Skip to content ↓

The Philanthropists: William Borden

William BordenWilliam Whiting Borden was a wealthy Christian philanthropist who had a particular passion for the Muslims of Northern China. Born in Chicago in 1887 to William and Mary, Borden’s family became wealthy through wise investments in real estate and the dairy industry. It was this family wealth that Borden would generously distribute before his death at the young age of 25.

His Conversion

Borden began attending Chicago Avenue Church (now The Moody Church) with his mother after she trusted Christ in 1894. It was as a young man under the preaching of the famous evangelist and writer Dr. R. A. Torrey that Borden professed faith in Christ and was baptized. His conversion left an indelible mark that would persist through the rest of his short life so that his friends and family would later attest he rarely wasted a minute of the time given him.

As a high school graduation gift his parents gave him a trip around the world and it was in this time that he developed a passion for mission. When Borden left home to study at Yale University, he led other students in times of prayer and Scripture reading. In fact, the movement spread so much that 1,000 out of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in similar groups by the time Borden graduated. During these meetings, the students would plan how they could reach all the students for Christ, and Borden was known to willingly take on the more hostile students. He also led Yale’s student missionary conference.

After graduating from Yale and then Princeton Theological Seminary, Borden studied Arabic in Egypt to prepare him to minister to the Kansu Muslims of Northern China. Sadly, though, he died of cerebral meningitis at the age of 25. Samuel Zwemer, who had taught Borden while he was in Egypt, officiated the funeral. Thus, Borden forsook his great wealth for the sake of the nations. In his Bible, he wrote the words, “No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.”

His Contributions

Borden gave $1 million of his family’s wealth to organizations such as the China Inland Mission, Moody Bible Institute, Moody Church, and Princeton Theological Seminary.

But he was more than a philanthropist–he was also an evangelist. While a student, he founded the Yale Hope mission, an organization that rescued drunks off the street, sought to rehabilitate them, and shared with them the good news of Jesus Christ. Thus, it would be shortsighted to focus only on Borden’s wealth. His own passionate influence had a great effect on others. One of his professors at Princeton, Charles R. Erdman, said that Borden was “an ideal missionary volunteer” because of his vision, dedication, example, and influence. Or, as his epitaph reads,

A man in Christ

He arose and forsook all and followed Him,

Kindly affectioned with brotherly love,

Fervent in spirit serving the Lord,

Rejoicing in hope,

Patient in tribulation,

Instant in prayer,

Communicating to the necessity of saints,

In honour preferring others,

Apart from faith in Christ,

There is no explanation for such a life.


  • Vote

    The Unique Christian Contribution to Politics

    The relationship of the Christian to the political process is one of those issues that arises time and again and cycle after cycle. It is one of those issues that often generates more heat than light and that brings about more division than unity. Yet I would like to think we can agree that there…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 19)

    A La Carte: Intrusive thoughts / Praying with an open Bible / Recharge your marriage / Why seminary for women? / The real reason we struggle to pray / Should I stay or should I go?

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: Did Jesus freely live a scripted life? / Death, grief, and Frodo’s incurable wound / Cultural Christianity / The danger of an inward focused church / The stay-at-home mom / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Things Change and Things Stay the Same

    Things Change and Things Stay the Same

    The French language has an endearing little phrase that could almost have been drawn from the Bible’s wisdom literature. “Plus ça change,” they say, “plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Though I live in the 21st century, I read in the 19th, which is to say,…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 17)

    A La Carte: Comfort in life’s disappointments / To women with passive husbands / Loved ones with dementia / When to preach Romans / Friendship / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Too Small To Bother God With

    At times we all live burdened lives, weighed down by the cares and concerns, the trials and traumas that inevitably accompany life in this world. And while we sometimes feel crushed by life’s heaviest burdens—the death of a loved one, the rebellion of a child, the onset of a chronic illness—we can also sometimes stagger…