![]() The song still serves as a great source of comfort to many Christians today, particularly for those who are searching for faith or meaning, or struggling at difficult points in their lives. In 1972, ‘Amazing grace’ topped the UK charts with The Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard. Newton cried out to a God he barely knew and promised that, if his life was spared, he would devote himself to God’s service The verse first appeared in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s immensely influential 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Wordsworth Editions), and quickly became assimilated into the hymn. What we now often consider to be the final verse – “When we’ve been there ten thousand years / Bright shining as the sun / We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise / Than when we first begun” - was not actually written by Newton at all. We do not know the tune to which the hymn was first sung the one we are familiar with today emerged in the mid-1840s in America, perhaps a well-known tune to which many songs were put. Since that time the hymn has developed a life of its own. Moving from Olney to St Mary’s Woolnoth, in the City of London, he began to work with the nephew of a friend, William Wilberforce MP, who lead the parliamentary campaign which would eventually see the slave trade made illegal in 1806. Later, having fully realised the horrors and atrocities that he had been involved in, Newton became heavily involved in campaigning for the abolition of the slave trade. The hymn speaks of God’s love and forgiveness, and reminds us that he protects his people The words speak powerfully of Newton’s own personal experience of grace – how God had seen him through toils and dangers how he had been spiritually lost but yet God had, both physically and spiritually, rescued him and led him home. ![]() Little did he and his congregation know that his hymn would go on to be so internationally renowned. And so it was that, ahead of his New Year’s Day service in 1773, Newton wrote ‘Amazing grace’ to accompany his teaching on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17. Hymns that helpĪs Newton preached and ministered to his flock, he developed the habit of writing hymns - many with his good friend and local poet William Cowper - to accompany his weekly sermons and help his listeners understand the message. His first post was as curate at St Peter and St Paul church, Olney - at that time a poor Buckinghamshire village consisting mainly of farm labourers and lace-makers. Due to his previous life experience and lack of education, it took more than seven years for him to be accepted into ministry in the Church of England. ![]() In his gratitude, he never forgot his promise to God and committed his life to serving him. The ship survived – barely – and Newton miraculously made land. He promised that, if his life was spared, he would devote the remainder of it to God’s service. Newton, fearing for his life, cried out to a God he barely knew. He became part of the slave trade, rising to the rank of captain and transporting slaves from Sierra Leone to the West Indies.īut in 1748, on board The Greyhound, a fierce storm arose off Ireland. As a young man, his life was spent at sea. Newton’s story is a powerful tale of redemption and God’s grace. Source: Stained galass window at St Peter and Paul church, Olney
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