December 9, 2002
Amazing Grace & race examined in new history
___By Greg Garrison
___Birmingham News
___BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) --English slave ship captain John Newton turned from his wicked ways and became a pastor and lyricist whose most famous composition, "Amazing Grace," may be the greatest hymn of all time.
___William Wilberforce, a British politician who led the drive to abolish slavery, was inspired by Newton's story as a boy and looked to Newton for the spiritual guidance that kept him fighting to free the slaves.
___Now officials at Samford University in Birmingham have announced plans to publish the complete works of Newton, including letters that highlight the historically remarkable friendship between Newton and Wilberforce.
___British scholar Marylynn Rouse, who ha
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| SAMFORD UNIVERSITY will publish the complete works of John Newton, including letters that highlight the historically remarkable friendship between Newton and William Wilberforce. (Illustration by Birmingham News) |
s researched Newton's writings for many years, will compile the materials for Newton's complete works, including journals, sermon notes, his out-of-print books and letters from Newton to Wilberforce.
___The series of Newton works could range from
10 to 14 volumes, with two of them published by 2007, the anniversary of the signing of the 1807 British abolition of the slave trade, said Samford University President Tom Corts.
___Rouse has discovered many original Newton manuscripts, which never have been published. She has made especially important discoveries in Newton's influence on Wilberforce, Corts said.
___Kevin Belmonte, author of "Hero to Humanity," a new biography of Wilberforce published by NavPress, credited Rouse for her exhaustive research on the connections between the hymn writer and the evangelical politician.
___"She has unearthed this whole rich context of Newton and Wilberforce," Belmonte said. "It was Newton who set Wilberforce on the path to abolishing slavery."
___Newton went to sea as a youth and eventually became the captain of a slave ship. After his Christian conversion, he wrote "Amazing Grace" about his recognition of the error of his participation in the slave trade.
___"He realized what a wretch, in the words of the hymn, that he had been," Belmonte said. "He realized God had a much more important purpose for him on Earth."
___That included the former slave trader giving testimony against slavery in the British Parliament and encouraging Wilberforce's abolition campaign. "It's a wonderful historical irony," Belmonte said.
___Newton served as pastor in Olney and London for 40 years. "He used to write a hymn a week and used the hymns as a teaching tool," Rouse said.
___On Jan. 1, 1773, he preached a sermon on the theme "Amazing Grace," echoing the lyrics of the hymn, indicating that was probably the debut for the hymn, she said.
___As a child, Wilberforce knew Newton and later sought out Newton's advice on spiritual matters. Wilberforce had a deep theological discussion about slavery with Newton that convinced him to make abolishing slavery his chief political ambition as a member of Parliament.
___"That pivotal conversation with Newton was the event that brought into focus this desire to be a reformer," Belmonte said.
___Wilberforce faced death threats and physical assaults during his quest to abolish slavery. He was challenged to a duel by a slave ship captain.
___In 1796, Wilberforce fell four votes short of abolishing the slave trade. He was so discouraged he nearly gave up, Belmonte said.
___"He wrote to John Newton, the former slave trader now turned pastor and hymn writer, who reminded him of the difficult obstacles faced by the biblical figures of Daniel, Moses and Joseph," Belmonte said. "Newton told him that even though his life was full of setbacks and disappointments, he had made a difference. He told his friend to stay the course."
___Newton lived long enough to see Britain abolish the transport of slaves in 1807. Wilberforce lived just long enough to see slavery abolished altogether in the British colonies in 1833.
___Wilberforce met U.S. abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, editor of The Liberator, who lobbied for the United States to abolish slavery. But it took the Civil War for that to happen. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
___Frederick Douglass, the former American slave and noted abolitionist, called Wilberforce's achievement in England a "victory for the whole human race."
___Belmonte said that Christian theology and evangelical fervor were the driving forces behind the abolition movement.
___"It's one of the most sterling chapters in Christian history," Belmonte said.
___"To be sure, there were some Christians who said the Bible justified slavery. But Wilberforce said the Golden Rule was the prime directive from Christ himself, that people should treat others as they would wish to be treated."
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