When I first met my husband my siblings convinced him that I was a dedicated follower of Joshua Harris' I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl. They led him into believing that if Josh said it, I believed it, no questions asked. I will admit there was a time when this may have almost been the case and I was often found stuffing Harris' dating guidlines down peoples throats! Although these days I may not be so accepting of all of Harris' views I still feel that he has so much beneficial to say to us. In Stop Dating the Church he moved on from dating to a practical theology of the church and this was for a while top of my favourite books list. It was then with great excitement that I awaited the publication of Dug Down Deep.
And I was by no means dissapointed. I feel that Dug Down Deep met a real gap in the market, a summary of doctrine which is readable but which doesn't by-pass difficult issues. It covers issues such as redemption, sanctification and the Holy Spirit but not in a distant and detached manner. The book starts with Harris' spiritual journey and why this is the truth that he believes. In a day in which many young people don't care about theology and doctrine and don't think about why they believe, what they belive I feel that this is important.
In issues such as speaking in tongues I can't agree with him but he deals with such issues of controversy in a fair and gracious manner. However, this is essentially not a book about Joshua Harris, this is a book about God and what he did through his Son for us and what this means for our lives today. It highlights again that doctrine isn't just for those in Theological Colleges or dark pannelled study's. It is for all of us. If we fail to grasp the basics and have an inadequate understanding of issues such as redemption, sanctification and the Holy Spirit, then it will affect how we live our lives, in a negative way. If we truly understand then our lives will be an example of 'Humble Orthodoxy'.
