Life of John Newton (Josiah Bull)

The Life of John Newton

This is the moving story of God’s redeeming and restoring grace to one who wrote the following epitaph for himself:

John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.

The cruel slave trader became a tender shepherd of souls and a compassionate counselor!  Formerly published under the title But Now I See, this biography contains much valuable first-hand material from Newton himself. Lengthy materials and quotes from Newton’s own Diary and Letters are included. His pre-conversion days, his call to the Christian ministry, and his time at Olney and St. Mary Woolnoth are all covered.

The Life of John Newton is no dry record of the past. Besides being a worthy memorial to the life and work of John Newton, this biography will also encourage those who love the gospel to consecrate themselves to the Master’s service as Newton did.

About the Author

The author of The Life of John Newton and the editor of Newton’s Letters, Josiah Bull was, from 1833, co-pastor (with his father, Rev. J. P. Bull) of the Independent Church in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. The notice of his ordination in the Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle for that year notes:

a circumstance that added peculiar interest to the services of the day was, that this was the third generation of the same family who had sustained the pastoral relation to this church. Seventy years ago the grandfather, the well-known Rev. W. Bull, was ordained. Thirty-three years since the present Mr. Bull, Sen., was ordained co-pastor with his father, who now has the happiness of seeing his son associated with him in the work of the Lord.

Josiah Bull also compiled Memorials of the Rev. William Bull [the said grandfather] of Newport Pagnel compiled chiefly from his own letters, and those of his friends, Newton, Cowper, and Thornton (1738-1814), and published by Nisbet in 1864.