C.S. Lewis' Best Work

I know the Chronicles of Narnia are what made him a household name. And I love Mere Christianity, The Weight of Glory, Surprised by Joy and The Great Divorce as much as the next person, but when it comes down to it, nothing beats

The Screwtape Letters.

Hear me out, ok.

For those of you unfamiliar with the title, I'll fill you in. The entire book is a series of letters written from Uncle Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape and Wormwood both work for the devil, as tempters, and though Screwtape is a master, his nephew is just learning the craft. They are assigned people on earth, and it is their duty to keep them from becoming Christians. They are the antithesis of guardian angels if you will. Screwtape attempts to educate Wormwood on how to exploit human weaknesses and caution him against the nature of God, or as he calls Him, "The Enemy".

The book is pure brilliance, I'm telling you. Some people struggle a little bit because what is good to the Christian is bad in this book. So Satan is "Our Father", God is "The Enemy" and Screwtape talks about winning men over in sin.

Check it out -

"Once you have made the world an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man"

"if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles"

"Pleasure is His invention, you know"

"They will then progress quietly and comfortably towards Our Father's house"

"We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heal the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present"

#eucharisteo #1000gifts

"They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong - certainly, not to them"

Debbie gave a wonderful talk at InterVarsity about entitlement vs entrustment; we don't deserve our time, or any of the gifts we receive, but they are given us that His name be great.

"Out at sea, out in His sea, there is pleasure, and more pleasure. He makes no secret of it; at His right hand are 'pleasures for evermore'"

"We thus distract men's minds from who He (Jesus) is, and what He did"

"What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call 'Christianity and'"

This is so powerful, in that is shows that when Christ is not our full devotion, and we yet cling to something else, we remain in the hands of our enemy.

The Screwtape Letters is legitimately one of the best books I have ever read, and I probably say that a lot, but when you read a lot of books, you get to have a lot of bests, ok?

If I had to make a top 5 right now, Screwtape would be in it. (Along with...1,000 Gifts, Desiring God, Chosen by God,  andddd I'm going to go ahead and throw Anna Karenina in there. Just because I can).