Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807), published in 1779. With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world.



In 1835 William Walker assigned Newton's words to a traditional song named "New Britain",

to create the version we know today, which appeared for the first time in Walker's shape note tunebook Southern Harmony in 1847.