Amazing Grace: The Life of John Newton and the Surprising Story Behind His Song by Bruce Hindmarsh and Craig Borlase. Thomas Nelson. 234 pages. 2023
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This book was written on the 250th anniversary of the hymn “Amazing Grace” by John Newton. The book reads like a novel, though the authors tell us it is a dramatized biography with the feel of a film or live play.
Newton’s father was a ship captain and his mother died when John was young. Newton’s father would remarry within two years of his wife’s death.
John met Polly (Mary) when she was just fourteen. He longed to marry her, and although her parents were against it, they eventually did marry. Mary and John adored children, and though they had never had any of their own, they did raise two nieces – Eliza and Betsy.
We read about the young John being snatched from the streets of London and taken on board the Harwich to serve as a common sailor in the Navy. Although earlier he had professed faith, he was soon mocking Christianity, and made it his business to pour scorn now on anyone who took the Bible at all seriously.
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He then served on a slave ship, and later was imprisoned on Plantain Island. Eventually he would become the captain of a slave ship and became a Christian. John was convinced that his time as a captain in the slave trade was a God-given gift that would allow him to mature as a Christian. He would only get out of the slave trade business only when health concerns prohibited him continuing.
During his time in the slave trade, Newton lived in Africa for eighteen months, commanded three slave ships, before leaving the trade for good in 1754. He bought and imprisoned 468 African men, women, and children on board his ships. Sixty-eight of those people died on his watch, while the rest he delivered into the deadly slave system that powered the plantations of the West Indies.
After his health prohibited him from being a slave ship captain, he would become a pastor. In his ministry of some fifty years, he was a respected pastor in the Church of England in Olney and later London, an author, letter writer and hymn writer. Several books by Newton have been published by Banner of Truth.
He was a longtime friend to hymn writer and poet William Cowper (“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” and “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood”), who suffered from depression and suicidal tendencies. Newton introduced the hymn “Faith’s Review and Expectation”, which we know as “Amazing Grace”, on January 1, 1773, which was also the last time that Cowper attended church.
He also was a friend of William Wilberforce and worked with him to help abolish the slave trade in Britain. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act finally passed and received royal assent—just nine months before John Newton died on December 21, 1807. It would take until July 26, 1833, for slavery itself to be abolished and for those it had held captive to be emancipated.
This is a fast-moving account of the incredible life of John Newton, a one-time slave ship captain, and later respected pastor and author of the hymn “Amazing Grace”. It would serve as a good introduction to Newton for those not familiar with him.
- Everyday Gospel. Tim Challies reviews Paul Tripp’s new devotional Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life. He writes “While I have not yet read every entry, I have read enough to know that it’s a devotional I will recommend freely and distribute widely. New Morning Mercies has been on our living room book table for years and Everyday Gospel will soon be joining it. I would encourage you to consider doing likewise.”
- Gospel Amnesiacs Need Everyday Reminders: Paul Tripp. On this episode of the Crossway podcast, Paul Tripp talks about his new book Everyday Gospel, compares it to his book New Morning Mercies, and shares how he’s praying for God to use it in the hearts of those who read it.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.”
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the second half of WCF 19: Of the Law of God. Here are a few helpful quotes from this half of the chapter:
- The moment we are reborn of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, but the conviction doesn’t purify us from sin. The process of sanctification requires further conviction of sin, and that comes by seeing ourselves in the mirror of the law.
- We don’t usually like laws. We think of the law as a bad thing, but the Christian loves God, loves His Word and His law, and sees that grace and law are not incompatible.
- Grace complies with the law, and the law complies with grace, and it does so in a manner that is sweet. Therefore, the more we grow in grace, the more we love God’s law.
