Walking Through Deconstruction

“After growing up in the church, I deconstructed Christianity in college, as the apparatus of my youth group was removed and questions I’d never dealt with began to bear down on my fragile faith. I wish I’d had Ian Harber’s Walking Through Deconstruction then, but I am immensely grateful that with we have it now. With both compassion and conviction, equal parts comfort and confrontation, this book will help those deconstructing see a path toward reconstruction, guiding us toward a faith more rich, robust, and dynamic in discipleship to Jesus.”

“Ian Harber neither valorizes deconstruction nor dismisses this painful experience. As a result, he’s written a book that can help anyone undergoing this process as well as everyone who loves them. Walking Through Deconstruction deserves a wide audience and careful reading.”

“I picked up this book in hope of finding a resource to help me walk alongside those who are deconstructing. I found not only that, but also a powerful reminder of why the Christian faith drew my own heart back from the brink of unbelief. What a gift!”

“For too long we’ve treated deconstruction as an intellectual problem. We think that if we can correct someone’s bad ideas, then we can argue them back into the faith. But people aren’t brains on sticks. They’re people. Each has a story, emotions, hurts, joys, and unfathomable complexity. Ian Harber’s Walking Through Deconstruction is the first book I’ve encountered that cuts to the heart of deconstruction: a painful, confusing, heartbreaking crisis of faith. And Harber goes one step further, gently walking readers through the process of reconstruction. Not with modernist apologetics, but with ancient wisdom—the very beauty that pulled him out of his own crisis. Whether you’re deconstructing or someone you love is, Walking Through Deconstruction is a generous, hopeful invitation back to Jesus.”

“The conversation around deconstruction has too often turned into an abstract online battleground. Ian Harber reminds us what deconstruction is actually about: the people going through it. Wise, measured, and thoughtful, this is a book that meets this moment with grace and hope.”

“Having gone through it himself, Ian Harber is well-positioned to tackle the delicate topic of faith deconstruction in a way that is both loving and truth telling. This book will make those in the deconstruction process feel seen but also challenged. And it will help loved ones be better equipped to walk with the deconstructing in compassionate and constructive ways.”

Ian Harber is a writer and Christian media producer. He has written for The Gospel Coalition, Mere Orthodoxy, and RELEVANT. He writes about reconstructing faith in his newsletter Back Again, and about faith, media, and technology at Endeavor. He lives in Denton, Texas, with his wife and sons.