CHALMERS, THOMAS. – Theologian and economist, born at Anstruther (Fife), Scotland, in 1780, died in 1847. He studied at the University of St Andrews, but struggled greatly to find his own path. In 1803, having been appointed Presbyterian minister of Kilmony, he developed a passion for mathematics and the natural sciences, so much so that in 1805 he obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh.
He subsequently devoted himself to political and social questions, as shown by his first publication, entitled Inquiry into the extent and stability of national resources (1808). In Christianity, following the course of his scientific systems, at first he was able to see nothing more than a philosophical scheme and a set of moral maxims. He later published his famous article The Christianism for the Encyclopaedia of Edinburgh, subsequently printed separately under the title The evidence and authority of the christian revolution, which earned him a reputation in Protestantism as a Christian apologist. In 1815, having left the chair of mathematics, he devoted himself entirely to ministry in the Presbyterian church of Tron, in Glasgow. He made an impression through his eloquence and also through his vision of social problems as applied to the urgent demands of pastoral care, to such an extent that he was regarded as a forerunner of social Christianity.
To confront the parish’s state of ignorance and immorality, he devised a practical plan to restore its life and spirituality, “revitalizing, reshaping, and extending the outdated Scottish parish system.” One of his works of 1820 reveals the direction of his thought: On the application of christianity to the commercial and ordinary affairs of life. His system of renewal had two aspects: 1) In the face of modern industrialization, which creates urbanization and the agglomeration that characterizes it, he decided that one church should be established for every 2,000 inhabitants. By the reckoning, Glasgow should immediately have had 20 new churches. Thus arose the “Committee for the Extension of the Church,” and within seven years Scotland had 220 new churches. 2) He conceived an ecclesiastical solution to pauperism, because the tax for the poor (poor rate), then levied by the State, seemed to him rather to foster pauperism. He divided his parish into 25 districts and assigned each a deacon to visit, investigate, and assist the truly needy with parish funds; the result was good.
Among his works 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).
W. Hanna, Memoirs of the Life and Writings of T. C., 4 vols., there 1849–52; J. Köstlin, s. V. in Realenc. für protest. Theologie und Kirche, III, pp. 777–83. Piero Chimnelli