John Newton Homeschool Resources

The man who wrote the song 'Amazing Grace' began his career as the captain of a slave ship. When God changed his heart and his life, he began to free the people he kept captive. This is the amazing story of how Newton found 'amazing grace' and became a champion of the faith and abolition.

John Newton is famous for his legendary hymn "Amazing Grace." Many have celebrated his dramatic conversion from a life in the slave trade to his eventual work to end it. But often overlooked are Newton's forty years as a pastor ministering to parishioners and friends unsettled by the trials, doubts, and fears of life.

Newton is perhaps the greatest pastoral letter writer in the history of the church. He took up his pen day after day to help others fix their eyes on Christ, which, he writes, is the underlying battle of the Christian life. Through a careful study of scores of letters, Tony Reinke brings together Newton's brilliant vision of the Christian life in one accessible place.

The inspiring biography of the man who lived and penned Amazing Grace!

-Poignant letters and vignettes from John Newton's own memoirs
-his life as a despairing beggar, slave ship captain, and finally, a tireless man of God
-His lifelong search for theological knowledge, and his mentoring of young ministers
-Meticulous reproduction from the 1831 original biography.

A mother who believed her beloved son would be a minister. The angry son who chose a different path - one of disobedience until he became transformed into an influential minister and hymnist.

Such is the life of John Newton - a man who fled the face of God until so hardened of heart that a life for Christ seemed an impossibility. A near death experience upon the seas set him on a journey to re-discover the God of his childhood. He would continue to grow in the faith until he fulfilled a dream of ministry. Learn more about the man who's own heart cried out the words of "Amazing Grace" and who's voice always spoke of God's limitless mercy and forgiveness.

Most Christians know John Newton as a man who once captained a slave ship, was dramatically converted to Christ on the high seas, and penned the great hymn "Amazing Grace." But he also had a huge impact on his times as an icon of the evangelical movement, as a great preacher and theologian, and as a seminal influence on abolitionist William Wilberforce-a relationship portrayed in the major motion picture Amazing Grace. Jonathan Aitken's new biography explores all these facets of Newton's life and character. It is the first biography to draw on Newton's unpublished diaries and correspondence, providing fresh insight into the life of this complex and memorable Christian. Softcover.

These letters, selected by his biographer, Josiah Bull, bear the practical imprint of all of Newton's writings; they cover a wide variety of subjects and aim 'to conform the believer to Christ.' "In few writers are Christian doctrine, experience and practice more happily balanced than in the author of these Letters, and few write with more simplicity, piety and force," C.H. Spurgeon. 416 pages, hardcover from Banner of Truth.

The words of the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 1:15 no doubt resonated with John Newton. As a person who had grown up in the church under the tutelage of a very godly mother and who later became a faithless rebel, Newton may have felt he was “the worst.” But if his story teaches us anything, it is to never give up on anyone no matter how far they seem to be from the Kingdom. As Newton’s most famous hymn says, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” This documentary, featuring interviews with Newton scholars Brian H. Edwards, Jonathan Aitken and Tony Baker, thoroughly explores Newton’s life from his turbulent youth to his involvement in the 18th century African slave trade, his dramatic conversion aboard a sinking ship and on through his remarkable ministry as an evangelistic preacher, hymn writer and abolitionist. This fast-paced and insightful documentary serves as an excellent teaching tool and will inspire viewers to take hold of God’s amazing grace. Approx. 45 minutes.