On Spiritual Warfare | From The Snakebite Letters | Peter Kreeft | Ignatius Insight
Taking his cue from the new literary genre invented by C. S. Lewis in Screwtape Letters, Peter Kreeft has gathered together fifteen spicy letters from Satan's agents below that allow the reader to spy into Hell's inter-office communication. Now that it is becoming more and more obvious that we are at war--not only cultural but spiritual war--it is also more necessary to understand our diabolical enemy and his strategy.
Combining satire, humor and devilish insights, these fifteen letters from Snakebite to his trainee, Braintwister, provide a complete Satanic strategy for corrupting American society, public and private morality, and the Church. Focusing especially on the critical areas of sex, media, liturgy, theology and religious education, these letters reveal the inroads that Screwtape's satanic American counterparts have made into subverting our modern culture. The Koran says: "Before shooting the arrow of truth, dip it in honey." This genre of devilish correspondence allows serious this-worldly social criticism to take the form of witty other-worldly letters.
This excerpt is Chapter One of The Snakebite Letters.
My dear nephew Braintwister:
As your great-uncle I was, of course, signally pleased when the Education Directorate asked me to train you as the new case officer for Patient No. 66,589/ADFgm. As a veteran, I do so enjoy working with fresh talent from the academy.
It's an unusual honor to be assigned to a new patient in the middle of his life. So perhaps you've been "noticed" by the Lower Downs. Doubtless you've also been briefed on the terrain: the regrettable failure of Wormhole, the comrade you're replacing, and the patient's recent conversion to the Enemy's Church. However, as I shall demonstrate below, all is not lost--by any means.
Take a lesson from Wormhole, though. Hell, unlike the Opposition, focuses quite realistically on results. Remember the ruling slogan of your plebe-year philosophy seminar: "Nothing succeeds but success." I also encourage you to review the fine print of your executive-incentive plan.
I'll miss Wormhole, naturally, but his work had been shoddy since the Cure d'Ars fiasco. And it's only fitting that the final act of his long, if undistinguished, career should be to nourish and refresh his fellow officers. I must say it's a gourmet's delight when a former comrade is sauteed to perfection for the rest of us to savor. The quality of human souls is so decidedly bland lately.
Well, to the business at hand: Your patient has become a Catholic. A modest setback. You novices don't realize how even an inconvenience like this can be turned to our advantage. This may shock you, since the Church is our only remaining earthly enemy of any substance, and his conversion to that Church is sincere--for the moment. But you forget that your patient is American; delightfully, typically American.
Comments