He was chained, held bound in a life of torment and blasphemy. In the end, however, God would set him free. John Newton, a name probably not familiar to many of us, was born in July, 1725, to a pious English woman and her seafaring husband. From his earliest days, young Newton was attracted to his father's side of the family and to the life at sea. Thus, when he was only eleven years old he became an apprentice aboard his father's vessel, a cargo ship which ferried products throughout the major ports of the Mediterranean region. To say the least at this time in his life John Newton did not know God. Those with whom he associated for the most part on his father's ship were criminals, rogues, and other "undesirables" of society, many of whom were sent to Captain Newton's ship as punishment f…