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highly recommended |
Great Book about a Great Person 
While the previous reviews have covered much of the material, I must add a few more comments. I found the book incredibly hard to put down yet a book I did not want to breeze though but to absorb its contents. The man's like swung as a pendulum from perhaps one of the most wretched young man to a mature man of God. If you have any interest in early church history or just enjoy a great biography of one of history's most dedicated men, then you will want to put this book on your must read list.
Brilliant review of a facinating life
This is one of the best books I have read in the past 12 months. It is tightly written, full of insightful anecdotes, and paints the life of an ordinary man that God used to make an extraordinary impact on the world in which Newton lived...and beyond. Even if you are not a regular reader of christian biographies (like me) this one is worth picking up.
A Life that Demonstrates Amazing Grace 
Biographies are good for the soul. There's nothing like sitting down with a good biography and getting to know a historical figure through a well-written description of a person's life and times.
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace (Crossway, 2007) is a terrific portrait of the life of John Newton (1725-1807) Author Jonathan Aitken recounts the remarkable story of the man who gave us the hymn "Amazing Grace." Here is a former captain of slave ships who became a beloved pastor, prolific hymnwriter and advocate of abolition.
Aitken wisely spends a good deal of time detailing the travels of John Newton before his conversion. He does not shy away from describing the horror of the slave trade. But detailing the wickedness of Newton's early life provides the much-needed backdrop to his dramatic transformation upon believing in the gospel. Aitken's book excels in painting a "Before" and "After" picture of Newton's extraordinary life.
Aitken describes Newton's struggles, but he does so in a way that makes his protagonist sympathetic. He shows how Newton sought to maintain single-minded devotion to Christ in the midst of his rising fame and popularity. The reader senses Newton's heartfelt passion for rectifying his past wrongs by fighting slavery in his old age. The accounts of Newton's dealings with William Wilberforce are fascinating.
John Newton was truly a great man. And there is much more to his life than the hymn "Amazing Grace." But even though Newton's life cannot be reduced to mere "hymnwriter," Aitken understands that "Amazing Grace" is what he is best known for. So he wisely includes a chapter that shows how "Amazing Grace" started out as an obscure hymn and became the world's most-recognized Christian song.
The best part about John Newton is not the song or the biography, but the reality of the amazing grace to which both testify.
excellent
I really knew nothing about Mr Newton except that he was a former slave ship captain and that he wrote "Amazing Grace". This book was a great encouragement as Mr Newton's story of grace and redemption plays out. Highly recommended.
reviews: page 1, 2, 3
Most Christians know John Newton as a man who once captained a slave ship, was dramatically converted to Christ on the high seas, and later penned one of the greatest hymns of the faith, "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. Newton's friendship with Wilberforce is portrayed in the major motion picture Amazing Grace. Jonathan Aitken's new biography John Newton 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. The result is a fascinating, colorful, and historically significant portrait of John Newton, a self-described "great sinner" redeemed by a great Savior through amazing grace.
from disgrace, amazing, disgrace, from, grace, john, newton
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based on 13 reviews
