John D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937), the founder of Standard Oil, was the richest man in early twentieth-century America. As the architect of the most dominant monopoly in history, Rockefeller became for many a symbol of corporate greed and ruthless industrial power. When the Standard was forced to dissolve into 34 competing companies in 1911, the Supreme Court decision only made Rockefeller more spectacularly wealthy. However, the robber baron once dubbed "the monster of capitalism" was also the most generous philanthropist of his era, giving away $540 million to causes like overseas missions, medical research, and African American education in the Reconstruction South. Driven by a sense of "religious duty," Rockefeller turned his extravagant fortune into what he called a "business of benevolence." The jarring contradictions of John D. Rockefeller can only be explained by his uniquely materialistic and ecumenical Baptist faith. As a trustee of his local Baptist church by the age of eighteen, and as a Sunday School teacher for six decades, Rockefeller believed that moneymaking was kingdom-building and that his oil empire was an "angel of mercy" to the world. Called by God to "save" the oil industry, Rockefeller sought to refine souls and society in the same way that he refined petroleum. The oil titan founded the University of Chicago under Baptist leadership in 1890, subsidized Baptist pastors' retirement funds, vacationed with Baptist theologians, and supported Baptist preachers of the social gospel. However, Rockefeller's giving also transcended denominational, regional, racial, and socioeconomic lines. Chronicling his spiritual journey and his influence upon American religion, John D. Rockefeller: The Baptist Baron is the first religious biography of one of the wealthiest persons in American history.