Soul Music: Amazing Grace
How John Newton's near-death experience prompted his hymn Amazing Grace. With Martin Bell, Judy Collins and Bob Zellner.
The hymn amazing Grace has inspired and uplifted people all over the world. We hear about its influence on the civil rights movement in America, how it changed the fate of a British soldier in the Arabian desert, and its unexpected appearance in the film Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan.
We also hear the story of John Newton, the man who wrote it. Taken from his first love, he was press ganged into service at sea, shackled to a ship’s deck for 40 hours and contemplated murdering his captain. But he wrote the hymn after his ship was caught in a terrible storm and he, miraculously, survived.
(Photo: Ship sailing in a storm. Credit: Thinkstock)
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- Thu 23 Jun 2016 01:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Thu 23 Jun 2016 02:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online & UK DAB/Freeview only
- Thu 23 Jun 2016 03:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East Asia
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- Thu 23 Jun 2016 06:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Thu 23 Jun 2016 14:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Sat 25 Jun 2016 02:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East Asia, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 25 Jun 2016 19:32GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 26 Jun 2016 09:06GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
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With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about society