JOHN NEWTON

The Slave Trader Who Found Grace

When John Newton’s kind mother died before his seventh birthday, he felt very alone. Since his birth in London in 1725, she had raised him pretty much by herself because his sea captain father was often away on long trips.

But then life changed for John. Even though his father remarried, John’s stepmother did not want him around and sent him off to boarding school.

When he was eleven, his father took him to sea. Maybe now he will spend time with me, hoped John, but his father was too busy.

Later, John was drafted into the British Royal Navy. He tried to escape but was caught and severely whipped. When his ship put into port near north Africa to make repairs, John arranged to trade himself for a skilled carpenter from another ship. He was glad to get out of the navy.

Thinking that life was treating him badly, John decided to treat others the same. He made life worse for himself by refusing to obey orders. Finally, he got work with a slave trader along the African coast. But then he himself was made a slave.

His father finally arranged his rescue, but the hard things John had experienced did not teach him to be kind to others. By the age of twenty-two, he became the captain of his own slave ship.

Then one day his ship was caught in a violent storm and nearly sank. When all seemed lost, John remembered the Lord his mother had told him about. He repented of his sins and God saved him.

John Newton became a minister, worked to end slavery, and wrote many songs. His most famous hymn tells his own story: "Amazing grace! how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!"

© 1997 Dave and Neta Jackson, Hero Tales, Vol. II