Journalist Kirsten Powers' Surprise Journey from Atheism to Jesus

Aimee Herd : Nov 4, 2013
Kirsten Powers - Christianity Today

"I'll never forget standing outside that apartment on the Upper East Side and saying to myself, 'It's true. It's completely true.' The world looked entirely different, like a veil had been lifted off it. I had not an iota of doubt. I was filled with indescribable joy." -Kirsten Powers

Kirsten Powers, a contributor to USA Today and Columnist for Newsweek/The Daily Beast, as well as her role as occasional Democratic commentator for FOX News, opens up in a recent Christianity Today article, about how nearly a decade ago, she made the unlikely journey from despising Christians to being one of them. (Photo: FOX News)

Kirsten describes how although having attended Episcopal Church during her childhood, any faith derived from that period had no real roots, and she eventually embraced a philosophy in college that would "waver between atheism and agnosticism, never coming close to considering that God could be real."

At one point, Kirsten began dating a man who was a Believer, and it was his invitation to "keep an open mind about it" that eventually brought her to his church, although she warned him she would "never believe in Jesus."

Expecting the liturgy she'd remembered from childhood, Kirsten was surprised to experience a contemporary evangelical service in the Presbyterian Church as she accompanied her boyfriend.

Fascinated by the pastor's message, which Kirsten considered "just an interesting lecture—not really church," she found herself looking forward to hearing Pastor Tim Keller again and again. Although, she also wondered when he ended with a salvation invitation, "Why did he have to ruin a perfectly good talk with this Jesus nonsense?" (Photo: Scott Suchman)

Eventually, Kirsten backed up from atheism, acquiescing that "the weight of the evidence was on the side of Christianity" but she still felt no "connection" to God.

Until the seasoned journalist describes a visitation she had, during a trip to Taiwan. Kirsten chronicles the event as a "strange cross between a dream and reality" when Jesus appeared to her and said, "Here I am."

Says Kirsten, "I tried to write off the experience as misfiring synapses, but I couldn't shake it. When I returned to New York a few days later, I was lost. I suddenly felt God everywhere and it was terrifying. More important, it was unwelcome. It felt like an invasion. I started to fear I was going crazy."

But when a co-worker persuaded her to attend a Bible study "everything ...changed" for Kirsten.

Read her full account of coming to Christ by Clicking Here.