John Newton was a British sailor who once worked on slave ships but later turned his life around. After surviving a violent storm at sea, he felt a deep change in his heart. He left the slave trade, ...

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 ...

Many people think they know the story of the hymn,"Amazing Grace." The commonly accepted narrative presents its composer, John Newton, a young English captain of a late 18th-century slave ship, as a ...

President Barack Obama sings "Amazing Grace" as he delivers the eulogy for South Carolina state senator and Rev. Clementa Pinckney during Pinckney's funeral service June 26, 2015 in Charleston, S.C.

Amazing Grace might be the ultimate song of redemption, steeped in two centuries of black history, but its writer had also been a slave ship captain. There is no shortage of versions of Amazing Grace.

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. “Amazing Grace” is touching and beautiful, an apparent hymn of emancipation woven into the fabric of African-American ...