John Newton: Author of "Amazing Grace"

For challenge and encouragement in your Christian life, read the life stories of the Heroes of the Faith. The novelized biographies of this series are inspiring and easy-to-read, ideal for Christians of any age or background. In John Newton, readers will get to know the one-time slave trader whose conversion led him to pen the immortal words of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” Appropriate for readers from junior high through adult, helpful for believers of any background, these biographies encourage greater Christian commitment through the example of heroes like John Newton.

The song of the sea was in his blood.

But John Newton could not recognize those melodious strains until he mended his seafaring ways. The son of a merchant ship commander, young Newton grew up plying the Mediterranean ports of call. Years later, as master of a slave ship himself, Newton was saved from his life of debauchery by his conversion amid a fierce storm.

            Ordained to the ministry in 1764, Newton used his pulpit to espouse his Calvinist theology and to rail against such social ills as his former livelihood, the abominable slave trade. Yet while his ministry was popular, his gift for hymn writing would be more enduring.

            What churchgoer has not been inspired by the lyrics of Newton’s “Amazing Grace”? Such songs can be regarded as gifts from the sea of God’s love.