Zitate von John Newton
John Newton
Geburtstag: 24. Juli 1725
Todesdatum: 21. Dezember 1807
Andere Namen: جون نيوتن, জন নিউটন
John Henry Newton, Jr. war ein englischer Verfasser geistlicher Lieder. Vorher war er Sklavenhändler gewesen, hatte aber 1748 ein Bekehrungserlebnis und sprach sich danach gegen die Sklaverei aus. Als Priester gründete er die Gemeinschaft der Clapham Saints, eine christliche Gruppe politisch einflussreicher Anglikaner um William Wilberforce, die einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf die Abschaffung der Sklaverei im Vereinigten Königreich hatte.
Zitate John Newton
„I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, "By the grace of God I am what I am."“
As quoted in The Christian Pioneer (1856) edited by Joseph Foulkes Winks, p. 84. Also in The Christian Spectator, vol. 3 (1821), p. 186 http://books.google.com/books?id=mv4oAAAAYAAJ&dq=ah%2C%20how%20imperfect%20and%20deficient!%20I%20am%20not%20what%20I%20wish%20to%20be&pg=PA186#v=onepage&q=ah,%20how%20imperfect%20and%20deficient!%20I%20am%20not%20what%20I%20wish%20to%20be&f=false
Often paraphrased as I am not the man I ought to be, I am not the man I wish to be, and I am not the man I hope to be, but by the grace of God, I am not the man I used to be."'
„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.“
Variante: Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
Quelle: Olney Hymns (1779), Amazing Grace
„Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring, for His grace and power are such none can ever ask too much.“
Variante: Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring,
for His grace and pow'r are such
none can ever ask too much.
„There is many a thing which the world calls disappointment; but there is no such thing in the dictionary of faith. What to others are disappointments are to believers intimations of the will of God.“
Quelle: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 281.
„I should be inexcusable, considering the share I have formerly had in that unhappy business, if, upon this occasion, I should omit to mention the African slave-trade. I do not rank this amongst our national sins, because I hope, and believe, a very great majority of the nation earnestly long for its suppression. But, hitherto, petty and partial interest prevail against the voice of justice, humanity and truth. This enormity, however, is not sufficiently laid to heart. If you are justly shocked by what you hear of the cruelties practised in France, you would, perhaps, be shocked much more, if you could fully conceive of the evils and miseries inseparable from this traffic, which I apprehend, not from hearsay, but from my own observation, are equal in atrocity, and, perhaps superior in number, in the course of a single year, to any or all the worst actions which have been known in France since the commencement of their revolution. There is a cry of blood against us; a cry accumulated by the accession of fresh victims, of thousands, of scores of thousands, I had almost said of hundreds of thousands, from year to year.“
As quoted in The Works of the Rev. John Newton... to which are Prefixed Memoirs of His Life (1839), Vol. 2, U. Hunt, pages 429-230.
„Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.“
— John Newton, Olney Hymns
Olney Hymns (1779), Amazing Grace
„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!“
— John Newton, Olney Hymns
Olney Hymns (1779), Amazing Grace
„Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew;
Let me live a life of faith,
Let me die Thy people's death.“
Quelle: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 266.
„Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame,
The fire of love supplies;
While that which often bears the name,
Is self in a disguise. True zeal is merciful and mild,
Can pity and forbear;
The false is headstrong, fierce and wild,
And breathes revenge and war.“
— John Newton, Olney Hymns
Hymn 70: True and False Zeal
Olney Hymns (1779)
„I look upon prayer-meetings as the most profitable exercises (excepting the public preaching) in which Christians can engage. They have a direct tendency to kill a worldly, trifling spirit, and to draw down a Divine blessing upon all our concerns, compose differences, and enkindle (at least maintain) the flames of Divine love amongst brethren.“
Quelle: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 475.
