Life of John Newton
“I see in this world to heaps of human happiness, and misery; now, if I can take but the smallest bit from one heap, and add to the other, I carry a point. If, as I go home, a child has dropped a half-penny, and, by giving it another, I can wipe away its tears, I feel I have done something. I should be glad, indeed, to do greater things, but I will not neglect this.”
In the Life of John Newton, he was described as as a man whose “benevolence was always active, and he was always ready to do good, no matter how small the occasion.”
If you were to ask those involved in his life during his younger years you may get a different story.
Who is John Newton you ask? He was a young kid who didn’t want to find a job. He partied like there was no end. He was in love with Mary from the first moment he met her. He tended to start fights without reason. He was a human trafficker. He became a minister of the Gospel.
Oh yeah… and there’s one more thing…
He wrote one of the greatest songs known to man, “Amazing Grace.”
In the Life of John Newton, a book originally published in 1831 by the American Sunday-School Union, and republished by Attic Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group, you’re taken through the trials, tribulations, and temptations of Newton. Watch his story unfold through the pages of history as he goes from libertine to annointed preacher.
It’s a great book to read whether you’re a history lover, or intersted in watching a love story develop between John Newton and Mary.
The hardest part about the book? The language definitely dates back to 1831. It took me a while to adjust and I did have to get the dictionary out a few times. Don’t let that scare you away though. It’s a great biography and worth the read.
Newton asked that these words be written on his tombstone:
JOHN NEWTON, CLERK
Once an infidel and libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior
JESUS CHRIST,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the faith he
Had long laboured to destroy,
Near 16 years at Olney in Bucks;
And — years in this church.
On Feb. 1, 1750, he married
MARY,
Daughter of the late Geroge Catlett,
Of Chatham, Kent.
He resigned her to the Lord who gave her
On the 15th of December 1790.
To purchase the book or learn more about this great redemption story, click here..