Thomas Chalmers - A man who loved the Church

Thomas Chalmers was a well known Scottish Theologian, who became the first Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He is best remembered for his being one of the first in modern times to espouse the Gap Theory of Genesis. He also is known for his influence upon men such as William Burns, Robert Murray McCheyne, and Horatius and Andrew Bonar.

He was born in 1780 in Fife. At 12 he began his studies at the University of Saint Andrews, he finshed after 7 years and was licensed as a preacher at the age of 19, the usual qualification of 21 years was waived due to his "rare and singular qualities."

The ironic thing is that at this time Chalmers was unconverted. The church in Scotland was at a very low ebb, and Moderatism was the main form of Christianity. Moderatism basically was a preaching which emphasized practical morals, but avoided preaching on the atonement or justification. It's main tenet could be summed up as a "don't upset people" approach to Christianity.

For several years Chalmers studied and lectured in Mathematics, Chemistry and Economics. Then sometime in 1810-11 he became converted. It was a noticible conversion that drew accusations that he had lost his mind. By 1815, he was preaching in such an effective manner at Tron Church in Glasgow, that many merchants would leave work for an hour to listen to his Thursday sermons, some giving their workers this time off as well.

He devoted much time and effort to the erection of new churches in areas of Glasgow that did not have them. He was transferred to one of the new churches (St. John's) in 1819. During his time there he was involved in devising good ways to tend to the poor in the community and succeeded admirably.

In 1823, He became a lecturer of Moral Philosophy at the University of Saint Andrews. The University was not evangelical, but it hoped that students would come to hear Chalmers. His popularity drew students from all over Britain. He was determined to teach a Christianity which embraced economics, and indeed every aspect of life.

Not only were students encouraged in home missions and social needs, but visiting missionaries from China and India imparted vision to the next generation of the need for the gospel to go to the uttermost parts of the earth. Among the missionaries who came from this group was Alexander Duff, who left for India.

In 1828 He moved to Edinburgh and became a lecturer of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, it was during his time here that he influenced Robert Murray McCheyne and the Bonar brothers. They would be influential in the Evangelical movement that was beginning to take shape.

An Evangelical revival was beginning to take place in Scotland and some of the ministers were not overly happy with the disruption of their quiet and peaceable, if somewhat fruitless, lives. The Evangelical party became more and more distanced from the Moderates.

The break came in 1843, when after years of attempting to resolve the differences with the State. At the time pastors were appointed by the wealthy lords in the parish. If the congregation was unhappy with the choice they could vote against it. But it became clear that the State was not going to allow objections, in several cases they upheld the appointments regardless of the misgivings of the parishioners. Since the State subsudized the church it felt that it had a claim to a say in the placement of ministers.

Chalmers and those who followed him realized that an issue of the Gospel was at stake. Would they continue to take State money and compromise on principle, or would they take a stand and cast themselves on an uncertain future, and trust God to take care of them.

Chalmers had been moderator of the Church of Scotland, and had once said words to the effect that he was interested in the course of action which most promoted the Christian good of Scotland, not just his particular denomination. The greatest Christian good was that Christ and not the secular power should be Lord of His Church. Therefore his only course of action was to leave the established church and start another one.

Cynical newspapers stated that those who would risk their fixed salaries for a point of prinicple would be few and thought that those who would leave would be at the most 100, but on the day of the 18th of May 1843, it was over 450 ministers that voluntary resigned there positions on the priniciple that the church had the right to ordain its own ministers.

This was the beginning of the Free Church of Scotland. these men became influential in the 1859 revival in Scotland and in Moody's later revival meetings.

Chalmers was appointed the first moderator of the church, he set up a system whereby the smaller struggling churches could be helped by the larger ones. Four years after the Disruption, Chalmers passed away, having established the Free Church on good footing, ready to be an instrument of God's revival in Scotland.

What I like about Chalmers was his earnest desire for Christ's kingdom to be advanced even if it didn't advance his own cause or his own organization. The other thing he showed was a firm resolve to not let any intruding power reign in the church, but Christ alone, through His chosen ministers.