Augustus Toplady (November 4, 1740 – August 11, 1778)

There are only a few hymns which reach the level of secular penetration like that of “Amazing Grace.” One of the few in that realm is Augustus Toplay’s “Rock of Ages.” So, who is this man? Did he write anything else?

His story reads like so many English writers from the 18th century. He grew up in the Anglican church, father was in the military, father died in the service while his son was still very young. He was raised by his mother whose family had some means to support them.

It is here that his story starts to get a bit colorful. As a fifteen-year-old, Augustus and his mother Catherine, moved to Ireland so he could attend Trinity College in Dublin. That August he attended a service held in a barn where a barely literate preacher by the name of James Morris (who may or may not have been a follower of John Wesley, more later) so convicted Augustus’s heart, he turned his life to Christ. He thought it was God’s hand which allowed this preacher who could “barely spell his own name” to lead to him to faith in Christ.

As was common in England at this time, the Arminian teaching of the Wesley’s held sway throughout the land. A few years after his conversion, through the reading of Dr. Manton’s sermons on St John, Toplady began to move away from the Arminianism of the Wesleys and began to embrace a Calvinistic faith. After his graduation, he and his mother moved back to Westminster where he fell under the influence of Calvinists such as George Whitefield and John Gill.

It was John Gill who encouraged Toplady to publish his translation of Girolamo Zachi’s Confession of the Christian Religion (1562). The work of translating this text cemented Toplay into the Calvinist camp. This brought forth the rapidly deteriorating relationship with Charles Wesley. They had been cordial, but in the end these two devout son’s of Christ could barely stand even the thought of the other. Hmmmm….

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Bernotski   https://youtu.be/N4JHWhydK6M Jared Bernotski
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Coberly   https://youtu.be/x9DBAYb9vuY Ruth Coberly
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Gethsemane   https://youtu.be/CsQPLxuMb1Y Richard Redhead
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Petra   https://youtu.be/Qf_HIc-bi1c Richard Redhead
A Debtor to Mercy Alone Llangristiolus   https://youtu.be/SD34vDnMM3o Joseph Parry
A Debtor to Mercy Alone A Debtor to Mercy Alone   https://youtu.be/PrnlYJBH0yk Lewis Edson
Fountain of Never Ceasing Grace St Matthew CMD https://youtu.be/mZDgXsg93gs William Croft
How Vast the Benefits Divine St Matthew   https://youtu.be/jkm9r-oa1Ks William Croft
If, on a Quiet Sea, Toward Heaven We Calmly Sail Selvin   https://youtu.be/8bpYuWwnuRc Lowell Mason
Lord, Save Us, We Perish Bernotski   https://youtu.be/jIbtFBlHPCI Jared Bernotski
Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me Toplady   https://youtu.be/zPFhwh6uGVw Thomas Hastings
Your Harps, Ye Trembling Saints St Ethelwald SM https://youtu.be/G_-PvvCOA5I William Monk

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