The Story Behind Amazing Grace

YouTube - Restoring Honor Rally: Amazing Grace (with bagpipes)

(101 Hymn Stories) One of the most famous hymns in American churches is "Amazing Grace".  There's not a song that's probably more eloquently written as that song.  The man that penned that song was John Newton.  Newton was born in 1725 and died in 1807.  Newton's mother, a Godly woman, died when he was seven years of age.  When his father remarried and after several years of formal education away from home; John left school and joined his father's ship, at the age of eleven, to begin life as a seaman.  His early years were one continuous round of rebellion and debauchery.  After serving on several ships as well as working for a period of time on the islands and mainland of the West African coast collecting slaves for sale to vising traders.  Newton eventually became a captain of his own slave ship.  He was involved with the selling and transportation of black slaves to the plantations in the West Indies and America.

On March 10, 1748, while returning to England from Africa during a particular stormy voyage when it appeared that all would be lost, Newton began reading Thomas a Kempis's book "Imitation of Christ."  Kempis was a Dutch monk who belonged to an order called the Brethren of Common Life.  The message of the book and the frightening experience at sea were used by God to sow the seeds of Newton's eventual conversion and personal acceptance of Christ as his Savior.  For the next several years he continued to work as a slave ship captain, trying to justify his work by seeking to improve conditions as much as possible, even holding public worship services for hardened crew of thirty each Sunday.  Eventually, following his conversion, he was convicted of the inhuman aspects of slavery and became a strong and effective crusader against slavery.  Newton returned to England, married his youthful sweetheart, Mary Catlett, and became a clerk at the Port of Liverpool for the next nine years.  During this time he felt the call to preach the gospel and then began to study diligently for the ministry.  He was greatly aided and influenced by Evangelist George Whitefield as well as the Wesley brothers. 

Even after his call to preach, he decided to stay within the established Anglican Church rather than join forces with these Dissenters.  At the age of 39, John Newton was ordained by the Anglican Church and began his first pastorate at the little village of Olney, near Cambridge, England.  His work for the next fifteen years (1764-1779) was a most fruitful and influential ministry.  Especially effective was the use of the story of his early life and conversion experience, which he often told.  In addition to preaching for the stated services in his own church, Newton would hold services regularly in any large building he could secure in the surrounding area.  This was an unheard of practice for an Anglican clergyman of that day.  Wherever he preached, large crowds gathered to hear the "Old Converted Sea Captain."  Another of Newton's extremist practices at the Olney Church was the singing of hymns that expressed the simple, heartfelt faith of his preaching rather than the staid singing of the Psalms from the "Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter", which was practiced in other Anglican churches.  When Newton couldn't find enough available hymns for this purpose, he began writing his own.  He enlisted the aid of his friend and neighbor, William Cowper, to assist him in this effort.  Cowper was a well-known writer of classic literature of this period.  In 1779 their combined efforts produced the famous "Olney Hymns' hymnal, one of the most important single contributions made to the field of evangelical hymnody. 

The most representative expression of John Newton's life is his appealing hymn, "Amazing Grace."  The  hymn, originally consisted of six stanzas and entitled, "Faith's Review and Expectation," was based on I Chronicles 17:16, 17.  "Amazing Grace" was also based upon many New Testament verses as well.  Until the time of his death at age 82, John Newton never ceased to marvel at God's mercy and grace that had some dramatically changed his life.  This was the dominant theme of his preaching and writing.  Shortly before his death, a spokesman for the church suggested that he consider retirement due to his failing health, eyesight, and memory.  Newton replied, "What, shall the old Africa blasphemer stop while proclaiming with a loud voice during a message, "My memory is gone, but I remember two things: 'That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior.

In a small cemetery of a parish churchyard in Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone with the following inscription:
"John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had labored to destroy."

This fitting testimonial, written by Newton himself prior to his death, describes aptly the unusual and colorful life of this man, one of the great evangelical preachers of the eighteenth century.