The Life of John Newton, Once a Sailor

by John Newton

From a condensation of the most important letters John Newton wrote in his lifetime, the story of his life is reflected in this book of 182 pages. “I never gave any succinct account, in writing, of the Lord’s dealing with me, till very lately …,” he writes. “… but a few weeks since I yielded to the judgment and request of a much-respected friend, and sent him a series of eight letters… I wrote to one person; but my letters have fallen into many amongst others, I find they have reached your notice; and, … you desire a still more distinct detail. As [this] may promote the pleasing work of praise to our adorable Redeemer, or confirm the faith of some or other of his people, I am willing to obey… If God may be glorified on my behalf, and his children in any measure comforted or instructed by what I have to declare of his goodness, I shall be satisfied; and am content to leave all other possible consequences of this undertaking in His hands who does all things well… I entreat the assistance of your prayers, that in this, and all my poor attempts, I may have a single eye to His glory who was pleased to call me out of horrid darkness into the marvellous light of his Gospel.”
In addition to an autobiography, this book serves as a source of wisdom and inspiration. For instance, Newton writes, “Sometimes I compare the troubles which we have to undergo in the course of the year, to a great bundle of kindling wood, far too large for us to lift. But God does not require us to carry the whole at once; he mercifully unties the bundle, and give us first one stick, which we are to carry today, and then another, which we are to carry tomorrow, and so on. This we might easily manage, if we wound only take the burden appointed for us each day; but we choose to increase our troubles by carrying yesterday’s stick over again today, and adding tomorrow’s burden to our load, before we are required to bear it.”

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1793

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: John Newton


John Newton was born in London and at age eleven went to sea with his father, a shipmaster on the Mediterranean. Disregarding his mother's prayer that he enter the ministry, he engaged in the lucrative but brutal African slave trade for a number of years. Afterwards, he served in the Church of England as pastor of Olney parish and later of the combined church of St. Mary's in London. In addition to the words of "Amazing Grace," Newton was a prolific songwriter whose other well-known hymns include "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" and "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds."

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poor transcript

Was this book edited for this production? I doubt it. Some of it was gibberish owing to transcript errors. And I doubt that Mr Newton wrote using American spelling throughout - for example honor for honour.

[Ebook Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, the e-book version can be found at:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-...

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this e-book on Barnes & Noble instead:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
(The Amazon link went to a blank page with a dog picture.)