The History Of The Song Amazing Grace Written By John Newton In 1772

The song Amazing Grace is probably one of the most well known hymns of all time. We listen to the versions of this beautiful song by famous singers like Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Alan Jackson, LeAnn Rhymes, Carrie Underwood, Judy Collins, The Byrds, Willie Nelson, and Elvis Presley. But we may not know the origin of the song, or some of the history that led to its creation.

Arlo Guthrie sang Amazing Grace at Woodstock in 1969. It became a message of change during the peak of the Vietnam war.

Johnny Cash aptly claimed the song, in its three minute duration, frees the person, and frees the spirit. 

The US Library of Congress has a collection of over 3000 published recordings of the song Amazing Grace. The first professional recording was in 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir. Since then it has been recorded more than 7000 times.

To take it back to its origin, it was first written in lyrics without music by John Newton in 1772. John Newton was an Anglican minister in Britain, and wrote the lyrics for a sermon he gave on New Year’s Day in 1773. He believed it was a good time to share the lyrics, as New Year’s represents a time of new beginnings. 

Prior to his conversion, John Newton was involved in, and captained a ship during the cross Atlantic slave trade. The song was written with heartfelt humility, once he fully realized all the loathsome things he had done.

In addition, he had a near death experience in 1748, during a violent storm off the coast of Ireland. He cried out to God when he thought he was about to be shipwrecked. The storm was so intense, the ship was tossed around, and several crew members were swept overboard.

John Newton prayed in desperation, and managed to reach the shore safely. He later described this as a time of transformation, and the beginning of his redemption, as well as the repentance for all the despicable things he had done, and been a part of. 

It was written as a poem before being put to music. One of Newton’s critics, Jonathan Aitken mocked the simplicity of the verse, saying it was written by “a middlebrow lyricist for a lowbrow congregation”. He pointed out that only twenty one, of nearly one hundred and fifty words, in six verses, have more than one syllable.

Jonathan Aitken was a British author, and journalist, former Church of England Priest, and a Conservative politician serving between 1974 until 1997.

In my opinion, the only reason he would have made such comments is through a lack of appreciation of the simplicity of poetry. Poetry is skeleton verse, or language, and the power of it is embodied in the simplicity. To create such powerful, and meaningful lyrics using a structure of mostly one syllable words, is a feat, not a flop.

Aitken’s lack of appreciation for poetry, and limited knowledge about lyrics, makes him more lowbrow than the congregation he claimed it was written for. In poetry and lyrics, the more the superfluous words can be stripped away, the greater the meaning. Poetry is the expression of complex ideas, in a nutshell, or a seed case. It provides an eloquent and vital summation on a topic with immense meaning. 

It is interesting to note that Jonathan Aitken was accused of misdeeds under his official government capacity, by the Guardian newspaper. He sued the newspaper for libel, but was unsuccessful. He ended up being charged with perjury during his trial, and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. He was released after serving just over half the sentence. It sounds like he too, needed to gain an understanding of the meaning of God’s grace in his own life. 

Even if the Amazing Grace lyrics were directed at the simplest, lowbrow minds – it still served to uplift its meaning to the heights of human achievements in lyrics, and poetry.

We do not have to be elitist, or highbrow to receive God’s gift of grace. In fact, the essence of the meaning of grace, is that we are all lowly, and undeserving, and can do nothing on our own merit to be worthy of God’s grace. That is precisely why this song captures the true meaning of God’s grace. 

John Newton wrote the lyrics from the depths of his own soul, and the recognition of his own dreadful actions. He aligned it with the power of Christ’s forgiveness, and sanctification, in spite of the overwhelming conviction of all he had done wrong.

Following his conversion, John Newton joined forces with the political movement to abolish the slave trade, which led to the Slave Trade Act in 1807. This is interesting, because it provides confirmation that once we repent, there is a change in the direction of our lives. It is the change within us that brings about good works after we receive the gift of God’s grace. 

John Newton, after his conversion, wrote more than sixty hymns. Initially, Amazing Grace was not recognized as being among his greatest hymns.

More than twenty musical settings for Amazing Grace circulated, without any particular one taking root. In 1835, more than sixty years after it was written, American composer William Walker used an amalgamation of two different melodies, to create the music for the song. Once the lyrics were joined with a melody well suited to the words, it became a match made in heaven.

Amazing Grace became a popular song throughout the US, and resonated throughout revivals. It was relatable to people, from the uneducated, to the elite. It was sang by sharecroppers in the fields, at funerals, and at church services. It was recorded by thousands of musicians in all genres of music. 

Once Walker put the song to music, it immediately sold over 600,000 copies, when the US population was only 20 million people. 

The result was the combination of simple but powerful lyrics, with the full range of meaning manifested in the melody, with perfect crescendo, and clarity in the proclamation of salvation through grace. It has reached millions of people in every nation, far and wide, with a robust Gospel message.

Surely it is one song that was divinely inspired, and ultimately reached its fruition, in all it was meant to be.

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