Evangelical author and star of the ‘purity’ movement renounces his own book after seeing the damage it can do

An evangelical author has asked his publisher to stop printing his book advocating against teenage dating and physical intimacy before marriage.

Joshua Harris published the best-selling "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" in 1997, when he was 21 years old, but he has changed his mind over the years, reported Insider.

The book encourages young people to avoid dating, refrain from kissing and physical affection, and instead seek out a partner for marriage.

However, Harris has recently renounced the views he once promoted.

"In light of the flaws I now see in 'I Kissed Dating Goodbye,' I think it's best to discontinue its publication, as well other supplemental resources tied to it (this includes the two books I wrote after it whose content is similar)," Harris said. "My publisher, whose encouragement in this process has been deeply meaningful to me, supports this decision and will not reprint the books after the current copies in their inventory are sold."

Harris says in a new documentary, "I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye," that the purity movement, including him and his book, had negatively influenced their lives, and he now speaks with some of them by Skype to discuss what went wrong.

"You can have good intentions, and think you're making good decisions, but the effect in people's lives can be very different than you'd planned," Harris told NPR. "And that's the first time that I started thinking, 'Maybe there are problems with my book.'"