(found on page 649 of “Glory to God”,
our new Presbyterian hymnal.)
John Newton was born in London July 24, 1725, and at age 7,
his mother died. When he was 11, he went to sea with his father, making a total
of 6 voyages with him before his father retired.
In 1744, Newton was impressed into service by the Royal navy.
He deserted and was flogged and demoted. He was exchanged for service on a
slave ship, was himself enslaved by the African tribal wife of a slave trader, and
then finally rescued in 1748. While at
sea, a huge storm made him confront his fear and the faith his mother had tried to instill in childhood
prevailed. Newton always considered May 10, 1748 as the day of his conversion
to Christianity. He married in 1750.
He continued to ply the slave trade, making at least three
more voyages until he suffered a seizure in 1755. Between 1755 -1760, he worked in Liverpool as
surveyor of tides. He taught himself
Greek and Hebrew and came to know George Whitefield, an evangelist preacher and
leader of the Calvinistic Methodist church. He also met John Wesley during this
period. Newton heard God’s call to ministry, but was denied permission to be
ordained in the Church of England. In
1764, he was finally ordained.
