Amazing Grace, written by John Newton (1725-1807) in 1772 is one of the most popular hymns of all time. This article takes a brief look at the song, the poet and the people who supported him.
Newton’s life story is amazing. Son of a ship master, he went out to the sea at the age of 11 with his father. He was forced to join the navy after that and was caught while trying to desert. Later he was exchanged to a slave ship where he faced many travails. But finally he had his own ship that he commanded, and engaged in slave running.
Newton had no religious convictions during his seafaring days though he was born to Anglican parents. There are two versions of how his ‘conversion to Christianity’ came about. One is that his ship ran into a violent storm and was saved because, due to some amazing grace, he suddenly turned to God and prayed. The other is that he fell seriously ill out at sea and eventually pleaded with God to cure him.
The first stanza of the hymn Amazing Grace seems to describe this turnaround in the man’s life:
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Newton gave up sailing and took a shore job. During that time he learned several languages. Then came the desire to be a minister. Initially the Bishop of York turned down his request. After a few years of frustration, he was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln. Another stanza of the hymn is appropriate at this point:
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
John Thornton, a philanthropist and evangelical layman sponsored Newton as curator of Olney. In his later life, Newton was involved in a campaign to abolish slave trade along with William Wilberforce, MP and others.
It was at Olney that Newton wrote the lyrics of Amazing Grace and several other hymns. John Thornton helped to publish them, along with some poems by William Cowper (Cooper?), in a volume titled Olney Hymns.
Thornton continued to support Newton all along. After the death of the financier, Newton wrote this about him,
You know something of my peculiar obligations to him. . . To him,
under the Lord, I owe all my consideration and comfort as a
minister (Bull 300-301).
It is interesting to note that Milton Klein named his biography of John Thornton ‘An Amazing Grace’ after the famous hymn.
And the hymn began to gain popularity. Many church choirs in English speaking parts of the world took up the song. The 20th century saw several recordings of the hymn. It featured in movies and the television. In the UK it attained top ten rating in the charts during the early 1970s, two centuries after it was written!
The concluding stanza of the hymn says:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine
Till then, Amazing Grace will live in the hearts of men and women who have heard it.
Ends.
Cited works:
Bull, Josiah. But Now I See, The Life of John Newton. The Banner of Truth Trust. Carlisle.1868, 1998.
Klein, Milton M. An Amazing Grace. U.P. South. New Orleans. 2004.
Newton, John. Olney Hymns. W. Oliver, London. 1779.
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