Written by the former slave-ship captain turned evangelical minister John Newton, "Alas! by nature how depraved" first appeared in the landmark 1779 collection Olney Hymns (Book II, No. 29). Composed across seven four-line stanzas, the text reflects deeply on human fallenness and the wonder of divine adoption into God's family.
Newton grounded the hymn directly in scripture, drawing its central theme from Jeremiah 3:19 ("How shall I put thee among the children?"). While written for penitential reflection during Lent, hymnal compilers frequently abridged the text for congregational singing. In Charles Bushell Snepp's 1872 hymnal Songs of Grace and Glory (No. 450), as well as several other nineteenth-century collections, the selection was streamlined to include only the first four stanzas of Newton's original poem.
Related Hymns
Hymns in the library connected to this dictionary topic.
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Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
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How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
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Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken
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I Saw One Hanging on a Tree
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Safely Through Another Week
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Zacchaeus Climbed the Tree
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Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!
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Balaam's Wish (How blest the righteous are)
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