24 July 2012
- HOW SWEET -
Tuesday,
July 24, 1725.
: John
Newton, former English slave trader who wrote 'Amazing Grace', is born.
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.
John Newton was the self-proclaimed wretch who once was lost but then was found, saved by God's amazing grace. Newton was born in London on 24 July 1725. His father was commander of a merchant ship, and young John followed in his footsteps. After his father died, Newton joined the crew on the H.M.S. Hartwich, but deserted after he found the living conditions deplorable. He was recaptured, flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.
After this, Newton spent some time on a slave-trader's ship, learning the trade, and eventually commanding his own trade in slavery. His conversion occurred during a violent storm at sea on 10 May 1748. From then on, he was a changed man, ultimately leaving his sea-going days behind him, and studying to become a minister. He was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and given the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire. "Amazing Grace" was written whilst he was at Olney, most probably between 1760 and 1770.
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.
John Newton was the self-proclaimed wretch who once was lost but then was found, saved by God's amazing grace. Newton was born in London on 24 July 1725. His father was commander of a merchant ship, and young John followed in his footsteps. After his father died, Newton joined the crew on the H.M.S. Hartwich, but deserted after he found the living conditions deplorable. He was recaptured, flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.
After this, Newton spent some time on a slave-trader's ship, learning the trade, and eventually commanding his own trade in slavery. His conversion occurred during a violent storm at sea on 10 May 1748. From then on, he was a changed man, ultimately leaving his sea-going days behind him, and studying to become a minister. He was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and given the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire. "Amazing Grace" was written whilst he was at Olney, most probably between 1760 and 1770.
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