Reformer
🇺🇸Charles Colson
1931–2012 · American · Prison Reformer & Christian Statesman
“The church is the only institution in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.”
Biography
Charles Wendell Colson was born on October 16, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts. He rose to become Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon and was one of the key figures in the Watergate scandal, earning the nickname 'Nixon's hatchet man' for his aggressive political tactics. In 1973, before the full Watergate scandal broke, Colson had a dramatic conversion to Christianity through the witness of his friend Tom Phillips. He pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice related to Watergate and served seven months in a federal prison. His time in prison transformed him: witnessing the brutal conditions and spiritual desolation of incarcerated men, he felt called to prison ministry upon his release. In 1976, he founded Prison Fellowship, which grew to become the world's largest prison ministry, operating in over 100 countries and serving hundreds of thousands of prisoners and their families annually. Colson became a prolific author and cultural commentator, engaging issues of faith, justice, and public life with intellectual rigor. He received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1993. He also co-founded the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and the BreakPoint radio commentary. Until his death from brain hemorrhage on April 21, 2012, he remained one of evangelicalism's most significant public intellectuals.
Key Works
Colson's memoir 'Born Again' (1976) became a landmark conversion narrative and Christian bestseller. 'Life Sentence' (1979) chronicled his prison ministry beginnings. 'Loving God' (1983) explored the meaning of authentic Christian devotion. 'Against the Night' (1989) analyzed cultural decline. 'The Body: Being Light in Darkness' (1992) made a case for the church as counterculture. 'How Now Shall We Live?' (co-authored with Nancy Pearcey, 1999) presented a comprehensive Christian worldview framework. His BreakPoint radio commentaries reached millions daily for over twenty years.
Legacy
Charles Colson's legacy rests on two pillars: prison reform and Christian worldview engagement. Prison Fellowship transformed how evangelical Christians engage with incarcerated people, advocating for justice reform and human dignity behind bars. His Angel Tree ministry connected thousands of prisoners' children with Christmas gifts in their parents' names. His worldview ministry trained a generation of Christians to think Christianly about culture, politics, and society. His story of redemption—from Nixon's hatchet man to prison reformer—remains one of the most compelling conversion narratives in modern Christianity.