Joshua Harris (author)
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox writer Joshua Eugene Harris is an American former Evangelical Christian pastor. Harris' 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, in which he laid out his ideas concerning a Biblically based Christian approach to dating and relationships, helped shape purity culture for many Christian millennials.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church, the founding church of Sovereign Grace Ministries, in Gaithersburg, Maryland from 2004 until 2015. In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication. The following year, Harris announced that he was separating from his wife, had "undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus" and had given up on his Christian faith.<ref name="usatoday" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BiographyEdit
Harris is the first of seven children born to Gregg and Sono Harris, pioneers in the Christian homeschooling movement. He is of Japanese descent on his mother's side.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris published New Attitude, a magazine aimed at fellow homeschoolers, from 1994 to 1997.Template:Cn He received no formal seminary or theological training until 2015, when he attended Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.<ref name="WashPostHarris" /> Harris married Shannon Hendrickson in 1998. They have had three children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His brothers, twins Alex and Brett, authored The Rebelution (rebelution is a neologism defined by its creators as "a teenage rebellion against low expectations").<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Harris's first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, was published in 1997 and has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide.<ref name="usatoday">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Subsequent books by Harris include Boy Meets Girl (2000), in part describing his engagement to his eventual wife, Shannon; Not Even a Hint: Guarding Your Heart Against Lust, released in 2003 and renamed Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) in 2005; and Stop Dating the Church!: Fall in Love with the Family of God (2004). Harris' book Dug Down Deep (2010) shared his journey towards a love for theology and highlighted his passion for what he called "humble orthodoxy".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1997, Harris moved from Oregon to Gaithersburg, Maryland to be a pastoral intern.<ref name="southernbaptistHarris">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There, "C. J. Mahaney, a charismatic Calvinist and founding pastor of megachurch Covenant Life Church, took Harris under his wing and groomed him to take over the church."<ref name="youngrestless">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church from 2004 until 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="WashPostHarris">Template:Cite news</ref> Harris assumed the role of senior pastor at Covenant Life Church at the age of 30.<ref name="southernbaptistHarris" /> In January 2015, he resigned from that role due to a desire to broaden his views and connect to other parts of Christianity. In an interview, Harris said the isolation of Covenant Life, and of a small cluster of churches of which it was a part, may have fed leadership mistakes, including the decision of pastors — himself among them — to handle a child sexual abuse case internally instead of going to police.<ref name="WashPostHarris" />
Harris started Sovereign Grace Ministries' New Attitude Conference for Christian singles in 1999, with inspiration and guidance from Louie Giglio, founder of Passion Conferences.<ref name="youngrestless" /> From 1999 until 2011 he continued frequently to organize and lead this conference, although in 2008 it was renamed "Next."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2016, Harris stated that he was reconsidering the content of I Kissed Dating Goodbye<ref name="HelloGoodbye">Template:Cite news</ref> and apologized to people who said that they had been hurt by its teachings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="HelloGoodbye" /> In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His publishers agreed that I Kissed Dating Goodbye and two other follow-up books would not be reprinted once the current stock was depleted.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Harris appeared in a documentary film called I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye, where he spoke to people who were critical of the book.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In July 2019, Harris announced that he and his wife were separating due to "significant changes [that] have taken place in both of us".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The couple divorced that year.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Subsequently, Harris revealed that he no longer considered himself a Christian. His former wife also walked away from Christianity and began pursuing a career as a singer-songwriter under the name Shannon Bonne.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0" />
In addition to his previously discontinued books, with Harris's announcement of his loss of faith, the documentary film lost its distributor due to the negative reaction from the Christian market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
BooksEdit
- I Kissed Dating Goodbye (Updated Version). Multnomah, 2003. Template:ISBN
- Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship. Multnomah, 2000. Template:ISBN
- Not Even a Hint. Multnomah, 2003. Template:ISBN (re-published as Sex Isn't the Problem, Lust Is in 2005. Template:ISBN)
- Stop Dating the Church! Multnomah, 2004. Template:ISBN (re-published as Why Church Matters: Discovering Your Place in the Family of God in 2011. Template:ISBN)
- Dug Down Deep Multnomah, 2010.
- Humble Orthodoxy: Holding the Truth High Without Putting People Down Multnomah, 2013. Template:ISBN)