‘Some men are known for the hymns they write. John Newton is one— “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound” being his most famous. And some are known as preachers. John Newton was also one. But a very small number of men are known for the profound wisdom to be found in their personal letters. And John Newton stands almost unmatched in this class. The Scriptures urge us to “get wisdom,” and outside of the pages of Scripture itself there can be few better places to find it than in Jewels from John Newton.’ — SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON

‘In few writers are Christian doctrine, experience and practice more happily balanced than in the author of these letters, and few write with more simplicity, piety and force.’ — C. H. SPURGEON

‘For myself, I keep John Newton on my selectest shelf of spiritual books: by far the best kind of books in the whole world of books.’ — ALEXANDER WHYTE

Book Description

John Newton (1725–1807) was a trophy of God’s grace. His transformation from a blasphemous slave trader to a much loved minister of the gospel is a testimony to the powerful, life-changing grace of God in Jesus Christ. His hymns, letters, and other writings have been a source of strength and comfort to Christian believers for centuries.

Jewels From John Newton, a volume of daily devotional readings, has been lovingly and carefully compiled by one who owes a great debt to the helpful writings of John Newton. She (Miller Ferrie) writes:

‘What impresses me about this man is his honesty in readily admitting his struggles, sinfulness, and failures. This aspect of his writings has been such an encouragement to me personally, for it gave me the assurance that my own daily battles and humiliations are not unique. In addition, he repeatedly reminds his readers of God’s trustworthiness, no matter what circumstances they might be facing. He never ceased to be amazed at God’s grace in the gospel, and it was this grace that he sought to proclaim till his dying day.’

The material included in this book is largely drawn from Newton’s prolific correspondence, and covers a wide variety of topics related to the Christian’s life and experience. Although written more than two hundred years ago, it remains as relevant and edifying as ever.

‘O blessed man! that thus fears the Lord, that delights in his word, and derives his principles, motives, maxims, and consolations, from that unfailing source of light and strength. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf is always green, and fruit abundant. The wisdom that is above shall direct his plans, inspire his counsels; and the power of God shall guard him on every side and prepare his way through every difficulty; he shall see mountains sink into plains, and streams spring up in the dry wilderness… The conduct of such a one, though in a narrow and retired sphere of life, is of more real excellence and importance, than the most splendid actions of kings and conquerors, which fill the annals of history, Prov. 16:32. And if the God whom he serves is pleased to place him in a more public light, his labours and cares will be amply compensated, by the superior opportunities afforded him of manifesting the power and reality of true religion, and promoting the good of mankind…’

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‘In few writers are Christian doctrine, experience and practice more happily balanced than in the author of these letters, and few write with more simplicity, piety and force.’ — C. H. SPURGEON

‘What thousands have derived repeated profit and pleasure from the perusal of these utterances of the heart! Nor ever will they cease to be found means of grace whilst God has a church on earth.’ — WILLIAM JAY

Book Description

When John Newton, ex-sea captain and, as yet, unsuccessful candidate for the Church of England ministry, finished his first book (an autobiography) in 1762 there was no ready publisher. Any thought that he was destined to become one of the best known authors of his age would have been as fantastic as the last 37 years of his life. But in both cases the improbable came about. Becoming curate of Olney, a small village in the south of England, in 1764, Newton there laid his reputation as an evangelical writer, pre-eminently by his published letters and by the Olney Hymns (including ‘How Great the Name of Jesus Sounds, ‘Glorious things of Thee are spoken’ and ‘Amazing grace’). Before the end of his subsequent pastorate at St. Mary Woolnoth, London (1780-1807), his writings were prized around the world from America to Australia.

Newton has a firm place in the classics of Christian literature. While his style is strong and clear, it is the spiritual attractiveness and importance of his main themes which secure the permanent value of his writings. Most of his books came, unpremeditated, out of a need to help his congregation or individual hearers, and it is in practical helpfulness towards Christian living that he excels. If he is loved rather than admired, it is for this reason. Conformity to Christ is the one subject upon which his themes finally focus (‘It will not be a burden to me at the hour of death that I have thought too highly of Jesus, expected too much from Him myself, or laboured too much in commending and setting Him forth to others’). Not surprisingly, Alexander Whyte could write, ‘For myself, I keep John Newton on my selectest shelf of spiritual books: by far the best kind of books in the whole world of books.’

The text of this new four-volume edition of The Works of John Newton has been entirely reformatted, producing a clear and easily navigable set of documents for today’s reader.

Mark Johnston on The Works of John Newton

Review

• Review by Megan Colby
• Review by Tony Reinke

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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’.

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Reviews

• Review by Ian Gibbs

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‘In few writers are christian doctrine, experience and practice more happily balanced than in the author of these Letters, and few write with more simplicity, piety and force.’ — C.H. SPURGEON

‘When thousands have derived repeated profit and pleAsure from the perusal of these utterances of the heart! Nor ever will they cease to be found means of grace whilst God has a church on earth.’ — WILLIAM JAY

Book Description

John Newton converted slave-trader, preacher, and hymn-writer, was one of the most colourful figures in the Evangelical Awakening of the eighteenth century. ‘Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa,’ he wrote for this epitaph, ‘by rich mercy of Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy.’

It was through his prolific correspondence that Newton fulfilled his distinctive word as ‘the letter-writer parexcellence of the Evangelical Revival‘. His grasp of Scripture and deep personal experience of the ‘amazing grace’ of God, his many friends (among them, Whitefield, Cowper and 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 letters, selected by his biographer, Josiah Bull, bear the practical imprint of all of Newton’s writings; they cover a wide variety of subjects and aim ‘to conform the believer to Christ’. Among them are several that were not previously published in earlier collections of his correspondence. Of particular value and interest are the biographical sketches and historical notes supplied by the editor.

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Reviews

• Review by David Campbell
• Review by Byron Snapp

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‘Some books are for tasting regularly, not reading through once. One such book is Wise Counsel. Newton was the former slave-trader turned pastor, and the author of Amazing Grace. The flavor of his ministry is such that frequent tastes are better than rare gulps.’ — JOHN PIPER

Book Description

John Newton (1725-1807) has rightly been called ‘the letter-writer par excellence of the Evangelical Revival’. Newton himself seems to have come to the conclusion, albeit reluctantly, that letter-writing was his greatest gift. In a letter to a friend he confessed, ‘I rather reckoned upon doing more good by some of my other works than by my ‘Letters’, which I wrote without study, or any public design; but the Lord said, ‘You shall be most useful by them,’ and I learned to say, ‘Thy will be done! Use me as Thou pleasest, only make me useful.’ Indeed, he wrote to his close friend William Bull that if the letters were ‘owned to comfort the afflicted, to quicken the careless, to confirm the wavering, I may rejoice in the honour He has done me’, and not envy the greatest writers of the age.

All but ten of the letters in the present volume have been brought out of undeserved obscurity by Dr Grant Gordon, whose researches in libraries and archives, as well as in little-known nineteenth-century periodicals, have uncovered much material which is certainly calculated to comfort, quicken, and confirm. Of those already in print, one letter is in volume 1 of the Trust’s six-volume edition of Newton’s Works, and nine more are in volume 2. Three of the nine are also in the Trust’s Letters of John Newton, edited by Josiah Bull. The rest should be new to almost all readers.

The particular recipient of Newton’s ‘wise counsel’ in this book was John Ryland, Jr. (1753-1825), Baptist pastor and educator, and close friend of Andrew Fuller, William Carey, and all the pioneers of the modern missionary movement. But in the background stand all the major figures of the eighteenth-century Evangelical Revival. A list of Newton’s friends and correspondents would, in fact, read like a ‘who’s who’ of the Revival. And forming the wider background is a very eventful period of history, from the American Revolution to the French Revolutionary Wars, by way of the colonization of Australia, the first missions to India, and the abolition of the slave trade. Dr Gordon has helpfully set the letters in the context of these events and provided useful background detail.

The reader will discover afresh in these letters, not only mature and wise counsel, but a wholesome emphasis on true Christian experience, a great breadth of Christian sympathy, and a strong confidence in the power of the grace of God, for, as Newton said, ‘Grace has long and strong arms!’

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Reviews

• Reviews by Jeremy Walker: Review 1, Review 2
• Review by Ben Ramsbottom
• Review by D W B Somerset
• Review by Alan Hill
• Review by David Daniels
• Review by Paul Levy

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