The Banker Who Gave It All Away

In 1744, John Thornton was born into modest English merchant life, but through shrewd trade in Baltic goods, he amassed one of the largest fortunes in Georgian England. What set Thornton apart was not his wealth but what he did with it. Each year, he gave away between seven and nine thousand pounds — a staggering sum when a laborer earned thirty pounds annually.

Thornton bought thousands of Bibles and distributed them across England. He funded the education of young clergymen who could not afford training, including a little-known curate named John Newton, the former slave trader turned hymn writer. When Newton needed a parish, Thornton personally purchased the living at Olney so Newton could preach freely. The hymn Amazing Grace might never have reached the world without Thornton's quiet generosity.

His household was famous for its open table. Visitors remarked that no one left Thornton's home without being fed, counseled, or helped with some pressing need. He lent freely without demanding repayment and conducted every business deal with scrupulous honesty.

When Thornton died in 1790, his legacy lived not in marble monuments but in the thousands of lives reshaped by his open hands. His children carried forward his charitable vision for generations.

The Psalmist could have been writing Thornton's biography: "Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Their children will be mighty in the land." Psalm 112 reminds us that the person who fears the Almighty finds their deepest security not in accumulating wealth but in releasing it.