Joshua Harris has been thinking about Jesus again. Harris, who became famous for his 1997 book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” and who later publicly left the Christian faith, said in a recent Instagram post that President Donald Trump was partially responsible for Harris rejecting Christianity. But now it is because of Trump that Harris’ thoughts have turned again to Jesus.
“I don’t know how to say this. And it probably won’t make sense,” Harris said at the beginning of his Instagram post. “But it feels like President Trump is leading me back to Jesus.”
Harris began and ended his post with the cover of Christian music artist Keith Green’s album “No Compromise.” The cover depicts Mordecai from the Book of Esther refusing to bow to Haman amid a crowd of other people who are all bowing. One person with a fearful expression next to Mordecai is trying to get him to bow as well.
“Growing up, I thought standing up to power was something that happened somewhere else, under dictators in distant countries or in some dark era of centuries past,” Harris said in the caption. “In these troubling days, I’m asking where the courage to stand up to kings actually comes from. I find myself turning back to the stories that shaped my earliest understanding of power and courage.”
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Joshua Harris Gives Trump ‘Partial Credit for the Unraveling of My Faith’
In addition to being a well-known evangelical author in his past, Joshua Harris pastored at a Sovereign Grace church in Maryland and was mentored in ministry by C.J. Mahaney. In 2015, Harris left the pastorate to attend seminary, where he encountered people who told him that his books, which contributed to the purity culture movement in the U.S., had harmed them.
In 2017, Harris publicly addressed the idea that he was wrong about some of his past teachings, and in 2018, he released a documentary exploring the impact “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” had on people. He apologized for the damage his book had caused and stopped publication of it.
In July 2019, Joshua Harris announced that he and wife, Shannon, were separating. Days later, he announced that he was no longer a Christian. Both Harris, who has gotten remarried, and Shannon have since been publicly processing their experiences in evangelicalism.
Joshua Harris says that it is because of President Donald Trump that Harris’ thoughts have recently turned to Jesus again.Click to Post“Eight years ago, when Donald Trump was first elected president, I gave him partial credit for the unraveling of my faith. Watching the evangelical world embrace him was a moment of significant disillusionment for me,” Harris wrote in his post. “It felt like seeing behind the curtain. Like realizing what had really been driving so much of the church all along. It made everything feel compromised.”
“In the years that followed, I went through a season of overcorrection,” Harris shared. “I can admit that now.”
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