How Much Do You Know About Amazing Grace?

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* 1. When did John Newton first use the song Amazing Grace?

To illustrate his New Year’s sermon on January 1, 1773 for his church in Olney. The sermon was entitled “Faith’s review and expectation” looking at the Christian’s past, present and future.

On March 10, 1748, during the early morning hours of a storm aboard a ship when the upper bow was suddenly smashed by a violent wave.

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* 2. Why did Newton develop hymns to correspond with his sermons?

He was tired of using the hymns of other writers such as Isaac Watts and John Wesley. So he decided to create his own.

Newton’s Olney congregation was consisted mainly of tradesmen and laborers who weren’t educated and had a difficult time understanding the Book of Common Prayer and King James Bible. He used the hymns to illustrate the passages on which he was preaching.

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* 3. How popular was hymn-singing during the 1700’s among the Church of England?

The Church of England frowned upon anything other than the singing of metrical Psalms within their churches. But Newton, who was ordained by the Church of England, continued to use hymns despite the disapproval of other clergy.

The Church of England gladly embraced Newton’s new method of developing hymns that were similar to Dissenting chapels and religious groups like Methodists.

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* 4. What do the lyrics of Amazing Grace refer to?

The lyrics refer to his abhorrence of the slave trade and his desire to bring an end to the practice.

The lyrics describe Newton’s own spiritual journey as a ‘wretch’ who was rescued (both physically and spiritually) by God’s grace.

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* 5. Did Newton’s hymn find immediate popularity?

Yes, it was such a beautiful and poignant hymn that its popularity spread immediately within England and soon after to the United States.

No, it languished in obscurity in England for many decades. It first gained popularity in the early 1800’s in America after it was published by William Walker in a hymnal The Southern Harmony.

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* 6. Was the last verse of the hymn written by Newton or someone else? "When we've been here ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we'd first begun."

Yes, when Newton was a pastor in Olney, he along with his friend and poet William Cowper, wrote the final verse of the hymn as it appears in most hymnbooks today.

No, the last verse was added to a version of "Amazing Grace" by Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her novel “Uncle Tom's Cabin”.

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* 7. Was the now familiar melody of the hymn originally used for Amazing Grace?

No, at first, a number of different melodies were used. The tune we now use (New Britain) is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin. In 1835 William Walker added the current melody to the lyrics in his hymnal.

Yes, the original tune was sung with the lyrics from the very first time Newton presented the hymn to his congregation.

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* 8. The popularity of Amazing Grace:

It is sung at least ten million times a year. No other song (spiritual or secular) comes close to the number of recordings (at least 3000 in the U.S. alone).

It is an antiquated hymn that is not song very often anymore; the popularity has declined dramatically in recent years.