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Charles "Chuck" Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012) was an Evangelical Christian leader who founded Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint. Prior to his conversion to Christianity, he served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet man," Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the Watergate Seven, and pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg.〔(A Gallery of the Guilty ). ''Time''. January 13, 1975.〕 In 1974, he served seven months in the federal Maxwell Prison in Alabama as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Chuck Colson )〕 Colson became a Christian in 1973. His mid-life conversion to Christianity sparked a radical life change that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and to a focus on Christian worldview teaching and training. Colson was also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Chuck Colson Bio )〕 He was the founder and chairman of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview, which is "a research, study, and networking center for growing in a Christian worldview", and while he was alive included Colson's daily radio commentary, BreakPoint, which was heard in its original format on more than 1,400 outlets across the United States.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Chuck Colson Center )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Colson Center Fact Sheet )〕 Colson was a principal signer of the 1994 ''Evangelicals and Catholics Together'' ecumenical document signed by leading Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholic leaders in the United States. Colson received 15 honorary doctorates, and in 1993 was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual award (over US$1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension". He donated this prize to further the work of Prison Fellowship, as he did all his speaking fees and royalties. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush. ==Early life, education and family== Colson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Inez "Dizzy" (née Ducrow) and Wendell Ball Colson. He was of Swedish and British descent. In his youth Colson had seen the charitable works of his parents. His mother cooked meals for the hungry during the Depression and his father donated his legal services to the United Prison Association of New England.〔 Historian Jonathan Aitken notes "Wendell's compassion for prisoners flowed from his Christian ethics, which he instilled into his son's upbringing."〔 Aitken also notes that "Mrs. Colson was proud of being a member of the Episcopal Church and even prouder of her acquaintance with its diocesan bishop, Bishop Fisk, who she thought would be a splendid role model for her Charlie."〔 Aitken holds that his mother's suggestion to the young Colson "You ought to be a minister," were motivated by "social rather than religious" reasons and holds "she had no believing relationship in Christ, and neither did her husband or her son."〔 Noting that "None of them ever read the Bible" and holding that "their extremely rare visits to church were purely nominal", Aitken concludes "religious belief had no part to play in the early upbringing of Charles Colson." During World War II, Colson organized fund-raising campaigns in his school for the war effort that raised enough money to buy a Jeep for the army. In 1948, Colson volunteered in the campaign to re-elect then-Governor of Massachusetts, Robert Bradford. After attending Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge in 1949, he earned his BA, with honors, from Brown University in 1953, and his J.D., with honors, from George Washington University Law School in 1959. At Brown, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi. Colson's first marriage with Nancy Billings, in 1953, bore three children: Wendell Ball II (born 1954), Christian Billings (1956) and Emily Ann (1958). This marriage ended in divorce in January 1964, after some years of separation. He married Patricia Ann Hughes on April 4, 1964. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Colson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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