This is probably more of an interest to Anonymouse, but I’ll just put it here for your erudition.

Evangelical Christian Twitter has been shook up today by a statement from one Josh Harris, author of the courtship-promoting “I Kissed Dating Goodbye,” that he’d pretty much lost his faith. This came hot on the heels of a statement last week by his wife that they were separating.

The reaction from some quarters was typical. In the time honored Evangelical Christian fashion of shooting the wounded, a prominent Calvinist preacher quoted 1 John 2:19, which basically says, “they are no longer a part of us, but they never really were part of us.” In other words, Harris wasn’t really saved. There was also a lot of pitying dreck without understanding.

A couple of things more to know about Harris. He wrote the book when he was 20 and 21, and it was published when he was 22. He didn’t court his wife, he dated her (contrary to the book). And while still very young, he was named the pastor of Covenant Life Church, a large Sovereign Grace church in Maryland, a church that had sexual abuse coverups. (Name of church has changed, Harris is no longer the pastor, and it’s no longer part of Sovereign Grace.)

Keeping those facts in mind, the reactions from other parts of the Twittersphere make more sense. Some people still want him to come clean about the child sexual abuse at CLC. Others are justifiably pissed off at him because their parents read “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” as some sort of manual for purity. They pushed the book on their kids in the late ’90s and early ’00s as THE way to make sure one got into a good marriage without compromising purity. (Seriously, not having sex before marriage was THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, not so many other things that make up a good marriage.) Instead, people ended up in bad marriages without really knowing the other person and lives got very messed up. Harris was also very anti-LGBTQ. His apology in that area is falling on mainly deaf ears.

I’ve been asking people to give Harris the “grace and space” to figure things out. The dude was basically in a high control group—a cult, if you will-for decades and he’s trying to make his way outside of that world now. He needs time. This doesn’t mean I approve of what he’s doing. I do think he has more apologizing to do. But beating up on the guy isn’t going to help. Nor is giving him the left foot of fellowship, as so many Christians are wont to do.