Amazing Grace
The fight to end slavery continues
by Peter Fleck
Brian
Rushfeldt didn’t know what he got himself into when he agreed to host a
prescreening of the movie, Amazing Grace. Little did the executive director
of the Canada Family Action Coalition fathom the impact the film would have
on him.
As the
credits finished rolling, a visibly shaken Rushfeldt stood teary eyed at the
front of the Calgary theatre in search of words.
"What can I
say after that," he uttered softly. "But where there is a Savior, there is a
way."
Amazing Grace
profiles one of the greatest social reformers in history, William
Wilberforce, centering on his quest to abolish the slave trade in the
British empire, a battle won 200 years ago. It speaks profoundly of how God
can use a life totally transfixed on Him to overcome seemingly
insurmountable opposition.
For
modern-day crusaders like Rushfeldt, it offers hope as he seeks to stand up
for the family amid obstacles no less daunting, including widespread
abortion and a new breed of slavery that sees children sold into
prostitution and abused by pornographers.
Perhaps not
since Chariots Of Fire has there been such a powerful major motion picture
with deep Christian underpinnings set in a post-Biblical era. Like the 1981
classic, Amazing Grace is equally ideal for family viewing, staying clear of
gratuitous violence, sex or unsavory language.
The film was
entrusted to seasoned British TV and movie director Michael Apted who
surrounded himself with a talented cast. Leading the way is Ioan Gruffudd as
Wilberforce, probably best known as Mr. Fantastic in The Fantastic Four.
Joining him
is five-time Academy Award nominee Albert Finney in the convincing role of
slave trader turned hymn writer, John Newton.
Amazing Grace
is clearly a highly-motivational cinematic experience. But to treat it as an
accurate reflection of history would be misguided. Much artistic liberty has
been taken.
Among other
things, Prime Minister William Pitt’s role in the abolition movement is
greatly exaggerated. The dramatic scheme to inflict a preemptive strike
against slavery through "cheating" is also pure fiction. Literary license is
further portrayed in the courtship between Wilberforce and young Barbara
Spooner. The list goes on.
But while
many of the details have been thrown to the wind, the "spirit" of the true
story has been maintained.
What Amazing
Grace accomplishes is to reawaken public consciousness of a great hero of
humanity and ambassador of the Christian faith.
Hopefully,
the film will serve as an appetizer to many for further inquiry.
Much has
thankfully been written. Not least among them is Amazing Grace: William
Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, a 281-page volume
released this past February in conjunction with the movie.
Where the
film only makes scant references, author Eric Metaxas is able to plum the
depths of Wilberforce’s faith and conversion. He further introduces us to a
myriad of key characters in the life of Wilberforce including one of the
greatest minds of all time, Isaac Milner. We discover Wilberforce’s many
other accomplishments including opening the doors to missionary activity in
India.
And we learn
of the many organizations he had a hand in founding such as the British and
Foreign Bible Society and the Society for the Protection of Cruelty to
Animals (SPCA).
It all makes
for very compelling reading of the life-changing variety.
