Just about everyone I know, both Christian and non-Christian, have a special place in their heart for the much reverend hymn, “Amazing Grace.” It was written by minister and hymn writer John Newton. It is the one hymn you always hear being played by bagpipes at a Police and Firefighters Memorial Service.
Newton was born in London, England, in 1725. His mother gave him some religious training, but she died of tuberculosis when he was only seven. He received little formal education before going to sea with his father, the commander of a merchant ship at age eleven. In 1743, he was forced to serve aboard the H.M.S. Harwich and soon deserted. He was captured, flogged, and degraded to a common seaman. After asking to be exchanged to a slave ship, he suffered brutal persecution before being rescued by a friend of his father.
Newton later said that, in the course of these wanderings, he lost all sense of religion. But, during a severe storm on the homeward voyage, he experienced a strong religious conversion.
Newton married his childhood sweetheart. He also successfully educated himself, learning Euclidean, Geometry, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Syrian. For a time, he commanded a slave ship, attempting to repress the swearing and immoral conduct of his sailors and reading Liturgy twice each Sunday with the crew. But, during what became his last voyage as a slave ship captain, there was once again a severe storm to send him a message.
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