Olney Hymns

Compiled by the former slave-ship captain turned clergyman John Newton and his friend the poet William Cowper, this celebrated 1779 collection gathers hundreds of hymns written for the congregation at Olney in Buckinghamshire. Among its verses is ‘Amazing Grace,’ Newton’s account of his own conversion, alongside Cowper’s ‘God Moves in a Mysterious Way’ and ‘Oh! for a Closer Walk with God.’ The hymns pair plain, heartfelt language with deep evangelical feeling, meant to be sung by ordinary worshippers rather than admired as literature. Together the two men produced some of the best-loved devotional verse in English, much of it still sung in churches today. This free PDF and EPUB edition preserves the complete collection.