Sandi Patti's Journey into PsychoHeresy
PschoHeresy Awareness Letter	May - June 1993 p. 6

Psychological theories and therapies greatly influence how Christians think and act. Much of the influence is antibiblical. Such theories often provide explanations and excuses for doing what is forbidden in Scripture. The following scenario illustrates how psychology twists the thinking of Christians in such a way as to supply the basis for divorce and thereby supplant the Bible as God’s handbook for living.

In an interview in the April, 1993 issue of Contemporary Christian Music, Sandi Patti gives a psychological justification for who she is and hints at why divorce was an option for her. Patti says, "I brought so many wounds with me into my marriage" (p. 40).

She describes how she discovered those wounds: "That process really started about four years ago, when a friend of mine gave me a book. . . . It talked about behaviors in adults that indicate there might be some buried memories of some abuse."

The reading of such books has initiated many into blaming real or imagined early life experiences for present life problems. Patti says that she related to behavior problems described in the book. Then, after listing a number of them, such as "relationship problems, problems with intimacy on a physical level, overeating, an addictive personality as it relates to clinging to people and being dependent on what they think, not being able to speak up for what you feel, avoiding conflict," she concluded that "this is totally me" (p. 42).

We disagree with it being "totally" her. With all the self-help books, it is typical for individuals with various problems to read a book that describes generalized symptoms and to see themselves in the descriptions. Then they receive the explanations as to their origins and follow the prescriptions for what to do, whether that book or the application to their own life has any actual validity or merit.

The book cited by Patti contained one explanation for her present life. But, there are hundreds of other possible explanations. And those explanations are merely guesses; they are opinions. But the book’s descriptions, explanations and prescriptions were what made sense to Patti.

It is difficult to tell whether a real or false memory of abuse is involved. Patti says that a woman in a Bible study asked her the "right questions" which led her into about two years of counseling, during which she "began to uncover a week" of being abused by a babysitter while her parents were out of town.

If her memory was discovered and uncovered in a two-year process of therapy after she had already been indoctrinated by a book that fosters such mind expeditions, then we question the validity of such a memory.

Whether the memory is based on early history or on recent therapy, the alleged abuse is now how she is explaining her life. Thus far no biblical explanation has been given for the divorce—only psychological jargon related to "remembered" early life abuse.

Sandi Patti is a highly visible person in the evangelical church. She needs to come up with a biblical, not psychological reason for her divorce. Either she or her husband is in grave biblical error, and one or both should be confronted. Instead, she is being treated as a victim, survivor, and even heroine.

Besides being interviewed by Contemporary Christian Music, Patti was interviewed on TV’s "Entertainment Tonight." Her popularity is bound to influence others to look for memories of abuse to explain their present problems. And to follow psychology rather than Scripture.

Caveat emptor: Be wary of any "recalled memories" that are first remembered by means of psychological therapy, hypnosis, or support group interaction or that come during or after reading a self-help book on sexual or ritual abuse.

The Biblical Way

There is a biblical way of dealing with problems of living. Every one of the behaviors listed by Patti, which led her into thinking she must have been abused, are behaviors that can and should be corrected through biblical means.

Instead of searching the past to explain present sinful behavior, a Christian is to put off the old man and walk in newness of life (Romans 6-8). By turning to Christ whenever one is tempted, a believer can trust God’s faithfulness according to the promise of I Corinthians 10:13.

The Lord has provided the means to deal with and correct sinful behavior through confessing that sin (I John 1:9) and turning from it by the enabling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Christ lives in believers to empower them to walk in newness of life according to the Spirit. It is through knowing Him in each situation that a Christian becomes conformed to the image of Christ. It is by studying the Word of God and actively applying that Word daily. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds according to the Word of God, rather than popular opinions of men.

Even if one has been sexually abused in the past, that does not explain the present condition of a Christian who has become a child of God and who has been given a brand new life. Innumerable Christians who lived during the early years of Christianity came from a culture in which incest and other horrors were common. Yet there is no mention in Scripture that one must resurrect forgotten memories to be healed and transformed.

Even if one has truly suffered sexual abuse, Christ is still the answer. We have received letters from numerous people who testify to the faithfulness of Christ and the effectual working of Scripture in their lives and who declare without reservation that Jesus Christ is the answer to life’s problems, including the ravages of abuse.

Our second issue of PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter in 1993 included an article titled "Sandi Patti’s Journey into PsychoHeresy." At the time Patty (was Patti) had initiated divorce proceedings against her husband. In our article we accused Patty of using memories of abuse to explain her problems. We warned:

Caveat emptor: Be wary of any "recalled memories" that are first remembered by means of psychological therapy, hypnosis, or support group interaction or that come during or after reading a self-help book on sexual or ritual abuse.

In addition to accusing Patty of using her memories as an excuse for her divorce, we concluded that she had no biblical justification to obtain a divorce.

A recent World magazine article (September 16, 1995) states:

Ms. Patty, who claims to have been in counseling since 1989, attributes her pattern of "keeping secrets" to her childhood molestation, the memory of which she recovered in therapy.

The article reveals that prior to her divorce Patty was already involved in an adulterous relationship with Don Peslis, a former backup singer. Patty and Peslis both divorced their spouses and are now married. According to a Christianity Today article (October 23, 1995, p. 89), "Patty also admitted to another adulterous relationship."

The subtitle of the World magazine article is: "Gospel singer Sandi Patty confesses to adulterous affair." The title of the article is "She did it her way." Yes, she certainly "did it her way," but it was not God’s way. God’s way is not committing adultery or lying; nor is it God’s way to destroy two families and to stand as a horrible testimony to the world and to the children involved.

Psychotherapy may have made her feel better about herself while disobeying God and destroying her family. It may have given her some bogus excuses at the time. And, perhaps it’s helping her rationalize the pain she has caused others. But. that’s not God’s way.

"Sandi Patty Stages Comeback," Christianity Today announces in its 1/12/98 issue. The article reports:

For 1998, Patty has a growing number of performance dates, and there are signs that she is regaining her audience. . . . With lyrics such as "Breathe on breath of God. Cover my sin with your mercy," Patty may have found her own distinctive way to integrate a troubled past and an authentic music ministry.

The article quotes Patty as saying,

The owning, naming, and confessing of the sin in my life was the beginning of experiencing the freedom that only comes through Christ.

As with various past articles about Patty, the Christianity Today article refers to Patty’s adultery as "an extramarital relationship" and "an extramarital affair." We have followed the Sandi Patty "affair" since shortly after it became public because of the number of years Patty was involved in psychotherapy and using psych meds. In our original article we said:

In an interview in the April, 1993 issue of Contemporary Christian Music, Sandi Patti [changed to Patty] gives a psychological justification for who she is and hints at why divorce was an option for her. Patti says, "I brought so many wounds with me into my marriage."

She describes how she discovered those wounds: "That process really started about four years ago, when a friend of mine gave me a book,... .. It talked about behaviors in adults that indicate there might be some buried memories of some abuse."

The reading of such books has initiated many into blaming real or imagined early life experiences for present life problems. Patti says that she related to behavior problems described in the book. Then, after listing a number of them, such as "relationship problems, problems with intimacy on a physical level, overeating, an addictive personality as it relates to clinging to people and being dependent on what they think, not being able to speak up for what you feel, avoiding conflict," she concluded that "this is totally me.

Caveat emptor: Be wary of any "recalled memories" that are first remembered by means of psychological therapy, hypnosis, or support group interaction or that come during or after reading a self-help book on sexual or ritual abuse (PAL, VIN2).

Along the way we interviewed a number of her family members and friends. Think of the number of close relatives and other Christians who heard Patty’s admitted lies and later learned about the adultery. And, think of the effect on the children of the two divorces, hers and the man with whom she committed adultery and then married. To compound her admitted adultery and lying, Charisma (11/95) reported that Sandi Patty sought to "gain full custody of their four children" in the divorce.

Someone ought to ask John Helvering, Patty’s former husband, Helvering’s siblings, his parents, other relatives and friends the following question: "Has Sandi Patty ever named her sins of adultery and lying to you personally, given acknowledgment of your being the victims of her sinfulness, repented personally to you, and asked you personally for forgiveness?" Not just a "sorry-about-the-pain-I-caused-you," but a humble naming, admitting, and seeking forgiveness for her sins against God and against them. The true victims of this gross sinfulness on Patty’s part are her four children, her former husband, her former in-laws, other Christians, and, because she is so public, the church at large.

The case of Patty involves one of the most bankrupt systems of psychotherapy that exists today. The regressive, recalled memory psychotherapy has been the cauldron out of which all kinds of abominations have come. A report commissioned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Britain concludes that any memory recovered through regression therapy is almost certainly false.

Combine the sinful heart with the sinful flesh and you have the adultery and lying that have characterized Sandi Patty’s life. If she had chosen to be nurtured and corrected by God’s truth rather than the psychological opinions of men, she could have spared the families, children, relatives and other Christians the agony and tragedy she inflicted upon them.

Patty’s rising popularity is indicative of the trashed condition of Christians who claim the name of Christ but will not follow the doctrines of the Bible. Marrying a partner in adultery does not make the relationship right. It constitutes a continual condition of disobedience to God. How does one repent of adultery while one continues in an ongoing relationship with a former accomplice in adultery? Sin is further compounded while it festers under the unholy sanctions of a compromised institution.

Think of the words of her song, "Breathe on breath of God. Cover my sin with your mercy." Sandi Patty needs to know that God’s judgment is not based on popularity and that repentance precedes forgiveness and restitution follows.

In a public statement available to all who ask, Sandi Patty’s church concludes by asking, "What would Jesus do? In the end, we were left with John 8. He said to the woman caught in adultery, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.

Sandi Patty is sinfully divorced. Her own church says, "We allow Sandi to sing at North [her church]. We have no objection to her re-entry into a larger Christian music ministry, as well."

But, Jesus said, "Go and sin no more." The plain reading of the text was that the woman should not enter into any other sinful relationship. However, by God’s standards Sandi Patty simply moved from adultery into a sinful divorce and then into marriage with her adultery partner, who divorced his wife.

Such is often the fruit of modem-day psychology as it is wed to the professing church. Patty and many others in the church have followed the siren song of psychology with its facade of Christianity.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Ephesians 5:5-11).

When Christians follow the siren song of psychology and mix the wisdom of men with the Word of God, darkness with light, and the ways of the world with the ways of God, they become partakers with the children of disobedience.