John Newton (4 August 1725 – 21 December 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman. Formerly a slave ship captain, he experienced a conversion to Christianity after surviving a storm off Ireland, and he became an abolitionist. In 1779, he wrote his most famous hymn, "Amazing Grace".
Biography[]
John Newton was born in London, England in 1725, and he worked on merchant ships from the age of eleven before being pressed into the Royal Navy and joining the crew of a slave ship. He experienced abuse and suffering during his naval career, and he was rescued from captivity in West Africa in 1748. On his return voyage, his ship experienced a storm off the coast of Ireland, and Newton called out to God as the ship filled with the water. The ship's cargo went on to cover the hole, and the crew survived, leading to Newton becoming a Christian. He became an Anglican priest in 1764, and he wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" in 1779. In 1788, he became an abolitionist, and he lived to see the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in 1807, the year of his death.