Mathematician and theologian. Short biography and "Pointers for Prayer".

George Salmon 1819 - 1904

George Salmon was Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. He was distinguished thinker both in mathematics and a theology. As well as being one of the greatest creative mathematicians of the nineteenth century, his profound intellect was dedicated to the service of the Church of Ireland as a teacher of her clergy for over forty years. His enlivening lectures and the "unanswerable logic" of his theological works, coupled with his administrative ability and natural goodness, mark him as one of the greatest in the long succession of distinguished people who have been Provosts of Trinity College, Dublin.

European academics were loath to be convinced that two scholars of the same name did not exist, one the mathematician and the other the theologian.

His father, Michael Salmon, was a linen merchant and his mother, Helen Weekes, was the daughter of the Reverend Edward Weekes. George attended school in his home town of Cork, and then entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1833 where he studied mathematics and classics. He graduated in mathematics in 1838, became a Fellow in 1841, Regius Professor of Divinity in 1866 and Provost in 1888.

In 1844 Salmon married Frances Salvador, the daughter of the Reverend J. L. Salvador. They had six children, four boys and two girls. He was ordained deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1844 and priest in 1845.

The mathematics department inTrinity had some outstanding mathematicians on the staff when Salmon joined them. Salmon’s interest was in the area of algebraic geometry. He loved carrying out lengthy calculations - one such ran to thirteen pages. His work in mathematics was widely recognised. He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Society and to the academies of Berlin, Gottingen, Copenhagen and Rome and the Institute of France.

He was appointed a lecturer in divinity in Trinity and from 1848 to 1866 he played a major role in both the departments of mathematics and divinity. As well as his publications in mathematics he also had

important theological publications. His sermon on prayer was published in 1849 and was followed by a series of publications of his sermons. In 1866 when he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity he gave up his mathematics lectureship and although he continued to work at mathematics it was more for his own amusement.

Salmon co-operated with R. Whately in writing the ‘Cautions for the Times' (1853), intended as a reply to the ‘Tracts for the Times' (1833-41). In his widely read “Introduction to the New Testament” (1885), he was more concerned to refute critical theories than to produce a handbook of reference. Salmon also took a prominent part in the reorganisation of the Church of Ireland after its disestablishment in 1870.

Whilst he published much in the field of theology, one publication in particular is regarded as his major contribution.He was of the more Protestant expression of Anglicanism and he disagreed strongly with the Papal claim of infallibility. His lectures on the “Infallibility of the Church”, first published in 1888, were a defence of Protestant principles against the tenets of the Church of Rome, and well illustrate at once his skill, his vigour, and his humour, as a controversialist. He adopted the maxim of St. Thomas Aquinas as expressed by G. K. Chesterton “that we must
either not argue with a man at all, or we must argue on his grounds or not at all”. George Salmon employed this principle with telling effect. So much so that the Catholic Encyelopedia in 1930 labelled him “one of the subtlest of the recent opponents of infallibility.”

In a tribute to him the Bishop of Oxford said, “The Provost of Trinity College is an extraordinary man. On the first day of our acquaintance I was struck with his gracious courtesy, on the second day with his learning, on the third day with his humour and every day with his humility.”

POINTERS FOR PRAYER

+ Pray for those engaged in teaching and studying mathematics and theology.

+ Pray for those who think and discuss what the different denominations have in common in the Christian faith and for sensitive and honest articulation of differences.

+ Pray for gifted people that like George Salmon they may possess courtesy, humour and humility.

Text - Copyright, Dean of Belfast, 2005.