Zach Wilson-Outside Reading 1

One of my favorite books by Lewis is The Screwtape Letters, which tells the tale of demons trying to corrupt Christians and cause them to fail.  It is such an innovative perspective on the Christian life, and builds upon the foundation of Basic Christianity, which outlines the basic tenants of the Christian faith.  The goal of demons is to undermine the faith of the subject, and promote sin.  It provides perspective on the underpinnings of human nature and the process of how human nature can go awry.  The book is a set of fictional letters written by Screwtape, an older and more experienced demon to his younger nephew Wormwood.  Wormwood is charged with leading a man to the Devil and away from God.  There are several 'tools' in the demon's tool set, such as distraction, that Wormwood is guided towards.  Wormwood is passionate, yet naive demon who wants to guide men to hideously evil deeds.  However Screwtape advises him to take things slowly and steadily in tempting his subject, that "the safest path to hell is the gradual one."  This is particularly insightful to religious life, as oftentimes, temptation does not appear obvious or clear, but is more gradual and slow moving.