Question: Is Amazing Grace a funeral hymn?
Amazing Grace by John Newton is a very interesting song because it is used in a wide variety of cases. For example, it is used when thanking God for blessings in life, and it can also be used during times of reflection and pondering on the faith, because it is through Christ Jesus that our eyes have been opened so that we can see and receive the grace that He has given.
But in times of funerals, it is also a very popular tune because it shares with us the faith that Christ Jesus has brought to us, and the assurance that even after death, that we are still kept by His amazing grace and love.
Amazing Grace, like other popular hymns such as What a Friend We Have In Jesus, stands as one of the most theologically rich hymns in Christian history, uniting personal testimony with classic doctrines of grace long articulated by early Protestant theologians. Written by John Newton in 1772, the hymn reflects themes deeply rooted in Reformation theology and earlier evangelical thought, especially concerning human depravity, divine initiative, and perseverance.
The opening confession, “that saved a wretch like me,” aligns with the doctrine of total dependence on grace, emphasized by John Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), where salvation is described as wholly the work of God rather than human merit. Newton’s language echoes Calvin’s insistence that humanity is incapable of self-redemption apart from God’s sovereign mercy.
The movement from lost to found and from blind to seeing reflects conversion theology articulated by Jonathan Edwards in A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746). Edwards argued that true faith involves an inward transformation of perception—what Newton poetically describes as new sight. This transformation is not merely intellectual but experiential, reshaping the believer’s affections.
Newton’s emphasis on grace as both the beginning and continuation of the Christian life—“’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home”—mirrors the perseverance doctrine found in Augustus Toplady’s late-18th-century hymns and writings. Grace is not a momentary event but a sustaining power guiding believers through trials toward final glory.
The hymn’s final vision of eternity, added later in American hymnals, resonates with Isaac Watts’ eschatological hope in The Psalms of David Imitated (1719), where eternal praise is portrayed as ever-increasing rather than static.
Thus, Amazing Grace endures not merely for its melody but because it distills centuries of Protestant theology into accessible, devotional poetry—making profound doctrine singable for generations.
Listen and Watch The Founder Quinson Thomas play It is well with my soul - lyrics included.
