Gospel Greats -- 'Amazing Grace' Quiz

Answer: wretch

The missing word, of course, is 'wretch'.

'Amazing Grace', one of the most popular hymns in the world, was written by John Newton, a former slave trader. Newton was born in 1725 in Wapping, the United Kingdom, and died in London in 1807. He wrote 'Amazing Grace' in 1779, and according to Wikipedia, he originally called it 'Faith's Review and Expectation'. The hymn, however, has come to be known by its opening phrase, 'Amazing Grace'.

Answer: blind

The correct word is 'blind'.

Over the years, John Newton, writer of 'Amazing Grace', wrote an estimated 280 Christian hymns with one of the more popular ones being 'Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken'. However, none of them come close to the immense popularity of 'Amazing Grace'. In fact, the hymn has become so popular that some argue it has become cliche. Some Christian critics charge millions of people enjoy the hymn simply because it has a catchy tune, but pay no attention to the words.

Answer: fear

The missing word is 'fear'.

John Newton, the writer of 'Amazing Grace', lost his mother Elizabeth to tuberculosis, just before he turned seven years old. Wikipedia reports his father, John Newton Sr., was a shipmaster in the Mediterranean service. After his mother's death, Newton spent two years at a private boarding school "before going to live in Aveley in Essex, the home of his father's new wife," Wikipedia reports. At age eleven, Newton went to sea with his father.

Answer: appear

The missing word is 'appear'.

Various websites report John Newton, the writer of 'Amazing Grace', was crude and brash and extremely disliked by all, including his crew, when he served as captain of slave ships. Time Magazine, in its June 28, 2015, coverage of the Charleston, South Carolina, shooting, describes Newton, in the early part of his life, as "an outspoken atheist, libertine, and slave trader." Ironically, Newton transported slaves from Africa to Charleston, Time reports.

At the time this quiz was created, Dylann Roof was facing multiple murder charges after nine people were gunned down at a African-American church in Charleston. At a funeral service for the victims, U.S. President Barack Obama sang 'Amazing Grace'.

Answer: secures

The missing word is 'secures'.

In 1748, John Newton, the writer of 'Amazing Grace', was serving as captain of a ship when it was involved in a ferocious storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland, when his life was changed forever.

Wikipedia explains things this way: "Newton awoke in the middle of the night and, as the ship filled with water, called out to God. The cargo shifted and stopped up the hole, and the ship drifted to safety. Newton marked this experience as the beginning of his conversion to evangelical Christianity.
He began to read the Bible and other religious literature. By the time he reached Britain, he had accepted the doctrines of evangelical Christianity. The date was 10 March 1748, an anniversary he marked for the rest of his life."

Answer: endures

The missing word is 'endures'.

After surrendering his life to Christ, John Newton, the writer of 'Amazing Grace', would go on to become an evangelical Anglican priest in 1764 and play a key role with William Wilberforce in the English abolitionist movement to abolish the slave trade.

According to Wikipedia, in 1788, Newton broke a long silence on the subject with the publication of a forceful pamphlet 'Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade', in which he described the horrific conditions of the slave ships.

Wikipedia also reports Netwon apologized for "a confession, which ... comes too late ... It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders."

Newton had copies of his pamphlet sent to every MP, Wikipedia states.

Answer: snares

The missing word is 'snares'.

In 1750 John Newton, the writer of 'Amazing Grace' married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catlett, in St. Margaret's Church, Rochester, Wikipedia reports.

"Newton adopted his two orphaned nieces, Elizabeth and Eliza Catlett, children of one of his brothers-in-law and his wife," Wikipedia states. "Newton's niece Alys Newton later married Mehul, a prince from India."

The following quote attributed to Newton in 1778 is from Wikipedia: "How industrious is Satan served. I was formerly one of his active undertemptors and had my influence been equal to my wishes I would have carried all the human race with me. A common drunkard or profligate is a petty sinner to what I was."

Answer: safe thus far

The three missing words are 'safe thus far'.

'Amazing Grace' is largely an autobiographical story of John Newton's life. The classic Gospel hymn is also based on New Testament Scripture.

"The first verse, for example, can be traced to the story of the Prodigal Son," Wikipedia reports. "In the Gospel of Luke the father says, 'For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found'."

The ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus heals an unnamed blind man, also serves as a foundation for 'Amazing Grace'.

"The story of Jesus healing a blind man who tells the Pharisees that he can now see is told in the Gospel of John," Wikipedia states. "Newton used the words 'I was blind but now I see'."

Answer: ten thousand years

The three missing words are 'ten thousand years'.

If the United States (or Canada) had a national folk hymn, 'Amazing Grace' would be it, proclaims the Website Hymnary.org.

Wikipedia states there have been more than 7,000 recordings of 'Amazing Grace -- including re-releases and compilations -- as of September 2011.

"Its first recording is an a cappella version from 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir," Wikipedia reports. "It was recorded with musical accompaniment for the first time in 1930 by Fiddlin' John Carson."

Answer: first begun

The two missing words are 'first begun'.

The names of musicians who have recorded 'Amazing Grace' reads like a 'Who's Who' of the music industry. Everyone from Mahalia Jackson to Johnny Cash and from Rod Stewart to the Royal Scot Dragoon Guards have recorded the hymn.

"The U.S. Library of Congress has a collection of 3,000 versions of and songs inspired by 'Amazing Grace', some of which were first-time recordings by folklorists Alan and John Lomax, a father and son team who in 1932 traveled thousands of miles across the South to capture the different regional styles of the song," Wikipedia reports "More contemporary renditions include samples from such popular artists as Sam Cooke and The Soul Stirrers (1963), The Byrds (1970), Elvis Presley (1971), Skeeter Davis (1972), Mighty Clouds of Joy (1972), Andy Williams (1972), Amazing Rhythm Aces (1975), Willie Nelson (1976), The Lemonheads (1992) and Dropkick Murphys (1999)."

Meanwhile, my favorite version of Amazing Grace is by Canadian Inuk singer Susan Aglukark. She sings the hymn in her native language and it brings shrills to my spine every time I hear it.

Here are the words to the Gospel classic 'Amazing Grace'.

"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.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares
I have already come;
'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we'd first begun."