The Scottish church reformer and theologian Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) was a central figure in the 1843 secession of the Free Church from the Presbyterian Establishment.

Thomas Chalmers was born in Fife on March 17, 1780. While attending the University of St. Andrews, he was drawn both to the study of mathematics and science and to a clerical vocation. After Presbyterian ordination in 1803, he was a successful preacher and instructor. In his late 20s he became aroused to evangelical fervor; for the first time he was struck by his own incorrigible depravity, the imminence of death, and the promise of salvation through faith in Christ. This position was characteristic of the intellectually simple, scripturally bound, evangelical awakening typical of many of his generation. Chalmers, however, attempted to broaden evangelicalism by reconciling its zeal with secular ethics, science, and philosophy and with concern for social and economic issues.

In this spirit Chalmers delivered...