Today I am beginning a series of short biographies of great Christian philanthropists–men and women who used their God-given wealth and privilege to advance his work. We begin with a woman who was the “Queen of Methodism,” an influential leader in the 18th century revival movement, and a great philanthropist. Selina Hastings was born on August 24, 1707, the daughter of Lord Washington Shirley and Lady Mary Shirley. A child of privilege, she spent her childhood in Leicestershire and her …

As we saw last week in the first article in this series on Christian Philanthropists, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, lived from 1707–1791. This week, we are considering the life and giving of one of her contemporaries, John Thornton, who lived from 1720–1790. Thornton’s family was from Yorkshire, England. His father, Robert, directed the Bank of England which, along with Thornton’s own work as a merchant in the export trade, helps explain his great wealth. In 1753, he married Lucy …

John Davison Rockefeller was a Christian, an industrialist and a great philanthropist who founded, among other institutions, the University of Chicago and The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (now known as Rockefeller University) in New York City. Born in 1839 to William and Eliza Rockefeller, John was the second of their six children and their oldest son. In contrast to his father, who was known as an unproductive schemer, John gained a great reputation for being an honest, generous Christian. …

Robert Gilmour LeTourneau was an influential businessman and inventor of machinery that shook the world (since, after all, much of the earthmoving equipment used in World War II was made by LeTourneau’s factory). Born in Richford, Vermont in 1888, LeTourneau became a wealthy and generous Christian philanthropist who worked hard and shared freely. With the reluctant support of his parents, LeTourneau dropped out of school in sixth grade to work in the mechanical field. In 1919, he married Evelyn Peterson …

Our next Christian philanthropist, William Colgate, founded a company that has placed a well-known product in many of our homes even today—Colgate toothpaste. Born in Kent, England in 1783 to Robert and Sarah, Colgate migrated with his family to Maryland in 1798 because of his father’s political sympathy for the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. While in Maryland, Colgate helped his father manufacture soap and candles, but it was after he moved to New York City in …

William 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 …

Thomas Guthrie D.D. (Doctor of Divinity) was a popular Scottish preacher, writer, and Christian philanthropist who lived from 1803–1873. Born at Brechin in Forfarshire, Guthrie’s early life was spent in his native town, where his father was a merchant. His wife, Ann, was the daughter of the Rev. James Burns, one of the ministers of Brechin. Together, they had ten children and their family was well known for their warmth and hospitality.  His Conversion God blessed Guthrie with a Christian …

Arthur Guinness (1724 or 1725 – 1803) was the visionary, entrepreneur, and Christian philanthropist who founded the Guinness brewery business. Born into an Irish Protestant family, Guinness received £100 from his godfather Arthur Price, the Archbishop of Cashel, in the Church of Ireland. When he was about 30 years old, Guinness invested this money in building a brewery near Dublin, the capital of Ireland. In 1761, Guinness married Olivia Whitmore in Dublin and amazingly they had 21 children. Like many others …

William Wilberforce (1759–1833) was the English politician and Christian philanthropist who led the abolition of the British slave trade. Wilberforce was Born in Yorkshire, England, but his father died when William was just 8 years old, so he went to live with his aunt and uncle, Hannah and William. (It may be of interest to the readers of this blog that Wilberforce’s aunt Hannah was the sister of Christian philanthropist John Thornton). Because of the wealth of his parents, he was …