Amazing Grace

"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 by the English clergyman John Newton. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, it is among the most sung and recorded hymns in the world and is especially popular in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes.

Newton wrote the words from personal experience; he grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences, often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed into service with the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel so severely that he called out to God for mercy. The moment marked his spiritual conversion; Newton began studying Christian theology and later became a British abolitionist.