Thomas Chalmers Books: A Guide to All 6 and Where to Start
SermonsApologeticsChurch History
Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) was the great Scottish preacher of the early 1800s and the first moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. Most of his books began as sermons preached in Glasgow, where crowds packed the Tron Church and later St. John's to hear him. TheWay Library has six of his books, all free to read: two volumes of Glasgow sermons, his famous sermons on astronomy, his sermons to businessmen, his defense of the Christian faith, and a large collection of his letters. For his life story, see who was Thomas Chalmers.
Where to start
Start with Sermons Preached in St. John's Church, Glasgow, and read the second sermon, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, first. It's the sermon he's remembered for, and it's the best short introduction to his message.
After that, choose by your interest:
- More gospel preaching: Sermons Preached in the Tron Church.
- Faith and science: the Astronomical Discourses.
- Faith at work and in business: The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life.
- Why believe the Bible: The Evidence and Authority of the Christian Revelation.
- Chalmers as a pastor and friend: his letters.
Chalmers wrote long, rolling sentences meant to be heard aloud. Read him slowly, and don't be afraid to read a paragraph twice. Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of Thomas Chalmers quotes.
Sermons
Sermons Preached in St. John's Church, Glasgow
Fifteen sermons from his years at St. John's, the poor Glasgow parish where he tried his experiment in caring for every family through the church. Besides "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection," there are sermons on the constancy of God in nature as a pledge of His faithfulness in His Word, the believer's hope, restless ambition, the passing of visible things, spiritual blindness, the new heavens and new earth, the reasonableness of faith, the Sabbath, predestination, the sin against the Holy Ghost, and the Christian education of the poor.
The love of God, and the love of the world, are two affections, not merely in a state of rivalship, but in a state of enmity…
Sermons Preached in St. John's Church, Glasgow, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection
Read Sermons Preached in St. John's Church.
Sermons Preached in the Tron Church, Glasgow
Seventeen sermons from his first Glasgow church. As his preface says, their main theme is the depravity of human nature. He exposes morality without godliness and the emptiness of natural virtue, then shows how the gospel dissolves the mind's enmity against God through a Mediator in whom truth and mercy meet. There's also a fine opening sermon on why the Holy Spirit is needed to make preaching effective.
As soon as he sees what he never saw before, so soon does he feel what he never felt before.
Sermons Preached in the Tron Church, Glasgow, Gratitude Not a Sordid Affection
Read Sermons Preached in the Tron Church.
A Series of Discourses on the Christian Revelation, Viewed in Connection with the Modern Astronomy
The famous "Astronomical Discourses" of 1817: seven weekday sermons that made Chalmers a household name. They answer an objection people were raising as astronomy revealed how vast the universe is: how could God send His Son to so small a planet? Chalmers sketches the new astronomy, calls for the humility of true science, and argues that the size of creation makes God's condescension to us more wonderful, not less. The last discourse warns that being moved by grand ideas is not the same as being converted.
She promulgates all that is positively known; but she maintains the strictest silence and modesty about all that is unknown.
A Series of Discourses on the Christian Revelation, On the Contest for an Ascendency over Man, amongst the Higher Orders of Intelligence
Read the Astronomical Discourses.
The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life
Eight sermons preached to the merchants of Glasgow in 1820. Chalmers looks at the honesty that can exist without faith, what Christianity adds to it, the selfish roots of much business honesty, the guilt of small dishonesty, the golden rule, the temptations of city life, the bad example the rich set for the poor, and the love of money as idolatry. It's still one of the best books on faith in the workplace.
If his heart be set upon covetousness, it is set upon an object of idolatry.
The Application of Christianity to the Commercial and Ordinary Affairs of Life, On the Love of Money
Read The Application of Christianity.
Defending the faith
The Evidence and Authority of the Christian Revelation
Chalmers' defense of Christianity from history, first published in 1817. He applies the ordinary rules for weighing historical testimony to the New Testament: the authenticity of its books, their marks of honesty, the testimony of the apostles and of later witnesses, and the argument from prophecy. Then he answers skeptical geologists, deists and atheists, and ends by calling for full submission to the Bible's authority once its truth is granted.
Their silence in not asserting the miracles, is perfectly consistent with their truth; but their silence in not denying them, is not at all consistent with their falsehood.
The Evidence and Authority of the Christian Revelation, On the Testimony of Subsequent Witnesses
Read The Evidence and Authority of the Christian Revelation.
Letters
A Selection from the Correspondence of the Late Thomas Chalmers
A large collection of his letters, published after his death and arranged by the person he wrote to. They run from his years at Kilmany through Glasgow and Edinburgh. Most are letters of spiritual counsel to friends: on the gospel, assurance, sickness and grief. There are also letters to William Wilberforce and to fellow ministers, and a section on the "Church Question" that led to the Disruption of 1843. This is the warmest of his books, and it shows the pastor behind the famous preacher.
There is no want of willingness in God; it is in our own heart that the straitening lies.
A Selection from the Correspondence of the Late Thomas Chalmers, Letters to Miss Collier
A book about Chalmers
The library also has Thomas Chalmers by William Garden Blaikie, a short biography by a Free Church minister who knew the story well. Read it alongside the letters for the full picture of his life.
A note on these editions
Both volumes of Glasgow sermons were restored from scans of old printings and are still being proofread. The St. John's sermons have scattered misread words. The Tron Church sermons have heavier errors in places, especially in the preface and in the Bible texts at the head of each sermon. The other books read cleanly.
Why read Chalmers today
Chalmers shows what it looks like when a great mind is captured by the gospel. He preached Christ to rich and poor, he took science and business seriously, and he cared for the whole life of his people. Start with The Expulsive Power of a New Affection and go on from there. All six books are on the Thomas Chalmers author page. For more great preaching, see our guide to the best classic sermon collections.