From Disgrace to Amazing Grace September 13, 2007
I have been involved with church music ministries for the last 15 years, and I don’t think that six weeks have past without either performing, or being asked to perform the most popular hymn ever written: Amazing Grace. This song has been featured in almost every hymn collection published since its inception, and as of today, itunes has 150 different versions available for download. [1] With such popularity you would think the hymn’s enigmatic writer, John Newton, would be more celebrated today.
I hope that will change with a new biography written by Jonathan Aitken entitled, “John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace.” Like most people, I knew Newton was a seafaring slave trader in his younger years and that he had a remarkable conversion experience at sea during a terrible storm, but I didn’t realize that his life was the kind of epic adventure you would normally associate with a Cecil B. Demille movie.
Aitken’s biography is one of the most compelling historical books I’ve had the pleasure to read. It is thorough, well researched without being dry, and written by a man who knows something about “being lost but found,” since Jonathan Aitken became a believer while serving time in prison for perjury in an infamous London trial. Throughout the pages of Newton’s life you are confronted with a man that knew the depth of his sin, but by God’s grace, lived to preach, write and sing about God’s forgiving grace found in Jesus Christ.
Newton was brought up by a very devoted Christian mother who catechized him, prayed with him, and forced him to memorize scripture until he was six, when she died of tuberculosis. His father, however, was a very distant and stern sea captain. Young Newton rebelled and from the period of his teenage years onward began to fight against all authority figures, often becoming his own worst enemy. By the time he reached the age of 11, his father felt he was ready to begin his career at sea, and Newton’s journey from a young seaman, to gang-pressed navy midshipman, to slave trader, to becoming one of the most influential evangelical preachers of his day began.
As a husband, friend, and pastor, Jonathan Aitken, lets you come face to face with Newton himself, since much of the book is taken from Newton’s own personal journals, which were extremely detailed, warm, and just plain authentic. It becomes painfully obvious why he had such a profound impact upon the stoic religion of his day. Although Newton was an extraordinary scholar who taught himself Greek, Hebrew and Latin, he was able to preach, pray and write songs for worship that the common man could relate to. He didn’t put on any airs, and attempted to give dignity to the lost, the least, and the last through his pastoral ministry. When his autobiography became a best seller, it just confirmed his popularity with the average working man. “Here is a man of God who knows what it is like to struggle with the flesh and temptation, and yet finds forgiveness, grace and mercy in the Lord,” said many a dockworker.
While his life was far too multi-faceted and interesting to recount it all in this review, I will mention three things that jumped out at me that I think the present church can learn from:
He was ecumenical. John Newton had a rough road to ordination in the Church of England. It took him six years of toil, because of his fondness for the preaching and evangelical leanings (enthusiasm) of George Whitefield and John Wesley. Newton was close friends with Independents, Presbyterians, Methodists, Dissenters, and Baptists. He worshiped with them often, and had no difficulty preaching from their pulpits. In fact, when he was finally ordained and given a pastorate, all the surrounding non-Anglican churches and clergy soon welcomed him, and sought to collaborate in various ministries for the betterment of the city and its people. This didn’t mean he was soft on scripture. He held firmly to his beliefs, but was able to find common ground with brothers from different traditions to further the Kingdom.
He was progressive. John Newton created many church practices that had not been a part of regular ministry in his day. He created a weekly prayer meeting that grew so large he had to utilize the great house of Lord Dartmouth (his benefactor). He created a children’s ministry (unheard of before this) that met weekly to pray, sing and learn from the Bible. He wrote songs for them to sing that would help them memorize scripture. This ministry had such a profound impact upon the countryside of Olney that many churches sent their children to this ministry. At its height it grew to 200 children! Today this may seem normal, but it was a radical invention for his day. In the established church, it was very uncommon to hear hymns in public worship. Psalms may have been chanted as part of the liturgy, but new songs set to well known melodies and accompanied in a simple fashion were considered very low-brow by 18th century English standards. Newton, along with his troubled friend and poet, William Cowper, wrote several hundred hymns in the common vernacular that were simple to sing, easy to memorize, and yet profoundly theological and deep. They were not written for the erudite elite, but for the people in his pews. He saw music as a powerful learning tool. He took Paul’s words to “admonish and teach one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” seriously, and the church has not been the same since. Newton thought “outside the box” before the phrase had a chance to become cliché.
He was proactive. Though not an immediate movement of his ministry, as he continued to grow in grace, Newton became heavily involved in the abolition of slavery and many other causes by mentoring and encouraging Christians involved in government, trade, and social welfare; viewing the Gospel not only as the means of salvation, but in the broader sense of seeing it as the A to Z of life, which includes the restoration of human dignity.
Much more could be said about the amazing journey of John Newton, but I’ll just recommend you pick-up a copy of Aitken’s biography, snuggle up in a comfy chair, and take the time to get to know the man himself. There is great wisdom to be learned from the dead guys. I’ll leave you with the words he was quick to state whenever he had a chance: “I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great savior.” That about sums it up.
Reprinted from: Semper Reformanda
[1] Two of them are mine since I’ve recorded it twice. One can be found under the band, Bezalel, while the second can be found on my solo album, Tales of Thomas: Hymns Revisited and Remixed.
Can you trust the Gospel?
No doubt you have heard of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” the Discovery Channel’s incendiary new documentary, which aired this past March. There was a colossal media buzz around its airdate. Who can be surprised at all of the media attention? Filmmaker, Simcha Jacobovici is claiming to have found the family tomb of Jesus, and what’s more, he was likely married to Mary Magdalene and had a child named Judas. Scintillating stuff, but what does this all mean? Here is a documentary making claims that are in conflict with historical Christian belief. The film’s experts employ scientific evidence, DNA information and statistical reports. Is this truly a compelling, scientific discovery, or is it pseudo-scientific, CSI- meets- The Da Vinci Code style filmmaking? What is the Christian to make of this?
There are reasons to doubt the claims of the documentary. One big reason has to do with the statistical evidence. Jacobovici claims, basically, even though all of the names on the ossuaries (stone boxes used for housing the bones of the deceased) are common enough, it is the fact that they are clustered together that makes it likely to be Jesus’ family tomb. They focus especially on Mary Magdalene. Director Simcha Jacobovici declares on the official website as “the latest in New Testament studies” what he assumes throughout the film, namely, that Mary Magdalene was known by the same name as the one inscribed on the ossuary, Mariamne (a form of Mary.) He explains the importance of this on the website using an illustration from the Beatles: Suppose, in the future, the burial sites of George, John and Paul are found. There isn’t enough evidence to claim it is the Beatles, right? However if there’s a fourth tombstone that says Richard Starky (Ringo’s real name) then the evidence is more compelling. That is great, but the documentary’s claim that Mariamne is Mary Magdalene in itself is suspect (see the Discovery Channel website for an article about a claim that the ossuary is inscribed “Mary and Martha” not what Jacobivici claims at all)
Even if the ossuary is inscribed as the documentary suggests, “Mariamene e Mara,” the link between the two names Mariamene and Mary Magdalene, come from the Gnostic gospels, specifically the “Acts of Phillip.” The “Acts of Philip” was written much later than the canonical gospels (perhaps as late as the early third century) and is not considered to be as trustworthy. Jacobovici draws on these non-canonical writings and their image of Mary Magdalene as a powerful figure in the early church, implying that she had a “special” relationship with Jesus. The website has a blurb on a handful of these Gnostic writings and each ties in information about this important Mary in a way that is intended, no doubt, to make your imagination soar.
Fiction is fine, but when it comes to facts, the Biblical gospels are our best and most accurate source of knowledge about Jesus, not the esoteric Gnostic writings. That is why Mark D. Robert’s new book, Can We Trust the Gospels? is so timely. If the gospels really are as trustworthy as Robert’s purports, Jacobovici’s documentary has some problems. Why did Joseph of Arimathea donate his tomb, if Jesus’ family already had one? Why would the Jesus family tomb be in Talpiot, not in Nazareth? How did Jesus’ body get from the first tomb to the second? The issues are not merely logistical, for Jesus to have had a wife and family just doesn’t fit in with his life and mission, as we know it from the gospels.
Mark D. Roberts spends a good amount of his book addressing The Da Vinci Code phenomenon and its fallacies as it relates to the Gnostic writings found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi library. For this reason I believe it will be useful to the Christian who is baffled by this noteworthy documentary. It also can equip the believer to defend the historical Jesus to non-believers who are interested and baffled too.
At the end of the day, it is better to trust what is historical and time-tested. Not what is new, exciting, and sells. Perhaps the filmmakers have followed the obvious money trail pioneered by Dan Brown ,and put their focus on catering to Westerners who have begun more and more to correlate entertainment and information and don’t seem to care much which is which.
Kristen Jeffrey lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband, Daniel, where she spends her spare time reading, participating with the worship team at Crosspoint Greenlake where she attends, and enjoying the outdoors. She has a degree in English from the University of Washington and is currently working towards a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language at Seattle University.
Love Your Neighbor: Thinking Wisely About Right and Wrong
Living in turbulent times, it is becomingly increasingly difficult to navigate the ethical challenges confronting a believer living in post-Christian 21st-century. Love Your Neighbor: Thinking Wisely About Right and Wrong, by Norman Geisler and Ryan Snuffer, is a welcome resource in a time where relativism and personal freedom blur the biblical lines of morality. Examining a variety of issues from a biblical perspective, Geisler and Snuffer acknowledge within each a difference of opinion within Christendom. Rather than resorting to hard-line absolutes, this book acknowledges that there are many views that are consistent with the attributes of God.
Geisler is Dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary and co-author of over 70 books including such classics as Christian Apologetics, Why I Am a Christian, When Critics Ask and the four-volume Systematic Theology. Snuffer teaches philosophy and religious study at Mountain State University. His teachings at the university keep him informed on the latest ethical debates, especially those concerning biomedical issues. Together, Geisler and Snuffer bring a wealth of biblical knowledge along with an ear to the latest conversation regarding moral and ethical controversies.
Love Your Neighbor serves as a concise, but deep, introduction to Christian ethics. Beginning with an analysis of the biblical basis of morality drawing from both the Old and New Testament, it defines and contrasts competing philosophical approaches to ethics, pointing out the fallacies and failures of each. Laying the groundwork of biblical morality serves as the foundation for the rest of the book.
Examining a handful of issues ranging from personal to social may seem overwhelming to accomplish in one volume. Yet, Love Your Neighbor manages to do so without reading like a textbook. Personal issues such as lying, cheating, stealing, homosexual sin, heterosexual sin, pornography and divorce are all handled with truth, compassion and grace without sacrificing the loving correction of God’s word. The pages devoted to these subjects would be enough to justify a recommendation. However, it is the author’s crafty handling of controversial social issues is what sets this book apart as unique and an absolute must-read.
While issues like homosexuality, abortion and capital punishment have been hi-jacked by religious conservatives (and therefore, the mainstream church) many other issues have been pushed aside. The church has been deafeningly silent on such issues as civil disobedience, poverty, economic justice and ecology. Here, Geisler and Snuffer bravely tackle the issues biblically without pandering to either side of the political debate. This non-partisan approach will be certain to open the eyes to many who have either ignored these issues previously or written them off as non-essential to living to glorify God. Hopefully, the dialogue on these powder-keg subjects will intensify and this book can be the springboard for the church to be at the forefront of the conversation.
The authors of Love Your Neighbor: Thinking Rightly about Right and Wrong deserve accolades for writing this essential book. Teens, college-age students and adults alike will be challenged, encouraged, enlightened and informed on the many ethical issues we live with everyday. Psalm 119:105 says that God’s word is a “light to my feet and a light for my path.” Geisler and Snuffer tackle the issues and, in an age of ethical darkness, point us back to the light and path.