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Written by a former slave trader in 1779, Amazing Grace is probably one of the most-loved Christian hymns of all time. Its message is still as up-to-date as it was when sailing ships plied the Atlantic, laden with their human cargo.
As a young man, John Newton (1725-1807) was the captain of a British slave ship. In 1743, while off-duty, he was coerced into the Royal Navy. He tried to escape but was caught. The captain of the ship (H.M.S. Harwich) decided to use him as a warning example and ordered him flogged while the rest of the crew – 350 men – looked on.
Humiliated, Newton thought of killing himself but he managed to get over his depression. After that he was put on a merchant ship sailing to the West African coast to obtain a load of slaves.
Newton was still a rather unruly sailor. He soon lost his job and had to work as a slave merchant's servant. He was eventually able to board a ship bound for England. However, a violent storm arose and Newton feared that the ship would sink. When all hope seemed gone, Newton, who up to now had had little need for God, now cried out to Him in desperation.
The ship was spared. Newton regarded that day – May 10, 1748 – as his conversion to Christ. "How precious did that Grace appear, The hour I first believed", he later wrote.
However, he continued to serve as a captain on slave vessels until he suffered a stroke in 1754.
This caused Newton to give up slave trading. He began to study biblical Greek and Hebrew and was eventually granted a Doctor of Divinity degree at the college that later became Princeton University. He became friends with George Whitefield and John Wesley, two prominent Methodist leaders of his day, and together with William Wilberforce fought to put an end to slave trade in the British Empire.
Amazing Grace is John Newton's personal account of his odyssey from a ruthless slave trader to salvation in Christ:
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see…"
Here's a link to country singer Skeeter Davis' version of Amazing Grace on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z0d4bxpDHA
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