“Amazing Grace” stands as the most recognized hymn in history. Sung at churches, funerals, civil rights rallies, and presidential memorials, it transcends denominational boundaries and cultural divides. An estimated 10 million performances occur annually worldwide.
The hymn’s enduring power lies not just in its soaring melody or memorable lyrics, but in the remarkable story of its author: a man who went from slave trader to minister, from “wretch” to witness.
The Early Years: A Life of Rebellion
John Newton was born in London on July 24, 1725. His mother, Elizabeth, was a devout Christian who taught young John biblical principles and religious hymns. She had high hopes that her son would become a minister.
Those hopes seemed impossible when Elizabeth died before John turned seven. At age eleven, his father, a merchant sea captain, took the boy to sea. The rough environment among sailors quickly eroded the moral foundation his mother had built.
By his teenage years, Newton had abandoned Christianity entirely. He became known for his profanity, rebellious attitude, and contempt for authority. His behavior was so problematic that he was pressed into service aboard the HMS Harwich, where he was publicly flogged for attempting to desert.
From Navy to Slavery
Newton’s naval service ended badly. To be rid of him, the captain transferred him to a slave ship bound for West Africa. There, Newton’s poor behavior led to him being sold to an African slave trader, where he became a servant to the trader’s wife. For a time, the future hymn writer was himself essentially enslaved.
Eventually rescued, Newton didn’t learn his lesson. Instead, he embraced the lucrative slave trade. By his early twenties, he had become a captain of slave ships, transporting captured Africans across the Atlantic in horrific conditions. He commanded multiple vessels and treated human beings as cargo.
The Storm That Changed Everything
On March 10, 1748, Newton was steering his ship, the Greyhound, through violent waters off the coast of Ireland. A powerful storm battered the vessel so severely that the ship began taking on water. Cargo was washed overboard. The crew feared they would sink.
In desperation, Newton cried out to God for mercy. Moments after he left the deck, the crewman who took his place was swept overboard to his death. Newton manned the pumps for the next eleven hours while the storm raged. Against all odds, the ship survived.
March 21, 1748 marked what Newton later called “the hour I first believed.” For the rest of his life, he observed this date as a spiritual anniversary, writing in his journal 57 years later: “Not well able to write; but I endeavor to observe the return of this day with humiliation, prayer, and praise.”
The Slow Path to Redemption
Newton’s conversion wasn’t instantaneous. Despite his spiritual awakening during the storm, he continued working in the slave trade for another six years. He captained several more slave ships, though he later wrote that he tried to be a better master to his crew and cargo.
Only in 1754, after suffering a severe stroke that ended his seafaring career, did Newton completely leave the slave trade. He took a position as a tide surveyor in Liverpool and began studying theology intensively, devouring books by Philip Doddridge and other Christian writers.
Newton felt called to ministry but faced obstacles. Without formal education, the Church of England repeatedly denied his applications for ordination. It wasn’t until 1764, at age 39, that he was finally ordained as a curate in Olney, a small market town in Buckinghamshire.
The Birth of “Amazing Grace”
In Olney, Newton threw himself into pastoral work. He preached multiple times weekly, visited congregation members daily, and led a popular Tuesday evening prayer meeting. The church was filled with working-class people, many illiterate, who needed simple, memorable songs to help them worship.
In 1767, poet William Cowper moved to Olney and began attending Newton’s church. The two men formed a deep friendship and decided to write hymns together for their congregation. Between 1771 and 1772, they produced what would become the Olney Hymns, published in 1779.
The collection contained 348 hymns total: 280 by Newton and 68 by Cowper. Among Newton’s contributions were “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” and “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds.” But one hymn, originally titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” would eventually overshadow all the others.
Newton wrote the hymn around Christmas 1772 as part of his New Year’s reflection on spiritual growth. The poem was designed to accompany a sermon on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17, which begins, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”
The original version contained six stanzas, all focused on Newton’s personal testimony of God’s transforming grace:
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.
The Word “Wretch”
Newton’s choice of “wretch” to describe himself has generated debate. Some modern hymnals have changed it to softer language. But Newton meant it literally. He wasn’t being poetically humble; he was stating fact.
Newton had commanded slave ships. In his own journals, Newton documented the brutality of the slave trade with clinical detachment. He recorded the buying and selling of human beings as mere business transactions. Years later, he would write that he had been “a great blasphemer” who openly mocked Christianity and lived without moral restraint.
The word “wretch” was Newton’s honest assessment of who he had been before God’s grace transformed him.
From Hymn to Anthem
“Amazing Grace” initially had no musical notation. Like other hymns of the era, it was written to be chanted or sung to any tune in the appropriate meter. The melody we know today, called “New Britain,” is actually an American folk tune that was paired with Newton’s words in the 1830s.
The hymn gained popularity slowly. It spread through American churches during the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s. Harriet Beecher Stowe referenced it in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852, bringing it wider attention.
In a profound irony, “Amazing Grace” became a beloved spiritual among enslaved African Americans. The descendants of those Newton had trafficked sang the hymn he wrote, finding hope in its promise of redemption and freedom.
Newton’s Transformation Continues
Newton’s ministry didn’t end with writing hymns. In 1780, he left Olney to pastor St. Mary Woolnoth in London, where he served for the next 27 years. His preaching attracted people from all social classes, including a young Member of Parliament named William Wilberforce.
Wilberforce sought Newton’s counsel in the mid-1780s, conflicted about whether to leave politics for full-time ministry. Newton urged him to stay in Parliament, believing God had placed him there for a purpose. That advice proved crucial.
In 1788, Newton published “Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade,” a graphic account of the slave trade’s brutalities based on his personal experience. The pamphlet sold out immediately. A second edition was sent to every member of Parliament.
Newton wrote: “It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.”
He testified at parliamentary hearings against slavery and advised Wilberforce throughout his decades-long campaign. In 1807, just months before Newton’s death on December 21, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, abolishing the British slave trade.
A Modern Anthem
“Amazing Grace” experienced a revival in the 20th century. Judy Collins’ 1970 recording brought it mainstream popularity. It became an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, sung at marches and protests throughout the 1960s.
One of the most powerful modern interpretations comes from renowned gospel singer and pastor Wintley Phipps. Phipps, who has performed for numerous world leaders and presidents, delivers performances that combine historical insight with breathtaking vocal artistry. His renditions of “Amazing Grace” are particularly moving because he shares the context of Newton’s story before singing, helping audiences understand the hymn’s profound message of redemption. Watch his powerful performance below.
Presidents have regularly invoked the hymn. Jimmy Carter sang it with Willie Nelson. It was performed at the funerals of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon. In 2015, President Barack Obama led mourners in singing it at a memorial service for victims of the Charleston church shooting.
The hymn has been recorded thousands of times across every musical genre, from gospel to country to rock. Artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin, from Johnny Cash to Mahalia Jackson have put their own spin on Newton’s words.
The Complex Legacy
Newton’s story raises uncomfortable questions. How could someone continue slave trading for six years after a supposed conversion? Why didn’t his faith immediately lead him to abandon such obviously evil work?
Historians note that the slave trade was widely accepted in 18th-century Britain. Major cities prospered from it. Even many Christians saw no contradiction between faith and slavery. Newton’s gradual awakening to the trade’s evil reflects the slow moral progress of his era.
Still, Newton himself offered no excuses. In his later years, he repeatedly expressed shame and horror at his former life. He used his story not to justify but to demonstrate the transforming power of God’s grace.
The hymn itself makes no mention of slavery. Newton wrote it as a personal testimony of spiritual transformation. Only later did others connect “Amazing Grace” to abolitionism. Yet the connection is fitting, given Newton’s eventual role in ending the British slave trade.
Why It Endures
“Amazing Grace” has lasted because it speaks a universal truth: redemption is possible for anyone. If grace could reach John Newton, it can reach anyone.
The hymn doesn’t minimize sin or offer cheap grace. It acknowledges the depths of human depravity (“wretch”) while celebrating the heights of divine mercy. It balances honest self-assessment with overwhelming gratitude.
The simple language and memorable melody make it accessible. Its message transcends theology, politics, and culture. Whether sung in a cathedral or at a civil rights march, at a funeral or a celebration, “Amazing Grace” continues to move hearts.
The Hymn Lives On
Newton died in 1807, but his most famous hymn continues to grow in influence. It appears in virtually every Christian hymnal published in English. It has been translated into dozens of languages. It’s performed millions of times annually.
When you hear “Amazing Grace,” you’re hearing the testimony of a man who lived through one of history’s darkest chapters and emerged to become a voice for justice and redemption. You’re hearing proof that no life is beyond God’s transforming power.
The slave trader became a minister. The blasphemer became a hymn writer. The man who caused suffering became an advocate for the oppressed. And the hymn he wrote on a winter day in 1772 became the soundtrack for movements of freedom and hope worldwide.
That’s what makes “Amazing Grace” truly amazing, not just the melody or the words, but the life that produced them.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.” – 1 Corinthians 15:10