David Powlison

David Powlison was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Peter and Dora "Dodie" Powlison. His father, a history teacher and decorated swimmer, taught at Punahou School, where David also studied. Growing up in a multicultural environment, Powlison later reflected on the cultural richness of Honolulu, describing it as both “Asiacentric” and “Eurocentric.”

After graduating from Punahou School in 1967, Powlison attended Harvard College, earning a degree in social relations in 1971. While at Harvard, he was a letter-winning swimmer and became involved in student activism, the countercultural movement, and various philosophical and religious explorations.

Though raised in a liberal mainline church, Powlison became disillusioned with Christianity in his youth. His spiritual transformation began through a long-standing conversation with his college roommate, Bob Kramer. In 1975, at the age of 25, he experienced a radical Christian conversion that he described as a “my-whole-life-passing-before-my-eyes moment.”

Soon after, he enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania, where he earned his Master of Divinity in 1980. He later completed both an M.A. (1986) and Ph.D. (1996) at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on the history of science and medicine. His dissertation, Competent to Counsel?, examined the anti-psychiatry movement among conservative Protestants and was later published as The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context.{{cite book |last=Powlison |first=David |title=The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context |publisher=New Growth Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781935273127}}{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Sam R. |title=The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context |journal=Edification: Journal of the Society for Christian Psychology |volume=5 |issue=1 |year=2011 |pages=78–79}}

In 1980, Powlison joined the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation in Philadelphia as a writer, counselor, and editor, becoming a prominent voice in the biblical counseling movement. He also served as a faculty member at Westminster Theological Seminary, and was editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling.{{cite web |title=David Powlison |website=Biblical Counseling Coalition |url=https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/person/david-powlison/ |access-date=3 April 2025}}{{cite journal |last=Edgar |first=William |title=Counseling, Apologetics, and Calling: A Tribute to David Powlison |journal=The Journal of Biblical Counseling |volume=33 |issue=2 |year=2019 |pages=96–99}}{{cite journal |last=Lillback |first=Peter A. |title=Interview with Alasdair Groves |journal=Unio Cum Christo: International Journal of Reformed Theology and Life |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=April 2023 |doi=10.35285/ucc9.1.2023.int |url=https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc9.1.2023.int|doi-access=free }}

Powlison's work helped transition biblical counseling from a primarily polemical stance toward a more compassionate and nuanced approach. While influenced by Jay Adams’s “nouthetic counseling” model, Powlison sought to engage psychological insight critically, emphasizing Scripture as the foundational lens for understanding human struggles.{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Eric L. |title=Reframing the Integration of Psychology and Theology: An Interview with David Powlison |journal=Journal of Psychology and Theology |volume=32 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=199–209}}{{cite journal |last=Stafford |first=Tim |title=Needs and Idols |journal=Christianity Today |volume=38 |issue=6 |date=May 1994 |page=21}}{{cite journal |last=Lambert |first=Heath |title=Making Biblical Counseling Beautiful: The Life and Ministry of David Powlison |journal=The Journal of Biblical Counseling |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=2020 |pages=92–97}}{{cite journal |last=Davis |first=D. Clair |title=Some Reflections on Biblical Counseling, Adams, and Powlison |journal=Unio Cum Christo |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=April 2023 |pages=179–188}}

His writings and teachings emphasized the centrality of the gospel, the importance of the local church, and the dynamics of heart transformation in Christian counseling. He published numerous articles, booklets, and several books, including:

• Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare (Baker Books, 1995).{{cite journal |last=Peterson |first=Robert A. |title=Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare |journal=Presbyterion |volume=23 |issue=2 |date=Fall 1997 |page=126}}{{cite journal |last=Pyne |first=Robert A. |title=Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare |journal=Bibliotheca Sacra |volume=154 |issue=613 |date=January 1997 |pages=112–113}}
• Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition through the Lens of Scripture (P&R Publishing, 2003).{{cite journal |last=Timmis |first=Steve |title=Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition through the Lens of Scripture |journal=Themelios |volume=30 |issue=1 |date=August 2004 |page=77 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/seeing-with-new-eyes-counseling-and-the-human-condition-through-the-lens-of-scripture/}}
• Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community (New Growth Press, 2005).{{cite journal |last=Yoakum |first=S. Trevor |title=Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community |journal=Midwestern Journal of Theology |volume=5 |issue=1 |date=Fall 2006 |pages=72–73 |url=https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/midwestern-journal-theology/05-1_036.pdf}}
• The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context (New Growth Press, 2010).{{cite journal |last=Midgley |first=Steve |title=The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context |journal=Themelios |volume=35 |issue=3 |date=November 2010 |pages=561–562 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/the-biblical-counseling-movement-history-and-context/}}{{cite journal |last=Mutter |first=Kelvin F. |title=The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context |journal=McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry |volume=13 |date=2011 |pages=R1–R2 |url=http://mcmasterdivinity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/MJTM13-R1Mutter_on_Powlison-1.pdf}}{{cite journal |last=Greggo |first=Stephen P. |title=The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context |journal=Trinity Journal |volume=32 |issue=1 |date=Spring 2011 |pages=130–132}}
• Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness (New Growth Press, 2016).{{cite journal |last=Harrod |first=Joseph |title=Review of Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness |journal=Themelios |volume=42 |issue=2 |date=August 2017 |pages=419–422 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/good-and-angry-redeeming-anger-irritation-complaining-and-bitterness/}}
• How Does Sanctification Work? (Crossway, 2017).{{cite journal |last=Pitts |first=Dallas B. |title=How Does Sanctification Work? |journal=Themelios |volume=43 |issue=1 |date=April 2018 |pages=154–155 |url=https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/how-does-sanctification-work/}}
• Making All Things New: Restoring Joy to the Sexually Broken (Crossway, 2017).{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Gareth |title=Making All Things New: Restoring Joy to the Sexually Broken |journal=Foundations (Affinity) |volume=73 |date=Fall 2017 |pages=81–84 |url=https://www.affinity.org.uk/foundations/issue-73/issue-73-book-review-3/}}
• God’s Grace in Your Suffering (Crossway, 2018).
• Safe and Sound: Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles (New Growth Press, 2019).
• The Pastor As Counselor: The Call for Soul Care (Crossway, 2021).{{cite journal |last=Okoruwa |first=Paul |title=The Pastor As Counselor: The Call for Soul Care |journal=The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling |volume=76 |issue=4 |date=December 2022 |page=309 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15423050221115187}}

With Joe Hox as co-author, Powlison also published several children's books, including Zoe’s Hiding Place: When You Are Anxious; Jax’s Tail Twitches: When You Are Angry; Gus Loses His Grip: When You Want Something Too Much; and Buster Tries to Bail: When You Are Stressed.{{cite web |title=New Growth Press |url=https://newgrowthpress.com/ |website=New Growth Press |access-date=2025-04-06}}{{cite web |title=Zoe’s Hiding Place: When You Are Anxious |url=https://www.ccef.org/book/zoes-hiding-place |website=Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation |access-date=2025-04-06}}{{cite web |last=Delaney |first=Sue Nicewander |date=2019-03-12 |title=Book Review of Zoe’s Hiding Place: When You Are Anxious Edited by David Powlison |url=https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2019/03/12/book-review-of-zoes-hiding-place-when-you-are-anxious-edited-by-david-powlison/ |website=Biblical Counseling Coalition |access-date=2025-04-06}}

Powlison also wrote many short pamphlets that are still available in print and online, including Overcoming Anxiety: Relief for Worried People; Sexual Assault: Healing Steps for Victims; Facing Death with Hope: Living for What Lasts; and Breaking the Addictive Cycle: Deadly Obsessions or Simple Pleasures?{{cite web |title=David Powlison |url=https://www.prpbooks.com/authors/david-powlison |website=P&R Publishing |access-date=2025-04-06}}

Powlison met his wife, Nancy Gardner, shortly after his conversion, and they married in the late 1970s. The couple had three children. He died at his home in Glenside, Pennsylvania, on June 7, 2019, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Powlison had a strong influence on many counselors and pastors through his writing and teaching. He is widely credited with shaping the modern biblical counseling movement into a more reflective and grace-centered ministry.

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Category:1949 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Writers from Honolulu

Category:Christian counselors

Category:Harvard College alumni

Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni

Category:Westminster Theological Seminary faculty

Category:Punahou School alumni