Robert Rollock

Abstract

This chapter surveys the contribution of Scottish theologian Robert Rollock through several of his key works. Rollock develops the doctrine of works exegetically but also in likely reliance on insights from a Roman Catholic theologian, Ambrogio Catharinus. Rollock is the first to advocate a fully federal doctrine of the covenant of works that impacted future formulations of the doctrine. The chapter therefore reveals that the doctrine was not purely a Reformed novelty but has broader, catholic, roots—catholic in the sense that Reformed theologians looked to the broader universal church as they wrote theology. The chapter also shows that Rollock was engaged in significant exegetical work, which was a source for his doctrine. Both his exegetical and theological works were influential upon the later Reformed tradition.