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Category:Famous Christians
John Newton (1725 - 1807) was an English clergyman and writer who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace" after converting to Christianity and abandoning his participation in the slave trade.
John Newton was born in [[London]], the son of a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service. His mother died when he was a child, and he sailed with his father on a total of six voyages until 1742 when his father died. In 1743 he was pressed into naval service, became a midshipman aboard the HMS Harwich, deserted, was recaptured and reduced to the rank of a common seaman, exchanged to a ship in the [[African]] station, became a servant to a slave trader, and was rescued in 1748 by a friend of his father's, being converted to [[Christianity]] on the way home in a storm at sea. The date was May 10, 1748, an anniversary he observed for the rest of his life. From that point on, he avoided profanity, gambling, and drinking.
He continued at sea till 1754, meanwhile studying [[Latin]] and the [[Bible]]. It was after much soul searching and Bible reading that Newton saw the horrors of slavery and the hypocrisy it made him feel as a [[Christian]]. He soon gave up his association with slave shipping. He was surveyor of tides at [[Liverpool]], [[England]] from 1755 to 1760, where he heard [[George Whitefield]] and [[John Wesley]] preach, and later studied [[Greek]], [[Hebrew]], and [[Syriac]].
{{returnto}} [[Song writers]]
[[Category:Famous Christians]]
[[Category:Christian songwriters]]
