157-440: " Amazing Grace " is a Christian hymn published in 1779, written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the United States , where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. Newton wrote the words from personal experience; he grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path
314-549: A Whig , Ashley was not partisan. His poor health forced him to retire from parliament at the dissolution of July 1698. He suffered from asthma . The following year, to escape the London environment, he purchased a property in Little Chelsea , adding a 50-foot extension to the existing building to house his bedchamber and Library, and planting fruit trees and vines. He sold the property to Narcissus Luttrell in 1710. He
471-537: A "universal testimony" of the African American experience. During the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War , the song took on a political tone. Mahalia Jackson employed "Amazing Grace" for Civil Rights marchers, writing that she used it "to give magical protection – a charm to ward off danger, an incantation to the angels of heaven to descend ... I was not sure
628-432: A Newton biographer, estimates that the song is performed about 10 million times annually. It has had particular influence in folk music , and has become an emblematic black spiritual . Its universal message has been a significant factor in its crossover into secular music. "Amazing Grace" became newly popular during the 1960s revival of American folk music , and it has been recorded thousands of times during and since
785-436: A broken heart". He struck a friendship with William Cowper , a gifted writer who had failed at a career in law and suffered bouts of insanity, attempting suicide several times. Cowper enjoyed Olney – and Newton's company; he was also new to Olney and had gone through a spiritual conversion similar to Newton's. Together, their effect on the local congregation was impressive. In 1768, they found it necessary to start
942-407: A cappella congregations, hymns are typically sung in unison. In some cases complementary full settings for organ are also published, in others organists and other accompanists are expected to adapt the available setting, or extemporise one, on their instrument of choice. In traditional Anglican practice, hymns are sung (often accompanied by an organ) during the processional to the altar, during
1099-675: A customs agent in Liverpool starting in 1756, Newton began to teach himself Latin, Greek, and theology. He and Polly immersed themselves in the church community, and Newton's passion was so impressive that his friends suggested he become a priest in the Church of England. He was turned down by John Gilbert , Archbishop of York , in 1758, ostensibly for having no university degree, although the more likely reasons were his leanings toward evangelism and tendency to socialise with Methodists . Newton continued his devotions, and after being encouraged by
1256-682: A dangerous storm during his voyage. He had symptoms of consumption , and gradually became an invalid. He continued to take an interest in politics, both home and foreign, and supported England's participation in the War of the Spanish Succession . The declining state of Shaftesbury's health rendered it necessary for him to seek a warmer climate and in July 1711 he set out for Italy. He settled at Naples in November, and lived there for more than
1413-440: A debtor!" in his letters and diary entries as early as 1752. The effect of the lyrical arrangement, according to Bruce Hindmarsh, allows an instant release of energy in the exclamation "Amazing grace!", to be followed by a qualifying reply in "how sweet the sound". In An Annotated Anthology of Hymns , Newton's use of an exclamation at the beginning of his verse is called "crude but effective" in an overall composition that "suggest(s)
1570-558: A forceful, if simple, statement of faith". Grace is recalled three times in the following verse, culminating in Newton's most personal story of his conversion, underscoring the use of his personal testimony with his parishioners. The sermon preached by Newton was his last of those that William Cowper heard in Olney, since Cowper's mental instability returned shortly thereafter. One author suggests Newton may have had his friend in mind, employing
1727-1095: A friend, he wrote about his experiences in the slave trade and his conversion. William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth , impressed with his story, sponsored Newton for ordination by John Green , Bishop of Lincoln , and offered him the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire , in 1764. Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That sav'd a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev'd; How precious did that grace appear The hour I first believ'd! Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. The Lord has promis'd good to me, His word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures. Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease; I shall possess, within
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#17327902360781884-654: A given, but believed it might be available by intermittent divine intervention. In the English sentimental novel of the 18th century, arguments from the Shaftesbury–Hutcheson tradition appear. An early example in Mary Collyer 's Felicia to Charlotte (vol.1, 1744) comes from its hero Lucius, who reasons in line with An Enquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit on the "moral sense". The second volume (1749) has discussions of conduct book material, and makes use of
2041-592: A gospel standard to secular audiences. The ability to record combined with the marketing of records to specific audiences allowed "Amazing Grace" to take on thousands of different forms in the 20th century. Where Edwin Othello Excell sought to make the singing of "Amazing Grace" uniform throughout thousands of churches, records allowed artists to improvise with the words and music specific to each audience. AllMusic lists over 1,000 recordings – including re-releases and compilations – as of 2019. Its first recording
2198-472: A hymn any way they felt led to; this idea was opposed by a writer of the time, Rev. Thomas Walter, who felt it was "like Five Hundred different Tunes roared out at the same time". William Billings , a singing school teacher, created the first tune book with only American born compositions. Within his books, Billings did not put as much emphasis on " common measure " - a quatrain that rhymes ABAB and alternates four-stress and three-stress iambic lines - which
2355-401: A letter describing his circumstances, and crew from another ship happened to find him. Newton claimed the only reason he left Sierra Leone was because of Polly. While aboard the ship Greyhound , Newton gained notoriety as being one of the most profane men the captain had ever met. In a culture where sailors habitually swore, Newton was admonished several times for not only using the worst words
2512-484: A means of government. Shape-note singing communities, with all the members sitting around an open center, each song employing a different song leader, illustrated this in practice. Simultaneously, the US began to expand westward into previously unexplored territory that was often wilderness. The "dangers, toils, and snares" of Newton's lyrics had both literal and figurative meanings for Americans. This became poignantly true during
2669-423: A myth. He came to believe that God had sent him a profound message and had begun to work through him. Newton's conversion was not immediate, but he contacted Polly's family and announced his intention to marry her. Her parents were hesitant as he was known to be unreliable and impetuous. They knew he was profane too but allowed him to write to Polly, and he set to begin to submit to authority for her sake. He sought
2826-611: A new focus: expressing one's personal feelings in the relationship with God as well as the simple worship seen in older hymns. Wesley's contribution, along with the Second Great Awakening in America led to a new style called gospel , and a new explosion of sacred music writing with Fanny Crosby , Lina Sandell , Philip Bliss , Ira D. Sankey , and others who produced testimonial music for revivals, camp meetings, and evangelistic crusades. The tune style or form
2983-551: A novel and Catholic introduction to worship, which was to be rejected. All hymns that were not direct quotations from the Bible fell into this category. Such hymns were banned, along with any form of instrumental musical accompaniment, and organs were removed from churches. Instead of hymns, biblical psalms were chanted, most often without accompaniment, to very basic melodies. This was known as exclusive psalmody . Examples of this may still be found in various places, including in some of
3140-426: A place on a slave ship bound for Africa, and Newton and his crewmates participated in most of the same activities he had written about before; the only immorality from which he was able to free himself was profanity. After a severe illness his resolve was renewed, yet he retained the same attitude towards slavery as was held by his contemporaries. Newton continued in the slave trade through several voyages where he sailed
3297-475: A range of styles often influenced by popular music . This often leads to some conflict between older and younger congregants (see contemporary worship ). This is not new; the Christian pop music style began in the late 1960s and became very popular during the 1970s, as young hymnists sought ways in which to make the music of their religion relevant for their generation. This long tradition has resulted in
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#17327902360783454-513: A rich hymnody from spirituals during times of slavery to the modern, lively black gospel style. The first influences of African-American culture into hymns came from slave songs of the United States a collection of slave hymns, compiled by William Francis Allen, who had difficulty pinning them down from the oral tradition, and though he succeeded, he points out the awe-inspiring effect of the hymns when sung in by their originators. Some of
3611-519: A shipmate who discussed with him Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times , a book by the Third Earl of Shaftesbury . In a series of letters Newton later wrote, "Like an unwary sailor who quits his port just before a rising storm, I renounced the hopes and comforts of the Gospel at the very time when every other comfort was about to fail me." His disobedience caused him to be pressed into
3768-657: A single congregation, often between revivalist and traditionalist movements. Swedish composer and musicologist Elisabet Wentz-Janacek mapped 20,000 melody variants for Swedish hymns and helped create the Swedish Choral Registrar, which displays the wide variety of hymns today. In modern times, hymn use has not been limited to strictly religious settings, including secular occasions such as Remembrance Day , and this "secularization" also includes use as sources of musical entertainment or even vehicles for mass emotion. Hymn writing, composition, performance and
3925-443: A social creature, Shaftesbury argued that the egoist and the extreme altruist are both imperfect. People, to contribute to the happiness of the whole, must fit in. He rejected the idea that humankind is naturally selfish; and the idea that altruism necessarily cuts across self-interest. Thomas Jefferson found this general and social approach attractive. This move relied on a close parallel between moral and aesthetic criteria. In
4082-482: A song in a hymn-like fashion such as " In Christ Alone ". In ancient and medieval times, string instruments such as the harp , lyre and lute were used with psalms and hymns. Since there is a lack of musical notation in early writings, the actual musical forms in the early church can only be surmised. During the Middle Ages a rich hymnody developed in the form of Gregorian chant or plainsong. This type
4239-455: A song titled "Jerusalem, My Happy Home", which was first published in a 1790 book called A Collection of Sacred Ballads : When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise, Than when we first begun. "Amazing Grace" came to be an emblem of a Christian movement and a symbol of the US itself as the country was involved in a great political experiment, attempting to employ democracy as
4396-627: A total of 75 weeks on popular music charts. Her rendition also reached number 5 in New Zealand and number 12 in Ireland in 1971. Hymn#Christian hymnody A hymn is a type of song , and partially synonymous with devotional song , specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer , and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification . The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος ( hymnos ), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns
4553-668: A variety of tunes; more than twenty musical settings of "Amazing Grace" circulated with varying popularity until 1835, when American composer William Walker assigned Newton's words to a traditional song named "New Britain". This was an amalgamation of two melodies ("Gallaher" and "St. Mary"), first published in the Columbian Harmony by Charles H. Spilman and Benjamin Shaw (Cincinnati, 1829). Spilman and Shaw, both students at Kentucky's Centre College , compiled their tunebook both for public worship and revivals, to satisfy "the wants of
4710-429: A weekly prayer meeting to meet the needs of an increasing number of parishioners. They also began writing lessons for children. Partly from Cowper's literary influence, and partly because learned vicars were expected to write verses, Newton began to try his hand at hymns, which had become popular through the language, made plain for common people to understand. Several prolific hymn writers were at their most productive in
4867-399: A wide variety of hymns. Some modern churches include within hymnody the traditional hymn (usually describing God), contemporary worship music (often directed to God) and gospel music (expressions of one's personal experience of God). This distinction is not perfectly clear; and purists remove the second two types from the classification as hymns. It is a matter of debate, even sometimes within
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5024-405: A work from 1699. With this treatise, Shaftesbury became the founder of moral sense theory . It is accompanied by The Moralists, a Philosophical Rhapsody , from 1709. Shaftesbury himself regarded it as the most ambitious of his treatises. The main object of The Moralists is to propound a system of natural theology , for theodicy . Shaftesbury believed in one God whose characteristic attribute
5181-587: A year. Shaftesbury died at Chiaia in the Kingdom of Naples , on 15 February 1713 (N.S.) His body was brought back to England and buried at Wimborne St Giles , the family seat in Dorset. John Toland was an early associate, but Shaftesbury after some time found him a troublesome ally. Toland published a draft of the Inquiry concerning Virtue , without permission. Shaftesbury may have exaggerated its faults, but
5338-617: Is A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm , advocating religious toleration , published anonymously in 1708. It was based on a letter sent to John Somers, 1st Baron Somers of September 1707. At this time repression of the French Camisards was topical. The second treatise is Sensus Communis: An Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour , first published in 1709. The third part is Soliloquy: or, Advice to an Author , from 1710. It opens with Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit , based on
5495-411: Is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O L ORD God. 1 Chronicles 17:16–17, King James Version The title ascribed to the hymn, " 1 Chronicles 17:16–17", refers to David 's reaction to
5652-527: Is an a cappella version from 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir. It was included from 1926 to 1930 in Okeh Records ' catalogue, which typically concentrated strongly on blues and jazz. Demand was high for black gospel recordings of the song by H. R. Tomlin and J. M. Gates . A poignant sense of nostalgia accompanied the recordings of several gospel and blues singers in the 1940s and 1950s who used
5809-765: Is based on Revelation 5:6, 8, 9, 10, 12. Relying heavily on Scripture, Watts wrote metered texts based on New Testament passages that brought the Christian faith into the songs of the church. Isaac Watts has been called "the father of English hymnody", but Erik Routley sees him more as "the liberator of English hymnody", because his hymns, and hymns like them, moved worshippers beyond singing only Old Testament psalms, inspiring congregations and revitalizing worship. Later writers took even more freedom, some even including allegory and metaphor in their texts. Charles Wesley 's hymns spread Methodist theology , not only within Methodism, but in most Protestant churches. He developed
5966-638: Is known as a hymnist . The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody . Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greco/Roman goddess of hymns. Although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity , hymns are also a fixture of other world religions , especially on the Indian subcontinent ( stotras ). Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures. Some of
6123-423: Is known as a hymnodist, and the practice of singing hymns is called hymnody ; the same word is used for the collectivity of hymns belonging to a particular denomination or period (e.g. "nineteenth century Methodist hymnody" would mean the body of hymns written and/or used by Methodists in the 19th century). A collection of hymns is called a hymnal , hymn book or hymnary . These may or may not include music; among
6280-575: Is technically designated "gospel songs" as distinct from hymns. Gospel songs generally include a refrain (or chorus) and usually (though not always) a faster tempo than the hymns. As examples of the distinction, " Amazing Grace " is a hymn (no refrain), but " How Great Thou Art " is a gospel song. During the 19th century, the gospel-song genre spread rapidly in Protestantism and to a lesser but still definite extent, in Roman Catholicism;
6437-405: Is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.") The Protestant Reformation resulted in two conflicting attitudes towards hymns. One approach, the regulative principle of worship , favoured by many Zwinglians, Calvinists and some radical reformers, considered anything that was not directly authorised by the Bible to be
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6594-494: Is the version most frequently sung today. With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, "Amazing Grace" is one of the most recognisable songs in the English-speaking world . American historian Gilbert Chase writes that it is "without a doubt the most famous of all the folk hymns" and Jonathan Aitken ,
6751-553: Is to be found in Locke. The conceptual framework used by Shaftesbury was representative of much thinking in the early Enlightenment , and remained popular until the 1770s. When the Characteristicks appeared they were welcomed by Le Clerc and Gottfried Leibniz . Among the English deists Shaftesbury was significant, plausible and the most respectable. In terms of Augustan literature , Shaftesbury's defence of ridicule
6908-524: Is unclear, but according to some it is due to the radical shift of style and devotional thinking that began with the Jesus movement and Jesus music . In recent years, Christian traditional hymns have seen a revival in some churches, usually more Reformed or Calvinistic in nature, as modern hymn writers such as Keith & Kristyn Getty and Sovereign Grace Music have reset old lyrics to new melodies, revised old hymns and republished them, or simply written
7065-530: Is universal benevolence; in the moral government of the universe; and in a future state of man making up for the present life. Entitled Miscellaneous Reflections , this consisted of previously unpublished works. From his stay at Naples there was A Notion of the Historical Draught or Tablature of the Judgment of Hercules . Shaftesbury as a moralist opposed Thomas Hobbes . He was a follower of
7222-625: The Anglican Theological Review and author James Basker have interpreted the first stanza of "Amazing Grace" as evidence of Newton's realisation that his participation in the slave trade was his wretchedness, perhaps representing a wider common understanding of Newton's motivations. Newton joined forces with William Wilberforce , the British Member of Parliament who led the Parliamentarian campaign to abolish
7379-717: The Dunciad (IV.487–490): "Or that bright Image to our Fancy draw, Which Theocles in raptur'd vision saw, While thro' Poetic scenes the Genius roves, Or wanders wild in Academic Groves". In notes to these lines, Pope directed the reader to various passages in Shaftesbury's work. Shaftesbury's ethical system was rationalised by Francis Hutcheson , and from him passed with modifications to David Hume ; these writers, however, changed from reliance on moral sense to
7536-551: The Cambridge Platonists , and like them rejected the way Hobbes collapsed moral issues into expediency. His first published work was an anonymous Preface to the sermons of Benjamin Whichcote , a prominent Cambridge Platonist, published in 1698. In it he belaboured Hobbes and his ethical egoism , but also the commonplace carrot and stick arguments of Christian moralists. While Shaftesbury conformed in public to
7693-558: The Church of England in 1764, Newton became the curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire , where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper . "Amazing Grace" was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses; it may have been chanted by the congregation. It debuted in print in 1779 in Newton's and Cowper's Olney Hymns , but settled into relative obscurity in England. In
7850-533: The Church of England , his private view of some of its doctrines was less respectful. His starting point in the Characteristicks , however, was indeed such a form of ethical naturalism as was common ground for Hobbes, Bernard Mandeville and Spinoza : appeal to self-interest. He divided moralists into Stoics and Epicurean , identifying with the Stoics and their attention to the common good . It made him concentrate on virtue . He took Spinoza and Descartes as
8007-591: The Glorious Revolution , Lord Ashley returned to England in 1689. It took five years, but he entered public life, as a parliamentary candidate for the borough of Poole , and was returned on 21 May 1695. He spoke for the Bill for Regulating Trials in Cases of Treason, one provision of which was that a person indicted for treason or misprision of treason should be allowed the assistance of counsel. Although
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#17327902360788164-674: The Missouri Harmony , Kentucky Harmony , Hesperian Harp , D.H. Mansfield's The American Vocalist , The Social Harp , the Southern Harmony , William Walker 's Christian Harmony , Jeremiah Ingalls ' Christian Harmony , and literally many dozens of others. Shape notes were important in the spread of (then) more modern singing styles, with tenor-led 4-part harmony (based on older English West Gallery music ), fuging sections, anthems and other more complex features. During this period, hymns were incredibly popular in
8321-689: The November 1701 English general election . After the first few weeks of Anne 's reign, Shaftesbury, who had been deprived of the vice-admiralty of Dorset , returned to private life. In August 1703, he again settled in the Netherlands . At Rotterdam he lived, he says in a letter to his steward Wheelock, at the rate of less than £200 a year, and yet had much to dispose of and spend beyond convenient living. Shaftesbury returned to England in August 1704, he landed at Aldeburgh , Suffolk having escaped
8478-539: The Philemon to Hydaspes (1737) of Henry Coventry , described by Aldridge as "filled with favorable references to Shaftesbury." The eponymous hero of The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1753) by Samuel Richardson has been described as embodying the "Shaftesburian model" of masculinity : he is "stoic, rational, in control, yet sympathetic towards others, particularly those less fortunate." A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768) by Laurence Sterne
8635-623: The Presbyterian churches of western Scotland . The other Reformation approach, the normative principle of worship , produced a burst of hymn writing and congregational singing. Martin Luther is notable not only as a reformer, but as the author of hymns including "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (" A Mighty Fortress Is Our God "), " Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ " ("Praise be to You, Jesus Christ"), and many others . Luther and his followers often used their hymns, or chorales, to teach tenets of
8792-435: The common meter in 8.6.8.6: the first line is eight syllables and the second is six. Newton and Cowper attempted to present a poem or hymn for each prayer meeting. The lyrics to "Amazing Grace" were written in late 1772 and probably used in a prayer meeting for the first time on 1 January 1773. A collection of the poems Newton and Cowper had written for use in services at Olney was bound and published anonymously in 1779 under
8949-482: The cymbals and the triangle only. The Indian Orthodox (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church) use the organ . The Tewahedo Churches use drums , cymbals and other instruments on certain occasions. Thomas Aquinas , in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: " Hymnus est laus Dei cum cantico; canticum autem exultatio mentis de aeternis habita, prorumpens in vocem ." ("A hymn
9106-509: The deontological ethics of moral obligation. From there it was taken up by Adam Smith , who elaborated a theory of moral judgement with some restricted emotional input, and a complex apparatus taking context into account. Joseph Butler adopted the system, but not ruling out the place of " moral reason ", a rationalist version of the affective moral sense. Samuel Johnson , the American educator, did not accept Shaftesbury's moral sense as
9263-440: The incipits (first line of the lyrics), or the name of the tune such as "New Britain". Publisher Edwin Othello Excell gave the version of "Amazing Grace" set to "New Britain" immense popularity by publishing it in a series of hymnals that were used in urban churches. Excell altered some of Walker's music, making it more contemporary and European, giving "New Britain" some distance from its rural folk-music origins. Excell's version
9420-537: The "inward form" concept, key for education in the approach of German classical philosophy . Later philosophical writers in German ( Gideon Spicker with Die Philosophie des Grafen von Shaftesbury , 1872, and Georg von Gizycki with Die Philosophie Shaftesbury's , 1876) returned to Shaftesbury in books. At the beginning of the 18th century, Shaftesbury built a folly on the Shaftesbury Estate, known as
9577-458: The 1712 edition of Characteristicks , the modern scholarly consensus is that the uses of his views on it as a "test of truth" were a stretch. According to Alfred Owen Aldridge , the "test of truth" phrase is not to be found in Characteristicks ; it was imposed on the Augustan debate by George Berkeley . The influence of Shaftesbury, and in particular The Moralists , on An Essay on Man ,
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#17327902360789734-558: The 1860s musical reformers like Lowell Mason (the so-called "better music boys") were actively campaigning for the introduction of more "refined" and modern singing styles, and eventually these American tune books were replaced in many churches, starting in the Northeast and urban areas, and spreading out into the countryside as people adopted the gentler, more soothing tones of Victorian hymnody, and even adopted dedicated, trained choirs to do their church's singing, rather than having
9891-547: The 18th century, including Isaac Watts – whose hymns Newton had grown up hearing – and Charles Wesley , with whom Newton was familiar. Wesley's brother John , the eventual founder of the Methodist Church, had encouraged Newton to go into the clergy. Watts was a pioneer in English hymn writing, basing his work after the Psalms . The most prevalent hymns by Watts and others were written in
10048-412: The 1950s and 1960s, she often sang it at public events such as concerts at Carnegie Hall . Author James Basker states that the song has been employed by African Americans as the "paradigmatic Negro spiritual" because it expresses the joy felt at being delivered from slavery and worldly miseries. Anthony Heilbut, author of The Gospel Sound , states that the "dangers, toils, and snares" of Newton's words are
10205-611: The 19th century witnessed an explosion of hymn tune composition and congregational four-part singing in Wales . Along with the more classical sacred music of composers ranging from Charpentier (19 Hymns, H.53 - H.71) to Mozart to Monteverdi , the Catholic Church continued to produce many popular hymns such as Lead, Kindly Light , Silent Night , O Sacrament Most Holy, and Faith of Our Fathers . In some radical Protestant movements, their own sacred hymns completely replaced
10362-482: The 20th century. How industrious is Satan served. I was formerly one of his active undertemptors and had my influence been equal to my wishes I would have carried all the human race with me. A common drunkard or profligate is a petty sinner to what I was. John Newton, 1778 According to the Dictionary of American Hymnology , "Amazing Grace" is John Newton 's spiritual autobiography in verse. In 1725, Newton
10519-721: The Biblical Book of Psalms . The Western tradition of hymnody begins with the Homeric Hymns , a collection of ancient Greek hymns, the oldest of which were written in the 7th century BC, praising deities of the ancient Greek religions . Surviving from the 3rd century BC is a collection of six literary hymns ( Ὕμνοι ) by the Alexandrian poet Callimachus . The Orphic Hymns are a collection of 87 short poems in Greek religion. Patristic writers began applying
10676-477: The Christian tapestry in the United States. The greatest influences in the 19th century that propelled "Amazing Grace" to spread across the US and become a staple of religious services in many denominations and regions were the Second Great Awakening and the development of shape note singing communities. A tremendous religious movement swept the US in the early 19th century, marked by the growth and popularity of churches and religious revivals that got their start on
10833-453: The Church in her triumphal march". Most of the tunes had been previously published, but "Gallaher" and "St. Mary" had not. As neither tune is attributed and both show elements of oral transmission, scholars can only speculate that they are possibly of British origin. A manuscript from 1828 by Lucius Chapin , a famous hymn writer of that time, contains a tune very close to "St. Mary", but that does not mean that he wrote it. "Amazing Grace", with
10990-430: The English tradition, this appeal to a moral sense was innovative. Primarily emotional and non-reflective, it becomes rationalised by education and use. Corollaries are that morality stands apart from theology, and the moral qualities of actions are determined apart from the will of God ; and that the moralist is not concerned to solve the problems of free will and determinism . Shaftesbury in this way opposed also what
11147-680: The Feast of All Saints , or during particular seasons such as Advent and Lent . Others are used to encourage reverence for the Bible or to celebrate Christian practices such as the eucharist or baptism . Some hymns praise or address individual saints , particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary ; such hymns are particularly prevalent in Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy and to some extent High Church Anglicanism . A writer of hymns
11304-635: The Netherlands in the late 1690s, he got to know Locke's contact Benjamin Furly . Through Furly he had introductions to become acquainted with Pierre Bayle , Jean Leclerc and Philipp van Limborch . Bayle introduced him to Pierre Des Maizeaux . Letters from Shaftesbury to Benjamin Furly, his two sons, and his clerk Harry Wilkinson, were included in a volume entitled Original Letters of Locke, Sidney and Shaftesbury , published by Thomas Ignatius Maria Forster (1830, and in enlarged form, 1847). Shaftesbury
11461-602: The New Testament, Saint Paul wrote to the Ephesian and Colossian churches, enjoining the singing of psalms and hymns for "mutual encouragement and edification." This was demonstrated when he joined Silas in singing hymns in the Phillipian jail, even during unfortunate circumstances. Psalms 30:4 and Revelation 14:3 , among other Scriptural verses, encourage Christians to sing hymns to praise God. As such, since
11618-690: The Philosopher's Tower. It sits in a field, visible from the B3078 just south of Cranborne . In the Shaftesbury papers that went to the Public Record Office are several memoranda, letters, rough drafts, etc. A portrait of the 3rd Earl is displayed in Shaftesbury Town Hall . Shaftesbury married in 1709 Jane Ewer, the daughter of Thomas Ewer of Bushey Hall , Hertfordshire . On 9 February 1711, their only child Anthony,
11775-460: The Pines ", "Pisgah", "Primrose", and "Evan", as all are able to be sung in common meter, of which the majority of their repertoire consists. In the late 19th century, Newton's verses were sung to a tune named "Arlington" as frequently as to "New Britain" for a time. Two musical arrangers named Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey heralded another religious revival in the cities of the US and Europe, giving
11932-476: The Royal Navy, and he took advantage of opportunities to overstay his leave. He deserted the navy to visit Mary "Polly" Catlett, a family friend with whom he had fallen in love. After enduring humiliation for deserting, he was traded as crew to a slave ship. He began a career in slave trading. Newton often openly mocked the captain by creating obscene poems and songs about him, which became so popular that
12089-465: The United States, "Amazing Grace" became a popular song used by Baptist and Methodist preachers as part of their evangelizing , especially in the American South , during the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies. In 1835, American composer William Walker set it to the tune known as " New Britain " in a shape note format; this
12246-433: The United States, and one or more of the above-mentioned tunebooks could be found in almost every household. It is not uncommon to hear accounts of young people and teenagers gathering together to spend an afternoon singing hymns and anthems from tune books, which was considered great fun, and there are surviving accounts of Abraham Lincoln and his sweetheart singing together from the Missouri Harmony during his youth. By
12403-645: The absence of instruments in worship by the church in the first several centuries of its existence, and adhere to an unaccompanied a cappella congregational singing of hymns. These groups include the 'Brethren' (often both 'Open' and 'Exclusive'), the Churches of Christ , Mennonites , several Anabaptist-based denominations—such as the Apostolic Christian Church of America — Primitive Baptists , and certain Reformed churches, although during
12560-473: The age of three Ashley-Cooper was made over to the formal guardianship of his grandfather Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury . John Locke , as medical attendant to the Ashley household, was entrusted with the supervision of his education. It was conducted according to the principles of Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), and the method of teaching Latin and Greek conversationally
12717-533: The author was stepping out into the open and making a bold declaration, but a corresponding fall when admitting his blindness." Walker's collection was enormously popular, selling about 600,000 copies all over the US when the total population was just over 20 million. Another shape note tunebook named The Sacred Harp (1844) by Georgia residents Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King became widely influential and continues to be used. Another verse
12874-574: The basis for many of the lyrics of "Amazing Grace". The first verse, for example, can be traced to the story of the Prodigal Son . In the Gospel of Luke the father says, "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found". The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John . Newton used the words "I was blind but now I see" and declared "Oh to grace how great
13031-421: The beginning of the year was a time to reflect on one's spiritual progress. At the same time he completed a diary – which has since been lost – that he had begun 17 years before, two years after he quit sailing. The last entry of 1772 was a recounting of how much he had changed since then. And David the king came and sat before the L ORD , and said, Who am I, O L ORD God, and what
13188-569: The candidates I believed in. The war was still raging. There was nothing left to do, I thought ... but sing 'Amazing Grace'." Gradually and unexpectedly, the song began to be played on the radio, and then be requested. It rose to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 , remaining on the charts for 15 weeks, as if, she wrote, her fans had been "waiting to embrace it". In the UK, it charted 8 times between 1970 and 1972, peaking at number 5 and spending
13345-543: The captain had ever heard, but creating new ones to exceed the limits of verbal debauchery. In March 1748, while the Greyhound was in the North Atlantic, a violent storm came upon the ship that was so rough it swept overboard a crew member who was standing where Newton had been moments before. After hours of the crew emptying water from the ship and expecting to be capsized, Newton and another mate tied themselves to
13502-465: The chanting ( bhajan and kirtan ) of the devotional songs of the poet- sants ( Basava , Chandidas , Dadu Dayal , Haridas , Hith Harivansh , Kabir , Meera Bai , Namdev , Nanak , Ramprasad Sen , Ravidas , Sankardev , Surdas , Vidyapati ) in local languages in a number of groups, namely Dadu panth, Kabir panth , Lingayatism , Radha-vallabha , Sikhism , completely or significantly replaced all previous Sanskrit literature . The same and with
13659-487: The civil rights demonstrators. According to fellow folk singer Joan Baez , it was one of the most requested songs from her audiences, but she never realised its origin as a hymn; by the time she was singing it in the 1960s she said it had "developed a life of its own". It even made an appearance at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969 during Arlo Guthrie 's performance. Collins decided to record it in
13816-465: The coasts of Africa, now as a captain, and procured slaves being offered for sale in larger ports, transporting them to North America. In between voyages, he married Polly in 1750, and he found it more difficult to leave her at the beginning of each trip. After three shipping voyages in the slave trade, Newton was promised a position as ship's captain with cargo unrelated to slavery. But at the age of thirty, he collapsed and never sailed again. Working as
13973-448: The continuance [...] of it too long, is able to bring irrecoverable ruin and misery". This version of a golden mean doctrine that goes back to Aristotle was savaged by Mandeville, who slurred it as associated with a sheltered and comfortable life, Catholic asceticism , and modern sentimental rusticity. On the other hand, Jonathan Edwards adopted Shaftesbury's view that "all excellency is harmony, symmetry or proportion". On man as
14130-593: The crew began to join in. His disagreements with several colleagues resulted in his being starved almost to death, imprisoned while at sea, and chained like the slaves they carried. He was himself enslaved by the Sherbro and forced to work on a plantation in Sierra Leone near the Sherbro River . After several months he came to think of Sierra Leone as his home, but his father intervened after Newton sent him
14287-444: The daily trials of life is warranted when the glories of eternity await. Newton saw himself a sinner like David who had been chosen, perhaps undeservedly, and was humbled by it. According to Newton, unconverted sinners were "blinded by the god of this world" until "mercy came to us not only undeserved but undesired ... our hearts endeavored to shut him out till he overcame us by the power of his grace." The New Testament served as
14444-493: The earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship. Non-scriptural hymns (i.e. not psalms or canticles) from the Early Church still sung today include ' Phos Hilaron ', ' Sub tuum praesidium ', and ' Te Deum '. One definition of a hymn is "...a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung and which expresses
14601-464: The entire congregation participate. But in many rural areas the old traditions lived on, not in churches, but in weekly, monthly or annual conventions were people would meet to sing from their favorite tunebooks. The most popular one, and the only one that survived continuously in print, was the Sacred Harp , which could be found in the typical rural Southern home right up until the living tradition
14758-431: The entire gathering. Some groups sang outdoors, on benches set up in a square. Preachers used shape note music to teach hymns to people on the frontier and to raise the emotion of camp meetings. Most of the music was Christian, but the purpose of communal singing was not primarily spiritual. Communities either could not afford instruments for accompaniment, or rejected their use due to a Calvinistic sense of simplicity, so
14915-658: The faith to worshipers. The first Protestant hymnal was published in Bohemia in 1532 by the Unitas Fratrum . Count Zinzendorf , the Lutheran leader of the Moravian Church in the 18th century wrote some 2,000 hymns. The earlier English writers tended to paraphrase biblical texts, particularly Psalms ; Isaac Watts followed this tradition, but is also credited as having written the first English hymn which
15072-558: The first hymns in the black church were renderings of Isaac Watts hymns written in the African-American vernacular English of the time. The meter indicates the number of syllables for the lines in each stanza of a hymn. This provides a means of marrying the hymn's text with an appropriate hymn tune for singing. In practice many hymns conform to one of a relatively small number of meters (syllable count and stress patterns). Care must be taken, however, to ensure that not only
15229-498: The frontier in Kentucky and Tennessee. Unprecedented gatherings of thousands of people attended camp meetings where they came to experience salvation; preaching was fiery and focused on saving the sinner from temptation and backsliding. Religion was stripped of ornament and ceremony, and made as plain and simple as possible; sermons and songs often used repetition to get across to a rural population of poor and mostly uneducated people
15386-476: The gospel-song genre is unknown in the worship per se by Eastern Orthodox churches, which rely exclusively on traditional chants (a type of hymn). The Methodist Revival of the 18th century created an explosion of hymn-writing in Welsh , which continued into the first half of the 19th century. The most prominent names among Welsh hymn-writers are William Williams Pantycelyn and Ann Griffiths . The second half of
15543-766: The holy scripture of the Sikhs, regarded as the teachings of the Ten Gurus. The role of Guru Granth Sahib, as a source or guide of prayer, is pivotal in Sikh worship. Sutra chanting is a religious action recommended for Shin Buddhist followers to carry out in their daily lives. Temple service chanting may include: dedications to the Three Treasures ( Buddha , Dharma , Sangha ) common to all Buddhist traditions; selections from The Three Pure Land Sutras , which record
15700-524: The hymnals without printed music, some include names of hymn tunes suggested for use with each text, in case readers already know the tunes or would like to find them elsewhere. A student of hymnody is called a hymnologist , and the scholarly study of hymns, hymnists and hymnody is hymnology . The music to which a hymn may be sung is a hymn tune . In many Evangelical churches, traditional songs are classified as hymns while more contemporary worship songs are not considered hymns. The reason for this distinction
15857-528: The intervals of the major scale: fa-sol-la-fa-sol-la-mi-fa. Each syllable was associated with a specifically shaped note, and thus the use of books printed in this format became known as shape note singing. The method was simple to learn and teach, and schools were established throughout the South and West. Communities would come together for an entire day of singing in a large building where they sat in four distinct areas surrounding an open space, one member directing
16014-835: The last century or so, several of these, such as the Free Church of Scotland have abandoned this stance. Eastern Christianity (the Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches) has a variety of ancient hymnographical traditions. In the Byzantine Rite , chant is used for all forms of liturgical worship: if it is not sung a cappella , the only accompaniment is usually an ison , or drone . Organs and other instruments were excluded from church use, although they were employed in imperial ceremonies. However, instruments are common in some other Oriental traditions. The Coptic tradition makes use of
16171-402: The late 1960s amid an atmosphere of counterculture introspection; she was part of an encounter group that ended a contentious meeting by singing "Amazing Grace" as it was the only song to which all the members knew the words. Her producer was present and suggested she include a version of it on her 1970 album Whales & Nightingales . Collins, who had a history of alcohol abuse, claimed that
16328-585: The late 19th century Ira D. Sankey and Dwight L. Moody developed the relatively new subcategory of gospel hymns . Earlier in the 19th century, the use of musical notation, especially shape notes , exploded in America, and professional singing masters went from town to town teaching the population how to sing from sight , instead of the more common lining out that had been used before that. During this period hundreds of tune books were published, including B.F. White's Sacred Harp , and earlier works like
16485-402: The leading Epicureans of his time (in unpublished writings). Shaftesbury examined man first as a unit in himself, and secondly socially. His major principle was harmony or balance, rather than rationalism . In man, he wrote, "Whoever is in the least versed in this moral kind of architecture will find the inward fabric so adjusted, [...] that the barely extending of a single passion too far or
16642-502: The magic worked outside the church walls ... in the open air of Mississippi. But I wasn't taking any chances." Folk singer Judy Collins , who knew the song before she could remember learning it, witnessed Fannie Lou Hamer leading marchers in Mississippi in 1964 , singing "Amazing Grace". Collins also considered it a talisman of sorts, and saw its equal emotional impact on the marchers, witnesses, and law enforcement who opposed
16799-413: The metre of words and tune match, but also the stresses on the words in each line. Technically speaking an iambic tune, for instance, cannot be used with words of, say, trochaic metre. The meter is often denoted by a row of figures besides the name of the tune, such as "87.87.87", which would inform the reader that each verse has six lines, and that the first line has eight syllables, the second has seven,
16956-510: The most serious test of American cohesion in the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). "Amazing Grace", set to "New Britain", was included in two hymnals distributed to soldiers. With death so real and imminent, religious services in the military became commonplace. The hymn was translated into other languages as well: while on the Trail of Tears , the Cherokee sang Christian hymns as a way of coping with
17113-453: The necessity of turning away from sin. Witnessing and testifying became an integral component to these meetings, where a congregation member or stranger would rise and recount his turn from a sinful life to one of piety and peace. "Amazing Grace" was one of many hymns that punctuated fervent sermons, although the contemporary style used a refrain, borrowed from other hymns, that employed simplicity and repetition such as: Amazing grace! How sweet
17270-805: The oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Ancient Eastern hymns include the Egyptian Great Hymn to the Aten , composed by Pharaoh Akhenaten ; the Hurrian Hymn to Nikkal ; the Rigveda , an Indian collection of Vedic hymns; hymns from the Classic of Poetry ( Shijing ), a collection of Chinese poems from 11th to 7th centuries BC; the Gathas —Avestan hymns believed to have been composed by Zoroaster ; and
17427-488: The ongoing tragedy, and a version of the song by Samuel Worcester that had been translated into the Cherokee language became very popular. Although "Amazing Grace" set to "New Britain" was popular, other versions existed regionally. Primitive Baptists in the Appalachian region often used "New Britain" with other hymns, and sometimes sing the words of "Amazing Grace" to other folk songs, including titles such as " In
17584-476: The prophet Nathan telling him that God intends to maintain his family line forever. Some Christians interpret this as a prediction that Jesus Christ, as a descendant of David, was promised by God as the salvation for all people. Newton's sermon on that January day in 1773 focused on the necessity to express one's gratitude for God's guidance, that God is involved in the daily lives of Christians though they may not be aware of it, and that patience for deliverance from
17741-485: The publishing of Christian hymnals were prolific in the 19th-century and were often linked to the abolitionist movement by many hymn writers. Stephen Foster wrote a number of hymns that were used during church services during this era of publishing. Thomas Symmes, a clergyman of the third generation of Puritans in New England, spread throughout churches a new idea of how to sing hymns, in which anyone could sing
17898-550: The qualities of God and why one should meditate on God's name. The Guru Granth Sahib is divided by their musical setting in different ragas into fourteen hundred and thirty pages known as Angs (limbs) in Sikh tradition. Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth guru, after adding Guru Tegh Bahadur 's bani to the Adi Granth affirmed the sacred text as his successor, elevating it to Guru Granth Sahib . The text remains
18055-583: The receiving of communion, during the recessional , and sometimes at other points during the service. The Doxology is also sung after the tithes and offerings are brought up to the altar. Contemporary Christian worship , as often found in Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism , may include the use of contemporary worship music played with electric guitars and the drum kit , sharing many elements with rock music . Other groups of Christians have historically excluded instrumental accompaniment, citing
18212-479: The relationship cooled. Toland edited 14 letters from Shaftesbury to Robert Molesworth , published in Toland in 1721. Molesworth had been a good friend from the 1690s. Other friends among English Whigs were Charles Davenant , Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun , Walter Moyle , William Stephens and John Trenchard . From Locke's circle in England, Shaftesbury knew Edward Clarke , Damaris Masham and Walter Yonge . In
18369-537: The same hymn (e.g., the hymn "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God"), the meter is called Irregular. The Rigveda is the earliest and foundational Indian collection of over a thousand liturgical hymns in Vedic Sanskrit . Between other notable Hindu hymns ( stotras and others) or their collections there are: A hymnody acquired tremendous importance during the medieval era of the bhakti movements . When
18526-536: The ship's pump to keep from being washed overboard, working for several hours. After proposing the measure to the captain, Newton had turned and said, "If this will not do, then Lord have mercy upon us!" Newton rested briefly before returning to the deck to steer for the next eleven hours. During his time at the wheel, he pondered his divine challenge. About two weeks later, the battered ship and starving crew landed in Lough Swilly , Ireland. For several weeks before
18683-745: The slave trade in the British Empire, culminating in the Slave Trade Act 1807 . But Newton did not become an ardent and outspoken abolitionist until after he left Olney in the 1780s; he is not known to have connected writing the hymn known as "Amazing Grace" to anti-slavery sentiments. The lyrics in Olney Hymns were arranged by their association to the Biblical verses that would be used by Newton and Cowper in their prayer meetings, and did not address any political objective. For Newton,
18840-428: The song international exposure. Moody's preaching and Sankey's musical gifts were significant; their arrangements were the forerunners of gospel music , and churches all over the US were eager to acquire them. Moody and Sankey began publishing their compositions in 1875, and "Amazing Grace" appeared three times with three different melodies, but they were the first to give it its title; hymns were typically published using
18997-810: The song to remember their grandparents, traditions, and family roots. It was recorded with musical accompaniment for the first time in 1930 by Fiddlin' John Carson , although to another folk hymn named "At the Cross", not to "New Britain". "Amazing Grace" is emblematic of several kinds of folk music styles, often used as the standard example to illustrate such musical techniques as lining out and call and response , that have been practised in both black and white folk music. Those songs come out of conviction and suffering. The worst voices can get through singing them 'cause they're telling their experiences. Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson 's 1947 version received significant radio airplay, and as her popularity grew throughout
19154-603: The song was able to "pull her through" to recovery. It was recorded in St. Paul's , the chapel at Columbia University , chosen for the acoustics. She chose an a cappella arrangement that was close to Edwin Othello Excell's, accompanied by a chorus of amateur singers who were friends of hers. Collins connected it to the Vietnam War, to which she objected: "I didn't know what else to do about the war in Vietnam. I had marched, I had voted, I had gone to jail on political actions and worked for
19311-517: The songs of Baul movement. That is, the new hymns themselves received the status of holy scripture. An example of a hymnist, both lyricist and composer is the 15th–16th centuries Assamese reformer guru Sankardev with his borgeet -songs. The Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib ( Punjabi : ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ Punjabi pronunciation: [ɡʊɾu ɡɾəntʰ sɑhɪb] ), is a collection of hymns ( Shabad ) or Gurbani describing
19468-560: The songs were sung a cappella . When originally used in Olney, it is unknown what music, if any, accompanied the verses written by John Newton. Contemporary hymnbooks did not contain music and were simply small books of religious poetry. The first known instance of Newton's lines joined to music was in A Companion to the Countess of Huntingdon's Hymns (London, 1808), where it is set to the tune "Hephzibah" by English composer John Jenkins Husband . Common meter hymns were interchangeable with
19625-443: The sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind but now I see. Shout, shout for glory, Shout, shout aloud for glory; Brother, sister, mourner, All shout glory hallelujah. Simultaneously, an unrelated movement of communal singing was established throughout the South and Western states. A format of teaching music to illiterate people appeared in 1800. It used four syllables to distinguish
19782-461: The storm, Newton had been reading The Christian's Pattern , a summary of the 15th-century The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis . The memory of his own "Lord have mercy upon us!" uttered during a moment of desperation in the storm did not leave him; he began to ask if he was worthy of God's mercy or in any way redeemable. Not only had he neglected his faith but directly opposed it, mocking others who showed theirs, deriding and denouncing God as
19939-629: The teachings of the Buddha; compositions of Pure Land Buddhist teachers such as Nagarjuna and Shandao . Stotras are Sanskrit hymns or eulogies sung in praise of the divine and the transcendent. Usually associated with the Hindu and Jain traditions, stotras are melodic expressions of devotion and inspiration found in other Sanskrit religious movements as well. Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (26 February 1671 – 16 February 1713)
20096-623: The term ὕμνος , or hymnus in Latin , to Christian songs of praise, and frequently used the word as a synonym for " psalm ". Originally modelled on the Book of Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as " canticles ") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise to the Christian God . Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly. In
20253-457: The themes of assurance and deliverance from despair for Cowper's benefit. More than 60 of Newton and Cowper's hymns were republished in other British hymnals and magazines, but "Amazing Grace" was not, appearing only once in a 1780 hymnal sponsored by the Countess of Huntingdon . Scholar John Julian commented in his 1892 A Dictionary of Hymnology that outside of the United States, the song
20410-459: The third line eight, etc. The meter can also be described by initials; L.M. indicates long meter, which is 88.88 (four lines, each eight syllables long); S.M. is short meter (66.86); C.M. is common metre (86.86), while D.L.M., D.S.M. and D.C.M. (the "D" stands for double) are similar to their respective single meters except that they have eight lines in a verse instead of four. Also, if the number of syllables in one verse differ from another verse in
20567-574: The title Olney Hymns . Newton contributed 280 of the 348 texts in Olney Hymns ; "1 Chronicles 17:16–17, Faith's Review and Expectation" was the title of the poem with the first line "Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)". The general impact of Olney Hymns was immediate and it became a widely popular tool for evangelicals in Britain for many years. Scholars appreciated Cowper's poetry somewhat more than Newton's plaintive and plain language, expressing his forceful personality. The most prevalent themes in
20724-478: The use of this perspective. Several of Newton's hymns were recognised as great work ("Amazing Grace" was not among them), while others seem to have been included to fill in when Cowper was unable to write. Jonathan Aitken calls Newton, specifically referring to "Amazing Grace", an "unashamedly middlebrow lyricist writing for a lowbrow congregation", noting that only twenty-one of the nearly 150 words used in all six verses have more than one syllable. William Phipps in
20881-438: The veil, A life of joy and peace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who call'd me here below, Will be forever mine. John Newton, Olney Hymns , 1779 Olney was a village of about 2,500 residents whose main industry was making lace by hand. The people were mostly illiterate and many of them were poor. Newton's preaching
21038-580: The verses written by Newton in Olney Hymns are faith in salvation, wonder at God's grace , his love for Jesus, and his cheerful exclamations of the joy he found in his faith. As a reflection of Newton's connection to his parishioners, he wrote many of the hymns in first person , admitting his own experience with sin. Bruce Hindmarsh in Sing Them Over Again To Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America considers "Amazing Grace" an excellent example of Newton's testimonial style afforded by
21195-476: The words written by Newton and joined with "New Britain", the melody most currently associated with it, appeared for the first time in Walker's shape note tunebook Southern Harmony in 1847. It was, according to author Steve Turner, a "marriage made in heaven ... The music behind 'amazing' had a sense of awe to it. The music behind 'grace' sounded graceful. There was a rise at the point of confession, as though
21352-420: The worshipper's attitude toward God or God's purposes in human life. It should be simple and metrical in form, genuinely emotional, poetic and literary in style, spiritual in quality, and in its ideas so direct and so immediately apparent as to unify a congregation while singing it." Christian hymns are often written with special or seasonal themes and these are used on holy days such as Christmas , Easter and
21509-586: The written Bible. An example of this, the Book of Life (Russian: "Zhivotnaya kniga") is the name of all oral hymns of the Doukhobors , the Russian denomination, similar to western Quakers . The Book of Life of the Doukhobors (1909) is firstly printed hymnal containing songs, which to have been composed as an oral piece to be sung aloud. Many churches today use contemporary worship music which includes
21666-679: Was Lord Proprietor of the English colony of Carolina in North America and the Bahamas during this time. Lord Ashley moved to the Netherlands . Away for over a year, Ashley returned to England, and shortly succeeded his father as Earl of Shaftesbury . He took an active part, on the Whig side in the House of Lords , in the January 1701 English general election , and again, with more success, in
21823-532: Was "re-discovered" by Alan Lomax in the 1960s (although it had been well-documented by musicologist George Pullen Jackson prior to this). Since then there has been a renaissance in "Sacred Harp singing", with annual conventions popping up in all 50 states and in a number of European countries recently, including the UK , Germany , Ireland and Poland , as well as in Australia . African-Americans developed
21980-608: Was a patron of Michael Ainsworth, a young Dorset man of Wimborne St Giles , maintained by Shaftesbury at University College, Oxford . The Letters to a Young Man at the University (1716) were addressed to Ainsworth. Others he supported included Pierre Coste and Paul Crellius . Most of the works for which Shaftesbury is known were completed in the period 1705 to 1710. He collected a number of those and other works in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (first edition 1711, anonymous, 3 vols.). His philosophical work
22137-458: Was an English peer, Whig politician, philosopher and writer. He was born at Exeter House in London, the son and first child of the future Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Earl of Shaftesbury and his wife Lady Dorothy Manners , daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland . Letters sent to his parents reveal emotional manipulation attempted by his mother in refusing to see her son unless he cut off all ties to his sickly and secluded father. At
22294-581: Was born in Wapping , a district in London near the Thames . His father was a shipping merchant who was brought up as a Catholic but had Protestant sympathies, and his mother was a devout Independent, unaffiliated with the Anglican Church . She had intended Newton to become a clergyman, but she died of tuberculosis when he was six years old. For the next few years, while his father was at sea Newton
22451-404: Was claimed in the 18th century by Voltaire (in his philosophical letter "On Pope"), Lord Hervey and Thomas Warton , and supported in recent times, for example by Maynard Mack . Alexander Pope did not mention Shaftesbury explicitly as a source: this omission has been understood in terms of the political divide, Pope being a Tory. Pope references the character Theocles from The Moralists in
22608-502: Was first recorded in Harriet Beecher Stowe 's immensely influential 1852 anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin . Three verses were emblematically sung by Tom in his hour of deepest crisis. He sings the sixth and fifth verses in that order, and Stowe included another verse, not written by Newton, that had been passed down orally in African-American communities for at least 50 years. It was one of between 50 and 70 verses of
22765-778: Was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed into service with the Royal Navy , and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade . In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland , so severely that he called out to God for mercy. While this moment marked his spiritual conversion , he continued slave trading until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether. Newton began studying Christian theology and later became an abolitionist . Ordained in
22922-405: Was intended by its author to evoke the "sympathizing principle" on which the tradition founded by latitudinarians , Cambridge Platonists and Shaftesbury relied. In 1745 Denis Diderot adapted or reproduced the Inquiry concerning Virtue in what was afterwards known as his Essai sur le Mérite et la Vertu . In 1769 a French translation of the whole of Shaftesbury's works, including the Letters ,
23079-425: Was limited to ethics, religion, and aesthetics where he highlighted the concept of the sublime as an aesthetic quality. Basil Willey wrote "[...] his writings, though suave and polished, lack distinction of style [...]". This listing refers to the first edition. The later editions saw changes. The Letter on Design was first published in the edition of the Characteristicks issued in 1732. The opening piece
23236-465: Was more palatable for a growing urban middle class and arranged for larger church choirs. Several editions featuring Newton's first three stanzas and the verse previously included by Harriet Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom's Cabin were published by Excell between 1900 and 1910. His version of "Amazing Grace" became the standard form of the song in American churches. With the advent of recorded music and radio, "Amazing Grace" began to cross over from primarily
23393-443: Was not a direct paraphrase of Scripture. Watts (1674–1748), whose father was an Elder of a dissenter congregation, complained at age 16, that when allowed only psalms to sing, the faithful could not even sing about their Lord, Christ Jesus. His father invited him to see what he could do about it; the result was Watts' first hymn, "Behold the glories of the Lamb". Found in few hymnals today, the hymn has eight stanzas in common metre and
23550-623: Was published at Geneva. Translations of separate treatises into German began to be made in 1738, and in 1776–1779 there appeared a complete German translation of the Characteristicks . Hermann Theodor Hettner stated that not only Leibniz, Voltaire and Diderot, but Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , Moses Mendelssohn , Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann Gottfried von Herder , drew from Shaftesbury. Herder in early work took from Shaftesbury arguments for respecting individuality, and against system and universal psychology. He went on to praise him in Adrastea . Wilhelm von Humboldt found in Shaftesbury
23707-492: Was pursued by his instructress, Elizabeth Birch. At the age of eleven, it is said, Ashley could read both languages with ease. Birch had moved to Clapham and Ashley spent some years there with her. In 1683, after the death of the first Earl, his father sent Lord Ashley, as he now was by courtesy, to Winchester College . Under a Scottish tutor, Daniel Denoune, he began a continental tour with two older companions, Sir John Cropley, 2nd Baronet , and Thomas Sclater Bacon . After
23864-445: Was raised by his emotionally distant stepmother. He was also sent to boarding school, where he was mistreated. At the age of eleven, he joined his father on a ship as an apprentice; his seagoing career would be marked by headstrong disobedience. As a youth, Newton began a pattern of coming very close to death, examining his relationship with God, then relapsing into bad habits. As a sailor, he denounced his faith after being influenced by
24021-571: Was sung in unison, in one of eight church modes , and most often by monastic choirs. While they were written originally in Latin , many have been translated; a familiar example is the 4th century Of the Father's Heart Begotten sung to the 11th century plainsong Divinum Mysterium . Later hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys, and came to be led by organ and choir. It shares many elements with classical music . Today, except for choirs, more musically inclined congregations and
24178-488: Was taken as an entitlement to scoff, and to use ridicule as a "test of truth". Clerical authors operated on the assumption that he was a freethinker . Ezra Stiles , reading Characteristicks in 1748 without realising Shaftesbury had been marked down as a deist , was both impressed and sometimes shocked. Around this time John Leland and Philip Skelton stepped up a campaign against deist influence, tarnishing Shaftesbury's reputation. While Shaftesbury wrote on ridicule in
24335-492: Was the typical way hymns were sung. Noting in his preface the fondness of other compilers for tunes in common measure, Billings promised his subscribers a well-balanced collection, with "a Sufficiency in each measure ". And indeed The Singing Master's Assistant has many tunes whose declamation is based on the dactyl in duple time . Boston's Handel and Haydn Society aimed at raising the level of church music in America, publishing their "Collection of Church Music" in 1822. In
24492-415: Was unique in that he shared many of his own experiences from the pulpit; many clergy preached from a distance, not admitting any intimacy with temptation or sin. He was involved in his parishioners' lives and was much loved, although his writing and delivery were sometimes unpolished. But his devotion and conviction were apparent and forceful, and he often said his mission was to "break a hard heart and to heal
24649-399: Was unknown and it was "far from being a good example of Newton's finest work". Between 1789 and 1799, four variations of Newton's hymn were published in the US in Baptist , Dutch Reformed , and Congregationalist hymnodies; by 1830 Presbyterians and Methodists also included Newton's verses in their hymnals. Although it had its roots in England, "Amazing Grace" became an integral part of
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