Colson, Buckley, and You
November 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr., and this year will mark the 50th anniversary of Born Again, Chuck Colson’s account of his fall from grace in American politics and his life-changing conversion to Christianity. Buckley and Colson were two of the most significant public Christian figures of the latter half of the twentieth century, and they continue to serve as models of Christian leadership today.
Many remember Buckley as the author of God and Man at Yale and host of the public television debate program, Firing Line. On television and in print, Buckley was a provocative communicator with an erudite vocabulary. It is not a stretch to say that the 1955 founding of Buckley’s magazine, National Review, launched the modern conservative movement. In addition to being a prominent public figure, Buckley was a serious thinker. Of his many books, Keeping the Tablets showcased the depth of his political and philosophical analysis.
Less well known were Buckley’s deep religious convictions. As a Roman Catholic, Buckley took seriously the tenets of his faith. According to National Review writer Kathryn Jean Lopez, Buckley’s faith animated everything in his life and formed the worldview that shaped how he understood the corrosive effects of secularism and atheism. Buckley discussed his faith in one of his final books, Nearer, My God. According to Chuck Colson, the final chapter of that book alone was worth its price in gold.
And this is where the lives of Buckley and Colson truly begin to intersect. They were contemporaries and allies in the culture wars of their era. Both wrote and spoke widely, deeply, and persuasively on key cultural issues. They wrote in the same publications, and Colson was gracefully profiled in National Review magazine and also made appearances on Firing Line.
In one of his famous introductions on Firing Line, Buckley acknowledged the authenticity of Colson’s faith in Christ, calling it “the illumination that transformed his life.” Both men were principled, intellectual leaders that spawned multiple organizations—from Colson’s Prison Fellowship to Buckley’s Young Americans for Freedom, amongst others.
Even amidst the larger cultural decline they fought against, they remained optimistic. Colson understood the powerful role of “restoration” within the Christian Worldview and exhorted readers to live “Boldly, and yes, joyously.” Buckley understood that essential issues were rooted in eternal truth. “The wells of regeneration are infinitely deep,” he wrote. Interestingly, when Chuck Colson died in 2012, the LA Times referred to him as the “‘William F. Buckley’ of the evangelical movement.”
Though one was Catholic and the other Protestant—and each understood and respected those differences—Buckley and Colson shared a common understanding. They understood that God and His Truth must form the foundation for their lives and their thinking. In other words, their worldviews were grounded in their Christian convictions.
Neither man was perfect, of course, but both were models of Christian statesmen that were led by principles and prudent in the implementation and defense of those principles. To a culture that prizes influencers, outrage, and divisiveness, Buckley and Colson seem to represent a bygone era of a principled statesmanship rooted in Christianity and serious about engaging and shaping the cultural and intellectual currents that are upstream from politics. Where are such Christian statesmen today?
Chuck Colson often quoted from Sir Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further than most, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” Today, this nation and the wider world is in desperate need of men and women with principled convictions who will stand on the shoulders of Buckley and Colson. Both men established institutions and programs to perpetuate such leaders. The program that bears Chuck’s name, Colson Fellows, forms Christian leaders to think biblically, engage the culture with wisdom, and live out God’s truth in every sphere of life. The vision is not that anyone will be able to fill Chuck Colson’s shoes, but that we should all follow his example and engage this cultural moment with faith, clarity, and conviction.
Perhaps an even better question than “Where are such Christian statesmen today?” is the question found in the title of Chuck’s most significant book, “How Now Shall We Live?” Colson and Buckley’s examples demonstrate that Christian influence should point not to grievance or arrogance, but to Christ. We can honor their legacies by continuing their work to renew and restore what we can in this cultural moment, and to create the conditions where future leaders of principled conviction can live faithful to God.
This Breakpoint was co-authored by Andrew Carico.
Photo Credit: ©Chuck Colson Facebook
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
