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Evangelicals Now: Learning from John Newton 300 years on

Evangelicals Now: Learning from John Newton 300 years on

Last updated on: March 9, 2026 at 9:51 pm by Adrian Warnock

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Evangelicals Now: Learning from John Newton 300 years on 2026-03-09T21:51:33+00:00 Adrian Warnock

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

John Newton. Print of a drawing by W. Harvey; engraved by H. Robinson, 1880. Source: Britannica

The headlines of the story are well-known.

A rebellious youth. Pressganged into the Royal Navy. Whipped after an attempted desertion. Swapped onto a ship on its way to pick up slaves. Enslaved, himself, in Africa. Rescued by a captain friend of his father’s only to almost die in a storm on the way home. So far from God that his fellow sailors thought that he, like Jonah, had brought the wrath of God down on them.

His prayer in that storm was marked as the moment he was saved.

Then in later life, a great pastor, hymn-writer, and campaigner for slave trade abolition.

John Newton was a mentor and encourager to William Wilberforce, and without his advice, Wilberforce would most likely have resigned as an MP after his conversion and never have started his campaign against the evils of slavery.

But what we often forget is that his story is not just about the dramatic nature of saving grace. It is also about the patience that God has with people and the slow work of transformation over decades.

It was 40 years from Newton’s conversion until he published his pamphlet against the slave trade. Would we have had that much patience with him today?

READ THE REST AT EVANGELICAL’S NOW

Adrian’s John Newton Book

Amazing Grace: How Faith Grows in the Human Heart

Modern English Explanation of Ancient Truths.

By John Newton and Adrian Warnock

Buy here

Classic writings updated and a new biography.

300 years after the author’s birth

253 years after he released the world’s greatest hymn, Amazing Grace

This hymn has been recorded more often than any other song of any genre. In the same thirty-six hours which changed the world forever, his close friend William Cowper also wrote God Moves in a Mysterious Way, but then had a crushing mental breakdown from which he never fully recovered. Such powerful grace of God, but marked by terrible suffering. The echoes still reverberate today.

Also includes a chapter by Charles Spurgeon who highly valued John Newton

About Adrian Warnock

“Adrian is a first-rate communicator”—Albert Mohler Jr

About John Newton

”I look forward to meeting John Newton” — R. T. Kendall

”One of my heroes”—Tim Keller

“He says it all perfectly”— Martyn Lloyd-Jones

”The memory of his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in dealing with sinners, and it gave him hope for their restoration” — C. H. Spurgeon

”Why am I interested in this man? Because one of my great desires is to see Christians be as strong and durable as redwood trees, and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover. Oh, how rare are the Christians who speak with a tender heart and have a theological backbone of steel.” — John Piper

”If William Cowper could speak, he’d thank God for not only John Newton, but any friend who prays for and walks beside those with mental illness.” — Joni Eareckson Tada

Preview the content here:

→ I once was blind but now I see

→ Grace Within: The Inner Evidence of Faith

→ How Grace enters the Human Heart

→ Growing in Grace: When Shoots Take Root

→ A modern parable: The Traitors: Spellbound by Lies

More coming soon: subscribe by email or follow on social media

→ The 36 hours that changed the word

and much more…

Adrian Warnock presents a modern English edition of the 18th century classic writings of John Newton (1725-1807), author of Amazing Grace, the world’s greatest hymn and the most recorded song of any genre. This is an early access preview version, and includes free updates.

Allow John Newton to speak to your heart today. This updated autobiography and his devotional writings form a powerful commentary on the lyrics of his famous hymn, revealing what is so amazing about grace. The book also contains an interpretation of how significant his extraordinary life still is today. Newton becomes for us a vivid example of how God’s grace changes people gradually over time.

Published 300 years after John Newton was born, and 253 years after he released his remarkable hymn, this book blends Newton’s timeless wisdom with the clarity of thought and plain English which has marked Warnock’s Patheos blog for more than twenty years, and shaped his other books Raised with Christ, Hope Reborn, and The Traitor Within.

Amazing Grace includes modern English versions of Newton’s autobiography, Authentic Narrative, his thoughts on entering the ministry, Miscellaneous Thoughts, the first ever abolition publication, Thoughts on the African Slave Trade, selected sermons, and letters from Newton’s vast correspondence. A skillful soul physician, Newton describes how grace changes every aspect of a Christian’s life over a lifetime of faith. The former slave trader turned pastor speaks to the deepest struggles of our spiritual journeys. In these pastoral devotions, Newton traces how divine grace takes root, grows, and matures in the human heart through three phases: conviction, conflict, and mature contemplation of God’s glory.

We meet the rebellious and violent youth, the slave trader who oppressed thousands of innocents, was made a slave himself, and who was found by God’s grace during a storm that nearly sank his ship. We see how this unruly man was pursued, rescued, and transformed by grace. We learn how he became a pastor known for his compassion and kindness, demonstrated by his deeply committed care for the poet William Cowper during his severe mental illness. Newton became a pastor to the whole nation, working for the abolition of the slave trade, mentoring William Wilberforce for decades.

Newton bridged the gap between the warring denominational movements of his time, a friend of both George Whitefieldand John Wesley. He turned his fervor away from pamphlet flame wars or revival preaching, but towards tenderhearted soul care for the distressed and depressed as they struggled to find greater spiritual freedom and transformation. These pages invite readers not only to understand Newton’s insights, but to experience the living reality of grace in their own lives.

ABOUT ADRIAN WARNOCK

“Adrian is a first-rate communicator”—Albert Mohler Jr

ABOUT JOHN NEWTON

“He says it all perfectly”—Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“I look forward to meeting John Newton”—R. T. Kendall

“One of my heroes.”—Tim Keller

“The memory of his own gracious change of heart and life gave him tenderness in dealing with sinners, and it gave him hope for their restoration”—C. H. Spurgeon

“Why am I interested in this man? Because one of my great desires is to see Christians be as strong and durable as redwood trees, and as tender and fragrant as a field of clover. Oh, how rare are the Christians who speak with a tender heart and have a theological backbone of steel”—John Piper

“If William Cowper could speak, he’d thank God for not only John Newton, but any friend who prays for and walks beside those with mental illness.”—Joni Eareckson Tada

If this book makes you want to read more John Newton, and you do not mind the old English, buy the Logos Bible Software Edition of his Works or a paper version.

General Christian

History and Religion

About Adrian Warnock

Adrian Warnock

Medical doctor · Published author · Patheos writer since 2003

I have always lived within sixty miles of London, UK where I studied, worked and worshipped for thirty years. I began writing for this Patheos blog in April 2003, making it one of the longest-running individual columns on the Christian Internet. My writing here, on Substack, and in my books is influenced by my medical training, eight years of working as a psychiatrist in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), eighteen years working in medical research in the pharmaceutical industry, twenty-five years of serving as a pastoral leader in a growing multicultural church, and a difficult decade of lived experience with chronic illness, including blood cancer, and the unexpected losses, including early retirement, that resulted.

Together, these all shape a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach which I first wrote about on Patheos in 2013. This model offers us hope, compassion, and healing in all life’s challenges. This holistic approach is based on the idea that all truth is God’s truth.

At times, since my illness, my faith has been faint. I wondered if this was the end of my story. I was not strong enough to live for Jesus the way I wanted to. I could not change myself. And then hope reminded me: The resurrection of Jesus changes everything. Just not all at once. Healing takes time. Compassion and patience sustain us over a lifetime of change. I aim to approach suffering with hope and compassion, and address tough questions including:

What does Jesus’ resurrection mean for you?

Raised With Christ: How the Resurrection Changes Everything (Crossway, 2010; 2nd edition, Amazon, 2025)
Why is change so difficult? What causes the resistance?

The Traitor Within: Understanding and Healing Our Deceitful Hearts (Amazon, 2026)
Why is change so slow? How does grace lead us over a lifetime?

Amazing Grace: How Faith Grows in the Human Heart (Amazon, 2026)
How do you become a Christian? Can you know if you really are one?

Hope Reborn: How to Become a Christian and Live for Jesus Co-authored with Tope Koleoso (Christian Focus, 2014)

Qualifications

I qualified with an MB BS from the University of London (equivalent to an MD in the United States), hold postgraduate qualifications in psychiatry (MRCPsych) and pharmaceutical medicine (MFFM, DipPharmMed), and took theological training courses run by Newfrontiers.

Connect With me

Substack: adrianwarnock.substack.com (the best way to ask questions)
Twitter/X: @adrianwarnock
Facebook: Adrian Warnock
Email: [email protected] (I may not be able to respond to every message)

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