John Newton –
While power and might Christians championed the institution of slavery, spiritually awakened Christians began to sense that God wanted to use them to destroy this institution, as had St. Patrick in Ireland during the fifth century. John Newton, who had been pulled into slave trafficking in Africa as a young man, devoted the latter years of his life to opposing the slave industry. After that, Olaudo Equiano and William Wilberforce, among others, managed to turn the tide of public opinion against slavery for the first time in world history. As a result, the British Navy was converted into a force to rid the world of this evil institution. Spiritual awakening has to do with the conflict between good and evil—and not just personal salvation.
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