With the folk music revival of the 1960s the trans-Atlantic traffic of musicians saw the rise of performances of Amazing Grace in Church congregations and folk festivals in Britain. However, in the rest of the world, including the United Kingdom, it was largely forgotten until the mid-twentieth century. In the United States, Amazing Grace became a popular song used by Baptist and Methodist preachers, especially in the American South, during the early 19th century. It is also in the 2014 film Freedom where the story is told of John Newton’s composition of the Amazing Grace hymn. It is here that John Newton used the words: “ I was blind but now I see”.
The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John. “ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again he was lost, and is found”. The first verse, for example, can be traced to the New Testament story of the Prodigal Son. The lyrics for Amazing Grace are an ideal subject for New Year’s Day reflection.
“ Who am I, O Lord, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” Today, Amazing Grace is one of the most recognisable songs in the English-speaking world.Īmazing Grace was composed in the weeks leading up to John Newton’s New Year’s Day 1773 service at St Peter and St Paul Church, Olney in Buckinghamshire to accompany his New Testament teaching on 1 Chronicles 17:16-17 where King David said: New Year’s Day, 1 January 2023 marks the 250 th anniversary since Reverend John Newton, a former slave trader, delivered his ‘Amazing Grace’ sermon.
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