Bible Books: How Sweet the Sound

I’ve always been a sucker for a good, old-fashioned tale of redemption. Perhaps that’s why the story of the 18th-century British clergyman John Newton appeals to me so much. The son of a prosperous British merchant and sea captain, Newton had what some people might refer to as a troubled youth. By the time he reached his early 20s, he’d been fired from numerous jobs, kicked out of the British navy for insubordination (twice) and taken up the unsavory life of a slave trader. He seemed particularly suited to this last profession, since it gave him plenty of time […]