The 20th century Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis is known world-wide for having written many dearly held books in many important genres of Christian literature; for example he wrote timeless classics in apologetics (Mere Christianity). fiction/fantasy (The Chronicles of Narnia) and in the area of coping with real life suffering (The Problem of Pain). Lewis also set his pen to write regarding the important subject of spiritual warfare which goes on all around us; that book being "The Screwtape Letters." In this book, Lewis takes the standpoint of a Senior demon named Screwtape, so as to give us an inside view of what types of spiritual attacks we are succumbed to in our Christian lives.
The book is broken up into 31 letters that Screwtape writes to an underling demon named Wormwood, who he is training and discipling while Wormwood is working on his Christian "patient" to turn him away from God. Screwtape gives advice to Wormwood so as to get his patient to focus on mundane and worldly distractions and to abandon his faith, and thus ultimately to turn him into a future resident of hell. Many of Screwtape's suggestions to Wormwood are not meant to get the patient to outright deny God, but rather in a much more subtle way to get the patient to focus on such little petty things so as to slowly turn away from God without even realizing it; for example Screwtape advised Wormwood to get his patient to focus solely on the current physical realities around him rather than on future heavenly glories (letter #2), as well as getting his patient to choose the wrong types of friends to allow into his life who are seemingly innocent yet negatively influential on his faith (letter #10).
C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" is an excellent resource to better acquaint Christians of the diverse angles and attacks which the devil uses to distract and destroy us, thus giving us a higher knowledge and aptitude in which to resist him and protect our faith in God.
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8
