“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis

Lewis may be best known for his fantasy epic “The Chronicles of Narnia,” but he was also a devout Christian whose theological works such as “Mere Christianity” and “Reflections on the Psalms” dealt with his personal relationship with divinity and organized religion. In “The Screwtape Letters,” Lewis mixes fiction with his religious interpretations, writing as if an agent of the Devil who is giving guidance to a young co-conspirator trying to co-opt a man’s soul to the depths of Hell. The book is short, but densely packed and I found myself rereading many of the fictional letters over and over again. Strangely perhaps, it reminded me of Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” in that this book also tries to set down a guide to living a moral life, albeit a Christian, rather than a Stoic, one. The form of the book is entertaining and catching in the sense that one has to remember that it is the Devil’s agent giving the advice so one has to do the opposite to avoid being ensnared by the Devil’s traps. Lewis makes the case for an uncomplicated and personal piety away from the trappings of religiosity, while never outrightly condemning the established Church.