Seeing With New Eyes: David Powlison's Testimony

The following is a portion of the salvation testimony of biblical counselor David Powlison, author of the book Seeing With New Eyes. This testimony helps readers understand how Powlison can have such great hope for his counselees, whom others would sometimes regard as hopeless. His hope does not rest in the abilities of those he counsels, but in the God of grace, who freely and powerfully rescues hardened sinners. The remainder of this post is a direct quote from Powlison (page 11).

David Powlison's Testimony

I had been a most unlikely candidate for Christian faith. (I suppose that made me an ideal candidate!) I was taken with the typical passions of the '60s and '70s: existentialism, Hindu mysticism, psychodynamic psychologies, literature, aesthetic experiences, personal pleasures, radical politics, finding Truth in an inward-looking journey, calling the shots about the meaning of life, changing the world, hating hypocrisy. Of course, I hated Christianity. Becoming a believer was not at the bottom of the possible options list; it was at the top of the "No way!" list.

But God arrested me with the love of Christ. My epitaph was obvious: "The God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (1 Cor. 4:6). He turned on the Light of the world in a benighted heart.