Growing up, Powlison attended a liberal mainline church and in high school he thought Christianity was a polite veneer for people who refused to face life’s hard real-ities. During that time he was confronted with death and depravity, including bully-ing, the murder of a classmate, suicidal friends, exposure to pornography, and drug use. Later, he had an interest in radical pol-itics, protests, and New Age religion.