Joshua Harris Has Divorced

It is notable that when you can find an ending to a story, and unfortunately we have a sad one in Joshua Harris, as he has divorced from his wife Shannon.

This might not be ordinarily note-worthy among the legions of divorces that happen in this country, but this one is special as he has written two books with the intent to instruct people on how to do “the dating thing” (specifically courtship) correctly with the point of producing Godly lasting marriages, both of which have gotten reviews here:

I Kissed Dating Goodbye
Boy Meets Girl

And other posts have been done on the text of his first book:

Here’s Why Christian Mating Is So Messed Up
Courtship: Rotten Stinking Fruit
They Only Want One Thing!
Christian Homeschooling: Raising Children or Controlling Them?

Given all the analysis above, sadly, this news was completely and wholly expected, given the content of his two books. Anyone with any drop of discernment would have seen this coming. Notably, his second book got many revisions due to the divorces his poster couples underwent after they were published.

While I grieve the waywardness from God, Harris’ hearkening to the Personal Jesus has led to a very expected result. His falling away from faith resulted in putting his trust in men and himself, as a super-majority of those that claim Christianity do. It is well noting that Harris didn’t even follow his own advice in IKDG, much less look into Scripture for his answers. There is no good end for anyone that does that, as a lot will be rudely awakened to sometime in the future.

A lot of the result can easily be traced back to Harris’ lack of discernment. As I noted in my review of the other book, Harris ending up fulfilling every one of the standard blue-pill tropes regarding Shannon to the letter, including the “man-up and marry that thot” one. I don’t think any of the articles or anything would tell us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Shannon forced the divorce because she was bored and unhaaaaaapy.

Funny how a lot of this red-pill stuff (though a lot who claim that are really blue-pill) has a way of proving itself right. But like a lot of God’s precepts, men have a tendency to think that calamity won’t happen to them if they go off and follow their own script instead of look to God ways. As quoted from his Instagram post:

⁣⁣ The information that was left out of our announcement is that I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is “deconstruction,” the biblical phrase is “falling away.” By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I’m not there now.⁣⁣

I would submit, as many probably would, that Harris was never really “there” with Jesus to begin with. Unfortunately, many men and women are in that exact same place, and then “fall away” when the ways of the men they follow disappoint them in some way. I’ve personally witnessed this in churches, where as many as 1/3 of the attendants will go away when some leader sins, as I’m sure many who will read have. The evidence is all over his books. He very likely had a personal relationship with his own Personal Jesus rather than submit in discipleship to the real Jesus and His teachings.

If there is a lesson out of all of this it is that. I do not rejoice in what has happened to Harris, but still it is a heavy proof of the wages earned for following men instead of God. Follow Jesus and follow Him alone.

Book Review: Boy Meets Girl

Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship. Joshua Harris. Multnomah Publishers Inc., 2000.

In the scope of my other blog, Joshua Harris’ work “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” (IKDG) came up, in terms of the infection that book and its teachings have brought onto the dating world. It has had enough of an effect that numerous references were made throughout the blog, culminating with a review on that book (Rating: 4 out of 10) and three posts relating to the content and the implications of it upon those who are following it. Encountering this book seemed to be a natural fit, as it will serve to both chronicle more of Josh Harris’ views reflected through his courtship with his (now) wife as well as indicate if he has learned anything.

Harris begins by summarizing IKDG and downplaying the dating/courtship rigidity he created within his first book, calling it a “debate over terms”. He then describes that romance requires more wisdom than “intense feelings”. The author then discusses God’s guidance in view of finding “The One”, growing a relationship while guarding one’s heart (same as IKDG), communicating well, traditional gender roles, involving family and the church in the relationship, retaining sexual purity, confessing past sexual sin, engagement, and continuing in marriage in light of eternity.

Harris presents a number of enlightening treatises if presented in isolation, most notably on finding forgiveness and seeking God’s guidance. However, he presents a vision of courtship very much consistent with IKDG, while molding it into his own experience.

Especially interesting are his admissions that he neglected to follow his own advice regarding his (now) wife in simply asking her out on a date, his motivations were physical, and that he ended up courting a widely experienced woman who fits all the typical tropes (He manned up and married…you know the rest). Other examples the author provides, including his own, reinforce a diversion from IKDG as well. Courtship problems are demonstrated by two of his poster couples subsequently divorcing soon after publication (and the hypocrisy of editing their stories out of subsequent releases).

Through most of the book, Harris fills the book with a huge amount of fluff and little value in the actual intended topics – fully expected when even Harris “never meant to become an expert on relationships” (p19). Furthermore, Harris embraces the typical traditional feminist tropes, including acceptance of fornication, divorce and remarriage, and blaming those things upon men instead of the women partaking in them.

All told, this book represents a defensive rewashing of IKDG, reinforcing the same errors with a hypocritical tone, and adding little valuable when it comes to dealing with a relationship. While a much better written and entertaining effort than IKDG, the fundamental problems represented by courtship remain, namely the backdrop of the idea of “God’s The One” and emotional intimacy. When even the author himself admits that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, it is wise to steer clear of taking any prescriptions he makes seriously. As described in the previous posts, books by Drs. Cloud and Townsend would be far better choices.

Rating: 3 out of 10.

Book Cover Image Source: Wikipedia

Courtship: Rotten Stinking Fruit

Previously, the moral attitudes expressed in Joshua Harris’ book I Kissed Dating Goodbye were discussed. Some of the practices stemming from such things, along with the effects will be discussed here. Most who have followed this blog and others will know where this heads. Effectively, as traditional feminism goes, the process of going to the altar for marriage is always to prepare a man to accept female domination (she breaks it off if it does not occur). Namely, the system that stems from this is called courtship, as in knights of the court. Harris’ version could be considered as such a thing on steroids, which unfortunately is what is meant these days when “court” is referred to by others.

Dating Is A Dirty Word
One constant you will find in the courtship movement, stemming from these teachings, is a vilification of dating, and Harris is no exception. Contrasting his chapter on why dating is defective with the rest of the book, Harris neglects to address any of the obvious deficiencies, which is especially telling since courtship exacerbates many of his “dating” problems. Courtship is perfect and is God’s plan. Dating is not. Courtship is not for fun. Dating is about personal gratification and an end in itself. It brings all kinds of temptation to sin. No distinction between casual dating and dating to determine suitability (long-term dating) is even made. If you date, you’re bad, evil, and sinful. It is mindful to remember that this kind of blindness in the minds of “Christian” leaders and parents has contributed to this mess.

Enter the FRIEND ZONE!
To begin in the system laid out by Harris, contact with the opposite sex should generate friendship. As Harris notes as a problem with dating, it skips the “friendship” stage (1). Remember, the goal is to maintain emotional purity and not create situations where intimacy can happen. Harris states that intimacy and friendship are confused, so the difference must be known (2). The answer presented to this is that interaction may only occur in groups. (3) Harris gives an example where a young woman called and cancelled a gathering with a man because the others cancelled and they would be by themselves. Further examples of this practice:

(regarding two church members, a single man and a single woman)
Back to the story: The man was driving down a local roadway when he saw the woman on the side of the road, her car broken down and she was in very obvious need of outside help. She saw the man, recognized him, he recognized her, and to her shock he drove right by. When the man was confronted later about leaving his sister in Christ on the side of the road to fend for herself, he responded by saying that he was “fleeing the appearance of evil,” was torn up inside about leaving her, but said he feared verbal reprisal from church leadership over it.

The deliberate plan is to create and legislate a friend zone which all men must enter and observe, at pain of the fear of God. Now given the nature of traditional feminism, you get a legion of male beta orbiters as a result, out to try and get noticed by the women. All they can do is hover around, be friendly when spoken to, but try not to be seen as seeking intimacy by being forward in seeking a woman’s attention and time (and possessing self-respect), and hoping a woman will notice them enough to take interest. Any more brings the wrath of the parents and the church down.

This falls into the standard feminist dogma that the man should supplicate to the woman and if he works hard enough and serves her just right, she’ll accept him. Note the difficulty is increased by women with these same teachings in their minds running from any chance of this within their church groups. Of course, outside is always another story. Interestingly enough, the group-only system (no one-on-one communication) exacerbates the problem Harris notes with dating, as how well can you get to know a person in this way to be able to know if you have interest in anything further?

This passivity is also taught directly (4) in terms of the story of Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 24), which is where a lot of the “God will bring the perfect man or woman into your life at the right time” teaching goes (Ruth is also used). This is also a common thread of “True Love Waits” movement. It is notable that with God, faith is always rewarded in action, but since action creates temptation for sin in this system, action is always a sin.

Let Me Be Your Supplicating Beta Tool
Now if the man in this situation happens to get a woman to notice him, our beta orbiter gets to graduate to a supplicating beta. Let us remember that commitment in the minds of these people is marriage, so if the man is to pursue this woman, he must be ready to marry her right away with limited to no communication, and limited to no knowledge of this woman, incumbent on her approval of course. Any failure of the venture to proceed directly to marriage (courtship periods must be short) becomes “defrauding” the woman.

A courtship venture begins by the man asking the woman’s father/parents for his approval to “court” his daughter. (5) It may be many months of the man measuring up to the woman’s family’s expectations (“Dance Little Piggy, show you’d do anything for her!) before they get to formally court. When it comes time to formally court, it’s done under the watchful eye of her parents and others, who can break it off at any time. Notably if this sounds a bit like arranged marriage, it does, and interesting enough, many in the courtship movement speak approvingly of such things.

I’m also reminded of shows like the Bachelor and Bachelorette, in remembering one of Harris’ reasons dating is defective: That it creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s character (6). Courtship does it in a worse way, as it much more of an environment where “the best foot is always put forward” and people can be fake in the name of appearances, hiding themselves from their prospective spouses.

Friend or Wife, Nothing In Between
I’ll conclude this post with a quote, summarizing it all:

The courtship system places far too much heaviness on male-female interactions because it creates an artificial, either/or mentality. Either a guy must treat a girl “like a sister,” or else he is sinning, or else he enters into a courtship with her. And a courtship isn’t merely “dating,” as Josh Harris has made clear in both of his books. Courtship is “interaction with a purpose, which is the intent of exploring the potential for marriage in a relationship.” Courtship as I saw it play out at my former church also involved a great deal of parental supervision and direction.

If that ain’t heavy, then she’s your sister! 🙂

It just seems like if there were some middle ground – a place where guys could acknowledge that they find women attractive or alluring, and even spend time with them that wasn’t automatically geared toward marriage OR viewed as “casual and therefore sinfully lustful” – then maybe this wouldn’t be such a huge “thing.”

When faced with a hands-off or marry her NOW environment with the force of both parental discipline and church discipline, no wonder most men are just sitting on the sidelines in the church environment. Until next time, when the topic will be the motivations behind all of this from the parents (specifically centering on the homeschool movement).

(1) I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris p 34 (2) ibid p 128. (3) ibid p 94. (4) ibid p167. (5) ibid p215. (6) ibid p41.

Here’s Why Christian Mating Is So Messed Up.

As discussed last time, the doctrine represented within I Kissed Dating Goodbye and the popularity of that book. While much of the results of the doctrine have already been addressed in numerous posts here, it is useful to address it in a more formal way. It’s always good to note that practice always begins with moral doctrine, and this post will address that.

Lowering the Bar
Much of the whole issue brought up in the entire book is typified in what Harris presents in the first chapter. He begins the first chapter with the story of a marriage ceremony. But it takes an interesting turn:

But as the minister began to lead Anna and David through their vows, the unthinkable happened. A girl stood up in the middle of the congregation, walked quietly to the altar, and took David’s other hand. Another girl approached and stood next to the first, followed by another. Soon, a chain of six girls stood by him as he repeated his vows to Anna. (1)

Harris then goes on to describe the source of this scenario.

Anna told me about her dream in a letter. “When I awoke, I felt so betrayed,” she wrote. “But then I was struck with this sickening thought: How many men could line up next to me on my wedding day? How many times have I given my heart away in short-term relationships? Will I have anything left to give my husband? (2)

Note the bar is lowered from sexual purity (Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:18) in dealing with the opposite sex to an emotional one. In other words, it is taught in Christian circles (over the last 2-3 generations now) that if any emotional attachment is generated, then it becomes a breach of the sanctity of marriage.

Emotional Purity
Harris couches this in terms of the selfish pursuit of short-term romance and calls it “sinning against one another”. (3) While it makes sense from a certain point, practicality negates it. Much of what Harris writes is in terms of maintaining purity and blamelessness before God in terms of opposite-sex interaction. He goes on to define this purity by the idea of seeking commitment before intimacy (4), going on to say that intimacy is the reward of commitment (5) and that intimacy “costs” commitment (6). In this sense, he goes on to describe this purpose to be marriage. (4) In other words, commitment is marriage, and commitment is required before any emotional attachment or interest can take hold.

Regular readers of this blog will be reminded that this is exactly how pornography is treated within marriages in the church.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)

Using this Scripture, marriage breaking adultery in these circles is reduced to an emotional feeling of lust towards a woman. If the wife even thinks the husband is looking at another woman, it becomes grounds for her to break up the marriage.

Retroactive Marriage
Harris applies this to the seeking of a mate, creating a retroactive state of marriage. In other words, you may be committing adultery with someone else’s wife and against yours, if you hit on the wrong woman. In effect, much of the attitude of the EAP with overly high standards who are told that God has the perfect man for them out there (Harris also echoes high standards – 7), and the marriage with Jesus.

Since emotional purity is considered paramount in Harris’ paradigm, the idea of “guarding one’s heart” is brought up. This comes in the form of not only maintaining emotional purity, but watching out for others in the same way (8). As one might be able to figure out, it is a bit different than the Scriptural meaning (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:17-20). This is done by appropriating examples of physical intimacy and writing emotional intimacy over them (9). While much of what is indicated is appropriate, such as avoiding situations where sin is possible (9), and that big sins take little steps (10) by using the example of David and his sin with Bathsheba, the conflation of thought with sin becomes a problem when it is coupled with the paradigm of emotional intimacy.

This is especially true in looking at Harris’ material. While he points out that physical intimacy can easily be “mistaken” for love (11) and that David’s problem was that he “lusted” Bathsheba, the conflation of emotional and physical confuses matters:

Next, the relationship often steamrolls towards intimacy. Because dating doesn’t require commitment, the two people involved allow the needs and passions of the moment to take center stage. The couple doesn’t look at each other as possible life partners or weigh the responsibilities of marriage. Instead, they focus on the demands of the present. And with that mindset, the couple’s physical relationship can easily become the focus. (12)

The mere fact of being attracted to a member of the opposite sex becomes “mistaking lust for love”, which makes being attracted to a member of the opposite sex a sin in the name of guarding one’s heart. Given this expectation outlined by Harris, since attraction can lead to infatuation, which is displacing God as the focus of one’s affection (idolatry), avoiding attraction becomes incumbent. (13)

Harris further states that “guarding one’s heart” involves preventing lust. As he writes of lust: “For example, when I as a single man look on a woman who is not my wife (which right now means every woman) and immorally fantasize about her, I am lusting; I am setting my heart on something God has placed off limits.” (14) While the linkage between lusting and coveting is obvious in Scripture (Exodus 20:17; Romans 7:7), the concept of sexual possession gets lost in Harris’ text when bounced against emotional intimacy. Guarding one’s heart against lust becomes eliminating even the possibility of lust.

So in other words, being attracted to the member of the opposite sex that’s not your spouse becomes sinful to act upon. Therefore, in children (2-3 generations now), parents, youth pastors, leaders, and the like drum these kinds of things into their heads continually, enforcing them vigorously as well. Here’s why Christian dating is messed up . . .

Legalism Supporting Traditional Feminism
Much of the problem with looking at Harris’ material is, that like most false teaching, it seems reasonable, and in a certain way is good in isolation, taken in the proper way, evaluated against Scripture. But bounce them against this emotional intimacy error (extra-Biblical), and it then becomes an issue where mating and attraction becomes stifled in the fear of God, even to the point that single men and women fear each other to the point of obvious sin. Take people running with the things written to extremes and you get legalistic requirements to “maintain purity” before God which are far beyond His expectation. It seems obvious given our physical natures and requirements that attraction is not sinful, but a necessity in making marriages happen. Again, for those Christians reading this: Being attracted to a member of the opposite sex is okay. Attraction is not sinful.

Traditional feminism seems to play a part in this as well, which Harris reinforces (15). The fantasy of the damsel in the tower isn’t so pure and preserved if multiple princes leave the Princess there instead of rescue her and give her a “and they lived happily ever after.”

Continuing . . .
The desire of the parents to make the fairy tale come true at all costs, among their other desires, has unfortunately burned the whole thing down for those who have been indoctrinated in it. Given the 2-3 generations, we now have 20, 30, and even 40 year olds paying the price for this. Unfortunately, rather than fixing this and the other problems introduced by the “leadership” regarding dating, their only answer is to issue hateful man-up rants to the men. The next post will investigate Harris’ paradigm in practice, along with the effects of it upon those who are “Christians”.

(1) I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris p 17-18. (2) ibid p 18. (3) ibid p 26. (4) ibid p 23. (5) ibid p32. (6) ibid p77. (7) ibid p135. (8) ibid p97. (9) ibid p19. (10) ibid p88. (11) ibid p35. (12) ibid p36. (13) ibid p141. (14) ibid p143. (15) ibid 214-215.