Samuel Rutherford's (1600-1661) scholastic theology has been criticized as overly deterministic
and even fatalistic a charge common to Reformed Orthodox theologians of the era. This project
applies the new scholarship on Reformed Orthodoxy to Rutherford's doctrine of divine
providence. The doctrine of divine providence touches upon many of the disputed points in the
older scholarship including the relationship between divine sovereignty and creaturely freedom
necessity and contingency predetermination and the problem of evil. Through a close
examination of Rutherford's Latin works of scholastic theology as well as many of his English
works a portrait emerges of the absolutely free and independent Creator who does not utilize
his sovereignty to dominate his subordinate creatures but rather to guarantee their freedom.
This analysis challenges the older scholarship while making useful contributions to the lively
conversation concerning Reformed thought on freedom.
