "Lex, Rex" ("The Law, the King") to argue for limitations on a divine right of kings.<ref>http://www.ccel.org/r/rutherford/</ref> This The title was a play on the phrase -- and a refutation of it -- known as "Rex Lex," which was the accepted view that the king ''is'' the law. Rutherford's idea became a foundation for [[Rule of Law]] in Anglo-American jurisprudence.
When power was restored to the king around 1660, Rutherford was charged with treason, which is punishable by death. He refused to respond to a summons and died of natural causes soon afterward.