I appreciate your comment and thank you for reading my review on Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. I do, however, wonder if you have actually read Dr. Donald S. Whitney’s book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life or if you have only read what Pastor Bob DeWaay has written. For example, DeWaay says more than a few times that Whitney endorses both Willard and Foster but never actually quotes or cites an endorsement by Whitney. It is one thing to quote someone and recognize the fact that they have been influential in the area of Spiritual Disciplines and something completely different to actually support and approve of all of their teachings even in a specific area.

If you’ll compare the sample chapter from Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that’s on Don’s website with the same chapter in the book, You will see that the references to Foster and Willard in the book have been removed from the website version. Whitney has told me he intends to remove all the handful of quotations from Foster and Willard in the next edition of the book. And incidentally, the book was written in 1991. Foster and Willard weren’t recognized for their errors twenty years ago as much as they are today. For instance, did DeWaay write about them then? Moreover, I believe Whitney has matured and sharpened his thinking on the subject since he was in his mid-30s. One place to see this is in an article written last year by Don entitled “Do I Have to Keep a Journal?”

Second, I would ask if you have read anything written by Whitney that addresses this exact issue? It is available on the Internet. For instance, you can read Don’s paper delivered at the Evangelical Theological Society in 2001 entitled “Defining the Boundaries of Evangelical Spirituality.” This is of note because DeWaay uses a subtitle in his blog dated March/April 2009 with the following words “Spirituality Without Boundaries.” It is also interesting that Don’s address at the ETS predates DeWaay’s blog by 8 years.

Third, Don has also addressed these issues (mysticism) at length in the book The Compromised Church edited by John Armstrong published in 1998. His chapter is entitled “Doctrine and Devotion: A Reunion Devoutly to be Desired.” He addresses both Foster and Willard’s mysticism in this article and has the same issues as DeWaay with their teachings. The difference being that Don is willing to acknowledge that where they agree with Scripture they have said a few things worth noting.

One other thing, evidently DeWaay admires John MacArthur and sees him as like-minded on these issues. I know that Whitney’s book has been held up in the pulpit of Grace Community Church and everyone was encouraged to buy it. Whitney has led a retreat for MacArthur’s church, and MacArthur wrote a foreword for the book Whitney wrote after Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Perhaps MacArthur–who knows Whitney personally–knows something about Whitney that DeWaay does not.

I would ask that you read these articles and compare what Whitney writes to what DeWaay charges. I believe you will find that DeWaay makes some fairly sweeping and unsubstantiated charges in his review.

God bless, brother.