{"id":7814,"date":"2011-11-21T21:03:23","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T01:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=7814"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:45:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:45:58","slug":"dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Editors: Family Life Today Promoting Gerald Sittser’s New Book, “Water From a Deep Well.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
\n<\/strong>(used with permission)<\/p>\n

Dear Lighthouse Trails,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m pasting in below the comments I sent to Dennis Rainey at www.familylifetoday.com<\/a>, after hearing their radio program today, promoting Gerald Sittser’s new book, “Water From a Deep Well.” \u00a0Please inform your readers:<\/p>\n

Dear Family Life,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please take seriously my caution on promoting the idea that the teaching of the Desert Fathers is a quest to return to some “lost disciplines” of an assumed “authentic Christianity” from the ancient past. \u00a0If one does responsible research, tons of documentation shows the “Desert Fathers” were … early Roman Catholics, frustrated with their lack of “experiencing God” within the confines of the sacramental-based way of “salvation” taught in the RCC. \u00a0They denied the new birth by grace through faith and continue to today. \u00a0They were not “Christian” by biblical definition from the start. \u00a0If one studies their writings honestly,\u00a0he will\u00a0discover that they sought to combine the mystical experiences of eastern mysticism with the fundamentals of Roman Catholicism to gain “direct revelation and experiences” with spiritual entities they only assumed to be the God of the Bible. \u00a0The dangers of this serve as clear warnings (1 Tim.4:1, 2; 2 Tim.4:1-5). \u00a0<\/p>\n

We cannot assume that practicing what they preached and promoted as “ways to God” will lead us there just because that is our intent. \u00a0Employing the advocated practices, techniques and methods of “approaching God” gleaned from religions outside the unique confines of biblical Christianity is a dangerous endeavor. \u00a0Faith in not blind. \u00a0Just because they professed to be “seeking God” to achieve “deeper intimacy” with God is no reason to trust their teaching without the scrutiny of Scripture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0To seek God through these and similar Contemplative practices is an atheological exercise in deception. \u00a0With all due respect, Dr. Sittser is wrong with his entire premise, just as Richard Foster was wrong in his identical premise in his 1978 book, “The Celebration of Discipline.” \u00a0It is no wonder that Dr. Eugene Peterson has written the forward to Sittser’s book, as he and Richard Foster have headed the “Renovare’ Movement” for “Spiritual Formation” for a number of years. \u00a0I encourage you to do your homework and have supplied a link to make is easy for you:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/researchtopics.htm<\/a>\u00a0. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Just type in “Foster” or Renovare and read till your heart’s content.<\/p>\n

Please know also that the premises these men posit are foundational to the Emerging Church thinking ravaging the churches today. \u00a0You do not want to stand before the Lord one day, having promoted Sittser’s thesis. \u00a0(See also Roger Oakland’s book: \u00a0“Faith Undone” and former New Ager Warren Smith’s book, “The Light That Was Dark,” & Ray Yungen’s, “A Time of Departing.”<\/p>\n

Because He Lives and I Care
\nGreg A.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: (used…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,475],"tags":[138,968,1006,30,31],"class_list":["post-7814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-spirituality","category-letters-to-the-editor","tag-catholicism","tag-desert-fathers","tag-gerald-sittser","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-mysticism","wpcat-29-id","wpcat-475-id"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Editors: Family Life Today Promoting Gerald Sittser's New Book, "Water From a Deep Well." - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dear Editors: Family Life Today Promoting Gerald Sittser's New Book, "Water From a Deep Well."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LETTER TO THE EDITOR: (used...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-22T01:03:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T01:45:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Letters to the Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Letters to the Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Letters to the Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0\"},\"headline\":\"Dear Editors: Family Life Today Promoting Gerald Sittser’s New Book, “Water From a Deep Well.”\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-22T01:03:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-13T01:45:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Catholicism\",\"desert fathers\",\"gerald sittser\",\"contemplative prayer\",\"mysticism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"CONTEMPLATIVE\\\/SPIRITUAL FORMATION\",\"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/dear-editors-family-life-today-promoting-gerald-sittsers-new-book-water-from-a-deep-well\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dear Editors: Family Life Today Promoting Gerald Sittser's New Book, \\\"Water From a Deep Well.\\\" - 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