Amazing Grace was written by a man who spent his early years as a captain of a slave ship. After his conversion, he served as the minister of a church for 44 years before his death at the age of 83. Here’s what he had inscribed on his tomb stone:
"John Newton, … once an Infidel and Libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich Mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy."