John Newton: Enslaved in Africa
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
Key words
- Grace: approval/ kindness that is freely given by God to all humans
It was through divine grace that her husband recovered from his illness.
- Hymn: a song of praise that Christians sing to God
The singing of hymns strengthened their faith.
- Transformative: causing a major change to someone that makes them better
They used the transformative power of singing as medicine.
- Embrace: to accept something enthusiastically
This was an opportunity that he would embrace.
- Evangelical: belief that teaching the Bible is extremely important
The new teacher is evangelical.
Read the article to find the answers
- Which two things is John Newton famous for?
- What happened when he was on his way to India?
- What did he stop doing when he became a Christian?
- What did he call attention to?
Early life
John Newton began sailing with his father at the age of eleven, and his first job was on a merchant ship sailing to the Mediterranean, but when he returned to England to visit a friend, he was kidnapped and forced into the Royal Navy. He tried to escape but was caught and severely flogged.
This experience led him to consider murdering the captain and committing suicide by throwing himself overboard, but on his way to India he was transferred to a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to North America.
The ship's crew wanted to get rid of him, so they handed him over to Princess Peye of the Sherbro tribe. She tortured Newton and subjected him to more cruelty than she inflicted on her other slaves. Newton reflected on this time as a period in his life when he was "a servant of slaves in West Africa".