AMAZING GRACE LISTEN NOW

“A Theology oF TRANSFORMATION”

Few hymns have left as deep and lasting an impression as “Amazing Grace.” Sung in churches, at funerals, in protest marches, and across generations, its words are familiar to millions. But behind it for many it is a story of tension and paradox, a balm for the oppressed, first written by a man who once held the whip. Grace knows no bounds and John Newton was a prime example of it.

Born in London in 1725, John Newton grew up under the guidance of his devout Christian mother, Elizabeth. She introduced him to the Bible and taught him hymns from an early age, instilling in him a spiritual foundation. Yet her influence was cut short when she died of tuberculosis while Newton was still a child. Left in the care of his father, a merchant sea captain, Newton was drawn into the life of a sailor, being forced to join the Royal Navy. 

He soon found himself aboard the HMS Harwich where his continued poor behavior got him into trouble. He tried deserting and was flogged and publicly demoted in front of the crew. Eventually the captain had Newton transferred to a slave ship bound for Guinea. It didn’t take long for Newton to find himself chained on the deck of this new ship as a captive with very little food. The crew on the Pegasus were also not fond of Newton and consequently he was left in West Africa in a slave trader’s possession. 

His father sent for help and had him rescued only to board the Greyhound where he and the crew found themselves fighting for their lives in a storm. During this catastrophic storm Newton and the crew thought they would all die, in a moment of desperation Newton prayed to God for help. Miraculously the storm eventually stopped and they landed in Ireland where he formally dedicated himself to the Lord. Though far from an immediate transformation, it marked the start of a lifelong spiritual journey. However, the troubling backdrop and sentiments of the times showed that Newton's Christianity, like much of Europe’s at the time, had room for both Jesus and shackles.

In time, he found himself aboard ships involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Serving as a first mate and later a captain, Newton played a direct role in transporting enslaved Africans—contributing firsthand to the cruelty and dehumanization that defined the trade. Though he would later recount this time with deep regret, he continued in it for years, unaware of the full spiritual and moral cost.

By 1754, ill health brought Newton’s sailing career to an end. Encouraged by friends and mentors, he pursued ministry in the Church of England and was ordained in 1764. He became the parish priest of Olney, where he would serve for many years. It was there that he began writing hymns in collaboration with poet William Cowper. Their collection, Olney Hymns (1779), included “Amazing Grace,” originally titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation.”

Written to accompany Newton’s New Year’s Day sermon in 1773, the hymn draws on his own spiritual journey. The lyrics—“I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see”—speak to his personal experience of redemption. They also echo biblical themes of forgiveness and transformation, drawn from passages such as 1 Chronicles 17 and Ephesians 2.

In the decades following his conversion, Newton became increasingly vocal in opposing the slave trade he had once supported. In 1788, after years of silent reflection, he published Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade. In it, he described the horrors he had witnessed and expressed deep remorse for his role. “It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me,” he wrote, “that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.”

Newton’s testimony became a valuable voice in the growing British abolitionist movement. He mentored and encouraged William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament who would become one of the leading figures in the campaign to end slavery. Newton’s firsthand account of the trade’s cruelty helped influence public opinion. In 1807, the British Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act—abolishing the transatlantic slave trade throughout the British Empire. Newton died later that year, having witnessed the brief fruit of the cause to which he had devoted his ministry life.

“Amazing Grace” has outlived its author by centuries. Though written from one man’s personal reflection, it has resonated with communities far beyond Newton’s world. It has been sung by enslaved people in America, by Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s, and by mourners at memorials around the globe. The hymn’s message of grace, repentance, and hope continues to offer comfort and strength in times of trial.

John Newton’s life is not one of moral perfection, but of transformation. His story invites us to grapple with the tension between human failure and divine mercy. Through his words and his witness, we are reminded that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace—and that redemption, though sometimes slow, is always possible.

-John McNeill (Bass & Theology)