![]() Due to ecclesiastical hurdles, it would take six years and the help of the distinguished William Legge, the second earl of Dartmouth, to finally land Newton’s first pastorate in 1764.Įxploring the life of a slave trader turned hymn writer, this book looks to the pastoral legacy of John Newton, whose hundreds of extant letters offer modern Christians valuable insights into the Christian life. The transition ahead was long and painful. On his thirty-third birthday Newton was fully persuaded: the Lord had called him to pastoral ministry, and to a significant pay cut. But despite the securities, his heart remained restless for a very improbable calling. He was a young Christian, married to the woman of his dreams, shrewd in business, and settled in a secure job. 2 With the position came significant authority, desirable comforts, and a solid paycheck. A year later, in 1754, he became a land-based surveyor of the tides (a senior customs official) in Liverpool, the busiest slave-ship harbor in England, and, as a result, Europe’s richest port. Newton’s sailing days began at age eleven when he accompanied his father on the sea, but ended at age twenty-nine when he suffered a surprise epileptic seizure. Ministry was an unlikely career path for the young man born with saltwater in his veins and with nearly two decades of sailing experience on his résumé. ![]() Newton wrote in his diary, “The day is now arrived when I propose to close all my deliberations on this subject with a solemn, unreserved, unconditional surrender of myself to the Lord.” 1 ![]() The forty-two days of self-examination concluded on his thirty-third birthday, August 4, 1758. Newton began an intense season of prayer, fasting, Bible reading, self-inquiry, and intense deliberation before the Lord concerning his burgeoning desire for pastoral ministry. The young man was John Newton (1725–1807). Three months later, and three thousand nautical miles away, a young man in England sunk to his knees in prayer. In the spring of 1758, New England pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards died from smallpox at the age of fifty-five. John Newton is an inspiring read that will not disappoint.This article is part of the This Day in History series. There is much that will interest the reader: Newton’s acquaintance with Whitefield, Wesley and Wilberforce, the abolitionist his loving devotion to his wife his patient care for his close friend and fellow hymn writer, William Cowper, as Cowper suffered bouts of severe depression and his prolific writing and preaching. Newton never lost his wonder for the grace of God as an old man he wrote, “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.” It was as he grew in grace that he abandoned the slave trade, then repudiated it, and finally fought to abolish it. It is surprising to learn that he made three slave-trading voyages as the captain of his ship after conversion. The operation of grace in his life as a believer is as amazing as the grace in his conversion. Newton’s most well-known hymn is a nutshell biography of his life, exhibiting the riches of God’s grace in saving, preserving and sanctifying him. In this book, Aitken does a masterful job of telling the whole story of John Newton’s life, from his childhood to his home call. However, there is so much more to his story. Most know John Newton only as the author of the renowned and well-loved hymn “Amazing Grace,” and as the former slave trader wonderfully converted. Jonathan Aitken, John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace (Crossway Publishing, 2007), 350 pp.
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