John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, by Jonathan Aitken, was written and released to coincide with the 200^th anniversary of Newton’s death. In the book, Aitken, who has established himself as a credible biographer (Richard Nixon, Chuck Colson, et al.), traces Newton’s 82 years of life, observing his enduring legacy. Newton’s conversion experience was astonishing. He penned the most beloved Christian hymn of all time. He labored to abolish the trading of human lives through the institution of slavery. Some consider him a founding father of the spiritual revivals that encompassed England in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. He is remembered, “yet for all his seminal contributions to political and spiritual history, most people today are woefully ignorant about John Newton” (Aitken 17). In order to fill in a few important links between the man and the myth, an elucidation of three of Newton’s character traits show that he was a deserving minister who did far more good than give the world “Amazing Grace.”                First, Newton was a man of courageous faith. His conversion happened because of his narrow escape of death by a storm at sea. Ironically, he could not swim, so surviving after pumping water from his ship for about nine hours straight gave him a feeling of relief and gratitude to God for his deliverance. “When I heard about six in the evening that the ship was freed from water there arose a gleam of hope. I thought I could see the hand of God displayed in our favor. I began to pray (Aitken 77).” Reading Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ that he found onboard the ship before the storm no doubt sewed the seeds of his eventual conversion (Bailey).

Newton was no stranger to adversity. His mother had died when he was seven. He quit school to sail with his father when he was ten. At eighteen, he hated military life so much that he deserted his ship. He was captured, publicly flogged, and demoted from a mid class sailor to a regular seaman. Experiences such as these toughened him so that his faith could be courageously bold. As he embarked on his journey in ministry, he wrote,

Oh, what zeal, faith, patience, watchfulness, and courage will be needed for my             support and guidance! My only hope is in the name and power of Jesus. May that             precious name be as ointment poured forth to your soul and mine. May that                         power be triumphantly manifested in our-weakness (Aitken 176) !

Growing up as he did, prepared him to identify with common people. He did not put on airs. He never forgot where he came from as his life changed from sinful disobedience to God to faithful obedience to God’s perfect plan for his life.

Second, Newton lived a life of humility. This is especially true when his spiritual life was on trial before he became the minister of the Olney Parish, where he wrote his Olney Hymns of which Amazing Grace, originally title “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” is one. Newton found it a difficult task to obtain the required theological education, mentor support, and subsequent ordination in the Anglican Church.