The old hymn Amazing Grace remains one of the most popular and beloved songs of the Christian faith and continues, surprisingly, to surface in the secular music realm. We hear it often and know many of the words by heart, and can thus, sadly, become desensitized, even indifferent to its powerful message.
Some may be familiar with the portrait of the man below - a stern, portly clergyman with a wig - and know that his name was John Newton and that he was the one who penned the famous words, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me..." But he was more than his picture depicts. His life is a beautiful testament of God's grace, and I would like to share a "short" account of it as it has encouraged and increased my own faith.
This is his story...
John Newton was born in 1725 to a rough sea-captain and a gentle, pious mother in England. While his father sailed the seven seas, his mother educated him at home and planted seeds of faith within his soul. John was a voracious learner, memorizing vast passages of scripture and poetry, and listening attentively to his mother. He remembered fondly
how his mother prayed consistently for his future and that he would grow to be
a righteous follower of God. She had high hopes that she would one
day see him dressed in a clerical gown delivering a sermon.
But Mrs. Newton was not to witness the answer to her prayers for she died when John was only seven years old, and with her was buried any further Biblical instruction.
John
got his first taste of the sea at the age of eleven when his father began
taking him on his voyages. During this time his conscience plagued him
dreadfully, as he was surrounded constantly by the coarse, lewd conversations of
the crew. As time passed, though, he began to fall into their ways and became increasingly rebellious and reckless.
In the year 1742 when
John was seventeen years old, his father arranged for him to become involved in
the management of a plantation in Jamaica, where he could lead an “adventurous
life” and make his fortune
with ease. Though John cared nothing for
business he agreed to go for four or five years.
Only a week before he
was scheduled to depart he was invited to the Cartletts' home for a short
visit (friends of his mother's). John was
completely indifferent to the invitation...that is, until he set eyes on their oldest
daughter Mary, a pretty girl of fourteen. John himself expresses the moment best:
“Almost
at the first sight of this girl I was impressed with an affection for her which
never abated or lost its influence a single moment in my heart from that hour.
In degree, it actually equaled all that the writers of romance have imagined.”
The
sudden, intense affection he felt for Mary caused John to hastily rethink his
future. To sail to Jamaica would mean four or five long years devoid of Miss
Cartlett, and by his return her heart might belong to another.
John quickly made his decision: he would not go to Jamaica. He purposefully missed his sailing and returned reluctantly to London to
face his father. Once Mr. Newton had calmed from his uproar over
his son’s irresponsible nature, he arranged a position for John on a merchant
ship called the Dolphin
as a common sailor. John had no choice but to go or run the risk of being disowned by his father.
Over the next year he lived the life of a sailor and spent the majority of his leave at the Cartlett's. But then disaster struck. John was seized by the press gang (to learn more about the press gang read this short article here) and placed as a sailor on board the HMS Harwich. Mr. Newton was of two
opinions as to how to resolve the dilemma. For one, his pride would not allow
his son to be degraded to such a lowly fate; it was his duty to use his
influence to free John from the "intolerable drudgeries" of service. On the other
hand, Mr. Newton saw this as an opportunity for his son to be subjected to
needful discipline. He eventually made the decision to leave his son onboard,
but he persuaded the captain to elevate John to midshipman. Soon after, England
declared war on France and the Harwich
had a brief encounter with a French man-o’-war – John's first taste of battle.
In December 1744,
when John was nineteen years old, he learned that his ship was to sail for the
West Indies, and would probably be away five years. He took his one day of
leave to say farewell to Mary and her family. The visit didn't go as planned.
Mary’s parents addressed their displeasure over the designs John had for their
naïve daughter, forbidding him to ever return or correspond. John was
heartbroken and
in thoughtless
despair, deserted his ship. It was not long before he was recaptured and
subjected to retribution. He was stripped of his rank and received eight dozen
(ninety-six) strokes with the cat-o’-nine-tails. This ignominy changed John
drastically. While he sat in agony, chained in the dark hold of the ship after
his flogging, he considered murdering the captain and then committing suicide.
Hate for mankind and his life seethed within him like a restless volcano. He did not lash
out like he’d intended though. John later wrote that, "The
secret hand of God restrained (him).”
Nineteen days later
the
Harwich exchanged two of
their common sailors for two men from a Guinea slave ship. John was selected as
one of them. With his dishonourable past behind him, John was able to set up a
new reputation for himself...which was in no way an improvement. John writes that,
“…(I was as) abandoned as I pleased, without any control; and from this time, I was exceedingly vile…I not only sinned with a high hand myself, but I made it my study to tempt and seduce others upon every occasion.”
This was John's first real taste of the slave trade and like many of the sailors he found pleasure in treating the black people with unthinkable cruelty.
John soon became
friends with an affluent plantation owner and trader named Amos
Clow who lived in West Africa with his black mistress. Young Newton
eagerly asked Clow to be allowed to accompany him to his home, as he believed
that if he followed in the footsteps of the wealthy man he would be rich within
a few years himself, and would be able to return home and present himself as an
honourable suitor for Mary. Clow agreed to this proposition, but things did not
go as planned. Upon arrival, John was refused any pay for the work he did, and
when he succumbed to fever he was left in the care of Clow’s abusive mistress,
who in turn left him to die. He miraculously recovered, but only to be accused of stealing from Clow, who believed the false report and punished the
young man severely, reducing John to nothing more than a plantation slave. John expressed
that he was “depressed
to a degree beyond common wretchedness." Again, John was miraculously rescued from his situation by a merchant and sailors looking for him on behalf of his father. Despite these occurrences and moments of brokenness, John refused to acknowledge God and descended further into his sin. As Newton was
considered a passenger on the ship sailing for home, and not a sailor, he had no responsibilities on deck, and
could devote his time to what he enjoyed best, which sadly involved writing vulgar poetry and
swearing. As John wrote,
“My whole life, when awake, was a course of most horrid impiety and profaneness. I know not that I have ever since met so daring a blasphemer. Not content with common oaths and imprecations, I daily invented new ones.”
It was around this
time that John picked up a book on board called The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A' Kempis’ which begins with the words:
"'He that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness,'...These are the words of Christ, by which we are taught, how we ought to imitate his life and manners, if we will be truly enlightened and be delivered from all blindness of heart."
and it continues,
"It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh, and to labour for that for which thou must afterward suffer more grievous punishment... For they that follow their lusts, do stain their own consciences, and lose favour of God."
He
soon threw the book away in disgust but the convicting words continued to resonate in
his mind and heart.
Then that fateful
night came. On 10 March, 1748, the Greyhound was hit by a
powerful gale that lashed and shook the vessels very core. The situation was
hopeless. It was only a matter of time before the sea swallowed them whole.
As John helped in the desperate fight for survival he whispered almost
unintentionally, "The Lord have mercy
on us.” As he continued to
work he felt a comforting reassurance that he was not alone, and long forgotten
Bible verses that he had memorized as a child were coming to mind once again. As the storm
died away and the crew celebrated their narrow escape from death, John contemplated for the first time in years the implications of eternal death, and how closely
he had come to hell’s door.
Then another storm
hit. The crewmen began to talk of throwing John overboard, who’s wickedness
branded him a Jonah (a man running from God). Such relentless storms could only be punishment from
Above, they believed. Thankfully for John’s sake, they never had the
opportunity to test their theory as the storm soon blew over.
After almost a
month of drifting, they landed in Ireland, a bedraggled group of starving men.
As John made his way home he contemplated what had taken place over the past
few months. Though many things confused John, there were two things that were
very clear to him. One, that he was a terrible sinner, and two, that he had
encountered the grace of God. Then and there he resolved that he would leave his
wicked ways behind him forever.
If you've read this far, I congratulate and thank you for being willing to take time out of your busy schedule to read about a man who lived almost 400 years ago!
I will conclude the story sometime next week!
Resources
Dunn, John. A Biography of John Newton. New Creation Teaching Ministry, 1994. Web.
Kempis, Thomas A'. The Imitation of Christ. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. Book.
Newton, John. Authentic Narrative. London, 1964. Web.
