Joshua Harris, the author of the best-selling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, announced on Instagram in July that he is no longer a Christian.
This came a week after Harris publicly announced that he and his wife, Shannon, were separating after 20 years of marriage, but would remain ‘friends’ as they continue to raise their three children together.
In the Instagram post, Harris commented on the responses he received about his pending divorce and revealed that he is ‘falling away’ from the faith and no longer identifies as a Christian.
Harris also apologised to the LGBT community for not supporting same-sex marriage or affirming their place in the church.
Three years ago, Harris apologised for the advice he gave in his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, that he wrote in 1997 when he was 20 years old. In the book he described dating as a ‘training ground for divorce’.
‘I no longer agree with its central idea that dating should be avoided,’ Harris said.
‘I now think dating can be a healthy part of a person developing relationally and learning the qualities that matter most in a partner.’ In a 2018 documentary called ‘I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye’, Harris expressed regret about some of the conclusions of his books.
Harris also previously served as senior pastor at Covenant Life Church, a megachurch in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and stepped down from that position in 2014 after a former church volunteer was convicted of child sex abuse.
That same year, Harris resigned from his position at The Gospel Coalition, a reformed ministry in the US.
