Select Letters of John Newton

John Newton (1725-1807), sailor, preacher and hymnwriter, was one of the most colourful figures in the great Evangelical Revival of the 18th Century. Once an infidel and
libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, he wrote for his own epitaph,
by the rich mercy of Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and
appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy .
It was through his correspondence that Newton fulfilled his distinctive
work as the letter writer par excellence of the Evangelical Revival . His grasp of Scripture and deep personal experience, his many friends (among them, George Whitefield, William Cowper and William Wilberforce), his manifold trials, his country pastorate, his strong, clear, idiomatic style all these factors combined to prepare the author of How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds , for the exercise of his special gift. These practical letters cover a wide variety of subjects and aim to conform the believer to Christ .

John Newton lived a tumultuous life on land and sea. His faith-filled mother died when he was a young boy and his sea captain father began taking him on voyages when he was just eleven. For the next two decades, he endured the rigorous life of a sailor. He ultimately deserted that life before the mast, but was captured, press-ganged onto a navy ship and flogged. He then joined the slave traffic industry and suffered a stroke. During a tremendous storm at sea, though, his divine purpose rose up and he recognized his need for the “Almighty Saviour.” He began working as a tide-surveyor, where he heard great evangelists speak and he turned to preaching. Letters of John Newton have been published, and The Works of John Newton is available as a four-volume set. Other John Newton books include Jewels from John Newton, Select Letters of John Newton and more.