T o L i V e I s c h r I s t

 

Foreword 

17

heavy and sorrowful,” is that the eyes of our hearts—the eyes of faith—

do not see that “we have in him grounds of continual joy.”

 5

 “The great-

est happiness we are capable of,” Newton says, is our communion with 

Christ.

 6

 “Hungering and thirsting for Christ is the central daily Christian 

discipline”—to see him clearly and to depend “on him for hourly supplies 

of wisdom, strength, and comfort.”

 7

Newton was the tender, “least pushy” of the eighteenth-century giants 

because this was his experience—a tender, nearby Jesus. “Jesus is always 

near, about our path by day, and our bed by night; nearer than the light by 

which we see, or the air we breathe; nearer than we are to ourselves; so that 

not a thought, a sigh, or a tear, escapes his notice.”

 8

But Newton does not sink into individualistic sentimentalism. Jesus 

is too great for that.

His treasury of life and salvation is inexhaustible . . . like the sun, 

which having cheered the successive generations of mankind with his 

beams, still shines with undiminished luster, is still the fountain of 

light, and has always a sufficiency to fill innumerable millions of eyes 

in the same instant.

 9

This is what we long for in our day—a great awakening in which the 

glory of Christ fills innumerable millions of eyes. Newton was the fruit of 

one of those awakenings. Perhaps God may be pleased to make him a bridge 

from that one to the one we need.

If he blesses this book that way, it will be because of Newton’s—and 

Tony’s—relentless focus on the sweetness and the greatness of Christ as 

the Savior and Satisfier of our souls. Over this book flies the banner of John 

Newton: “None but Jesus.” I join Tony in praying that the readers will be 

many, and the testimony of each will be Newton’s own:

Then let me boast with holy Paul,

That I am nothing, Christ is all.

 10

John Piper

5

 W, 2:578.

6

 W, 2:213.

7

 W, 1:33.

8

 Letters (Taylor), 187. 

9

 W, 4:78.

10

 W, 3:450.

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19

A BBRE V I AT IONS

Aitken

Aitken, Jonathan. John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing 

Grace. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007.

Bull, Life

Bull, Josiah. The Life of John Newton. 1868. Edinburgh: 

Banner of Truth, 2007.

Eclectic

Pratt, Josiah, ed. Eclectic Notes: Or Notes of Discussions 

on Religious Topics at the Meetings of the Eclectic Society, 

London, during the Years 1798–1814. London, 1856.

Hindmarsh 

Hindmarsh, Bruce. John Newton and the English Evan-

gelical Tradition: Between the Conversions of Wesley and 

Wilberforce. Grand Rapids: Eerd mans; 2001.

Letters (Barlass)

Sermons on Practical Subjects by William Barlass, Minister 

of the Gospel, with the Correspondence between the Author 

and the Rev. John Newton. New York, 1818.

Letters (Bull 1847) 

Bull, William, ed. One Hundred and Twenty Nine Letters 

from the Rev. John Newton to Josiah Bull. London, 1847.

Letters (Bull 1869)

Bull, William, ed. Letters of John Newton. Edinburgh: Ban-

ner of Truth, 2007. Previously published as Letters of the 

Rev. John Newton of Olney and St. Mary Woolnoth, Including 

Several Never Before Published, by the Rev. Josiah Bull, M.A. 

London, 1869.

Letters (Campbell)

Campbell, John, ed. Letters and Conversational Remarks,  

by the Late Rev. John Newton. New York, 1811.

Letters (Clunie)

The Christian Correspondent: Or a Series of Religious Letters 

Written by the Rev. John Newton to Alexander Clunie. Hull, 

1790.

Letters (Coffin)

Coffin, John, ed. Sixty-Six Letters from the Rev. John Newton 

to a Clergyman and His Family. London, 1844.

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20 

Abbreviations

Letters (Dartmouth)

Historical Manuscripts Commission. XV Report, Appendix, 

Part 1, The Manuscripts of the Earl of Dartmouth. Vol. 3. 

London, 1896.

Letters (Jay)

The Autobiography of the Rev. William Jay. New York, 1855.

Letters (Jones)

Jones, Robert, ed. Twenty-Five Letters Hitherto Unpub-

lished, of the Rev. John Newton. Edinburgh, 1847.

Letters (More)

Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Hannah 

More. Vol. 3. London, 1835.

Letters (Palmer)

The Correspondence of the Late Rev. John Newton with a Dis-

senting Minister [Samuel Palmer] on Various Subjects and 

Occasions. N.p., 1809.

Letters (Ryland)

Gordon, Grant, ed. Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to 

John Ryland, Jr. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2009.

Letters (Scott)

The Force of Truth: An Authentic Narrative by Rev. Thomas 

Scott, to Which Are Added Eight Letters to Dr. Scott by Rev. 

John Newton. Philadelphia, 1841.

Letters (Taylor)

The Aged Pilgrim’s Triumph over Sin and the Grave, Illus-

trated in a Series of Letters [to Walter Taylor et al.], Never 

Before Published, by the Rev. John Newton. New York, 1825.

Letters (Thornton)

Rinehart, John, ed. Letters to a Gospel Patron: John Newton 

and John Thornton, 1770 to 1786. Redmond, WA: Re-

claimed, forthcoming.

Letters (Wilberforce) 

The Correspondence of William Wilberforce. Vol. 1. Philadel-

phia, 1846.

W, 1–6 

Newton, John. The Works of John Newton. 6 vols. London, 

1824. Reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1985.

Other Newton sources, consulted but not cited directly:

Cecil, Richard, and Marylynn Rouse, eds. John Newton. Fearn, Ross-shire: 

Christian Focus, 2000.

The Life and Writings of Mrs. Dawson of Lancaster: With Nine Unpublished Letters 

from the Rev. John Newton. Kirkby Lonsdale, 1828.

Newton, John. An Authentic Narrative. In The Life and Spirituality of John New-

ton. Vancouver, BC: Regent College, 1998.

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