John Newton

“There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.” How often we hear these words in introduction of Christian leaders named John! Surely they are apt as well for John Newton, but one never would have suspected it before his conversion to Jesus Christ.

John was born in 1725 to a godly Christian woman and her sea-faring husband. Until she died seven years later she lovingly taught John many Bible stories and hymns, storing many verses and chapters in his memory. After her passing John’s father re-married, but the spiritual instruction was not continued. He was only eleven years old when he took his first sea voyage and was to make five such voyages with his father before 1742.

It was in 1742 that he fell in love with Miss Mary Catlett, a pretty little 14-year old. She was the daughter of his mother’s best friend. The effect of his infatuation was so powerful that he claims it often saved him from despair and suicide in the years of trouble which were soon to follow. It was in this same year that he read the book Characteristics, by Lord Shaftesbury, which he claims deeply influenced him and made him into an infidel.

The next six years John Newton passed through more of life than most men experience in sixty. He was drafted into the merchant marine in 1744, at the outbreak of the war with France. Even though he quickly rose to a responsible position on his ship, the Harwick, he soon lost it after he overstayed his leave in order to visit Mary. He eventually deserted the ship but was found, arrested, and put in chains back on the Harwick. At sea he changed to another ship which was headed for Sierra Leone, Africa.

On arrival at Sierra Leone, John went to work for a slave dealer. Shortly thereafter he contracted malaria and almost died under the harsh treatment and neglect of his employer’s native wife. Upon his master’s return John attempted to tell him of the ill treatment he had received but the man would not believe his story. The woman influenced him against John and accused John of attempting to steal from her husband. John was chained to the deck and left exposed for days to the weather. Though he longed for freedom, there was still no hint of repentance.

About this time another book fell into his hands; Thomas a Kempis’, The Imitation of Christ, which led him to wonder, “What if these things should be true?” But not yet willing to change his ways, he set the book aside.

After fifteen months of imprisonment, he obtained his freedom and set out for England. However, during the voyage they encountered a severe storm which battered them for seven days. With the sails blown away, and seeing one sailor washed overboard, Newton in panic thought, “Lord, have mercy on us!” When the captain and crew threatened to toss him into the sea, thinking him a Jonah, he turned to the Lord. A verse from his mother’s instruction flashed into his mind, and he prayed, “God if you are true, keep your word. Cleanse my vile heart.”

A month later the ship found its way to Ireland where John found a church and there made a profession of faith. The conversion made such a change in his life that in one year he was able to captain his own ship. In 1750 he married Mary Catlett, and he was certain he was the happiest man alive.

In 1755 he left the sea and took a job as a surveyor. This afforded him much time for study and reflection, and he desired to enter the ministry. Through private study and the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, he arrived at a sound Biblical faith.

In 1764 he was ordained by the Church of England, and appointed to the church at Olney. He served this church well until 1780. It was here that he and William Cowper wrote over 300 hymns, many of which we still enjoy today. “Amazing Grace,” “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” and “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” are a few of Newton’s famous songs.

From 1780 until his death in 1807, he ministered at a large church in London. Although a Calvinist and a real evangelical, he loved Wesley and other Arminians. He also loved and respected the Dissenters and was determined to love all who sincerely loved the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they reciprocated that love or not.

John Newton was truly a great man, allowed by God to suffer greatly and stray widely before his second birth, but thereafter blessed and used for eternal purposes as few men are.