CHALMERS, THOMAS. - Theologian and economist, b. at Anstruther (Fife) in Scotland in 1780, d. in 1847. He did his studies at the University of St. Andrews, but struggled greatly to find his own path. In 1803, appointed Presbyterian minister of Kilmany, he felt a passion for mathematics and for the natural sciences, so much so that in 1805 he obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh.
He then applied himself to politico-social questions, as his first publication, entitled Inquiry into the extent and stability of national resources (1808), shows. In Christianity, following the lines of his scientific systems, at first he could see nothing but a philosophical scheme and a body of moral maxims. Later he published his famous article The Christianism for the Edinburgh encyclopedia, printed afterwards separately under the title The evidence and authority of the christian revolution, which won him, within Protestantism, a reputation as a Christian apologist. In 1815, having left the chair of mathematics, he devoted himself entirely to the ministry in the Presbyterian church of Tron, in Glasgow. He made his mark through his eloquence and also through his vision of social problems applied to the urgencies of the care of souls, so much so that he was regarded as a precursor of social Christianity.
In order to confront the state of ignorance and immorality of the parish, he drew up a practical plan to restore life and spirituality to it, "revivifying, remodelling and extending the outdated Scottish parochial economy." A work of his from 1820 reveals the line of his thought: On the application of christianity to the commercial and ordinary affairs of life. There are two aspects to his system of renewal: 1) In the face of modern industrialization, which creates urbanization and the agglomeration that characterizes it, he resolved to bring about the establishment of one church for every 2000 souls. By his reckoning, Glasgow was to have, there and then, 20 new churches. Thus the "Committee for the Extension of the Church" was born, and in seven years Scotland had 220 new churches. 2) He thought of an ecclesiastical solution to pauperism, because the tax for the poor (poor rate), then exacted by the State, seemed to him rather to feed pauperism. He divided his parish into 25 districts and assigned to each a deacon to visit, investigate and assist the truly needy with parochial offerings, and the result was good.
Of his works, the following are cited: The christian and civil economy of our large towns (1821); On political economy in connexion with the moral state and moral prospects of society (1841).
Bibliography3 works
Piero Chimnelli