When the movie Amazing Grace came out, for various reasons Nancy and I were unable to see it. But it has just recently been released to DVD, and we just now finished watching it. The movie tells the glorious story of William Wilberforce and his fight against the slave trade in the British Empire. For those who have seen it, and want to know more about Wilberforce’s life and heroic service for the kingdom of God, I recommend the popular biography by my friend David Vaughan.
Let me get a pesky minor criticism out of the way first, so I can then get to the praise. The role of John Newton was certainly significant in Wilberforce’s life, and Newton was a converted slave trader who then became an evangelical Anglican clergyman. And he did have an important role in the abolition of the slave trade. When I was a boy, I read the autobiographical story of his conversion that had, at least in the version I read, the title Out of the Depths. So the movie was well-named, taking its title from Newton’s great hymn. But this apparently wasn’t enough for the makers of the film and so they turned Newton into a cross between a crotchety Benedictine monk and a tormented Yoda. The rest of the movie was remarkable for its accuracy of detail — this Newton business was all the more baffling. Reading Newton’s letters is an exercise in serenity and calm, and this alternative-Newton was no doubt done to obtain us some draaama on the screen, according to some esoteric rules of the film-makers’ art.
That said, I highly recommend the movie. Wilberforce’s personal struggles are made clear, but are placed in context and not overdone. And his wife is an admirable woman of beauty and clear good sense, an eighteenth century Abigail. Nobility in politics is placed right alongside the hard, thankless business of working faithfully in the . . . we would refer to the log-rolling in Congress, but I don’t know what they called it in Parliament in the early nineteenth century.
Key lessons we can learn from Wilberforce come out strongly in the movie. First and foremost is the difference between reformation and revolution. Wilberforce wanted the abolition of the slave trade desperately, but was unwilling to go the way of the cracked brains in France around the same time. He tells a man in their band, who was attracted to the rhetoric of the Paris street, that he is never to speak of revolution in Wilberforce’s presence again.
Second, Wilberforce was willing to be reviled and misrepresented. He was answering to God in what he did, and used the tools of politics as tools only, and not as anything that authenticated him at the fundamental level. In other words, he wanted to educate and use popular opinion, but was not of the conviction that popular opinion settled anything. Because of this, he was willing for his name to be dragged through the mud because God was in His heaven, and God would vindicate him — which He did, during Wilberforce’s lifetime. It is striking how many false reports about Wilberforce come out in the film, and he just dismisses them. Those who would walk in Wilberforce’s shoes today need to be prepared for this. They usually won’t praise you as another Wilberforce unless you are dead. Until the prophet dies, he is angular and difficult. After he dies, and can’t cause no trouble no more, someone proposes building a marble mausoleum with bronze plaques all over the place, along with velvet ropes having informative displays from the historical society two feet behind them.
And last, Wilberforce took the long view. He gave his life to a particular cause, and he was blessed to see it come to fruition before he died. But it was not a cakewalk; it took him many years. William Wilberforce was a great evangelical Christian, and, like many Christians with great faith, he saw outside the particular moment. When we consider the cultural battles before us — the pro-life issue being the most obvious one — we need to take a lesson from Wilberforce, and take heart. Roe v. Wade has the same future that the slave trade across the Atlantic did.
This was really a worthwhile film. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.