{"id":1909057,"date":"2023-04-03T06:12:25","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T10:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/to-better-avoid-temptation-this-lent-revisit-the-screwtape-letters-or-its-many-spin-offs\/"},"modified":"2023-04-03T06:14:45","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T10:14:45","slug":"to-better-avoid-temptation-this-lent-revisit-the-screwtape-letters-or-its-many-spin-offs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/to-better-avoid-temptation-this-lent-revisit-the-screwtape-letters-or-its-many-spin-offs\/","title":{"rendered":"To Better Avoid Temptation This Lent, Revisit \u2018The Screwtape Letters\u2019 Or Its Many Spin-Offs"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fto-better-avoid-temptation-this-lent-revisit-the-screwtape-letters-or-its-many-spin-offs%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1909057&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>As people strive to practice prayer and fasting during Lent, it is not uncommon to experience an increase in temptation and weariness during the last few days of Lent, which used to be called Passiontide. It is a cross to bear and a crown to wear for those seeking virtue or holiness at any time of the year. However, staying strong in prayer and fasting is still the best route to take. One way to stay focused and boost morale during this period is through spiritual reading.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1448634971\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3b9930e3be8f1206b694da3854d82973 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3b9930e3be8f1206b694da3854d82973\"><\/div>\n<p>When it comes to temptation, there is one work that stands above the others: C.S. Lewis\u2019 \u201cThe Screwtape Letters\u201d. The book, written in 1942, is a fictional series of 31 letters from a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood. Wormwood is still learning how to do what demons do best \u2014 tempt souls away from God. Throughout the letters, Screwtape provides Wormwood with ample advice on how best to damn the soul of an unnamed British man referred to as \u201cthe patient.\u201d The letters cover a range of topics dealing with all the normal vices we are tempted with in life such as pride, lust, gluttony, and moral laxity. But they are always explained in a manner that makes Lewis\u2019 insights and extensive literary and theological knowledge accessible to readers of all backgrounds.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis demonstrates deep psychological insight into the human condition and presents rather diabolical cunning that turns even the most mundane events in the life of \u201cthe patient\u201d into a stepping-stone for vice. \u201cThe Screwtape Letters\u201d is a work that presents the process of temptation as not being a single \u201cbig ask\u201d by the devil, but rather a gradual process that leads us toward damnation. The book highlights how we rationalize or show moral laxity in our actions as we walk ourselves into this pit one step at a time.<\/p>\n<p>The book remains a Christian classic that has inspired many authors to create imitations. The demonic advice format has almost become a sub-genre. Works such as Peter Kreeft\u2019s \u201cThe Snakebite Letters\u201d or his popular lecture \u201cHow to Win the Culture War,\u201d Dwight Longenecker\u2019s \u201cThe Gargoyle Code,\u201d Richard Platt\u2019s \u201cOne Devil to Another,\u201d and J.B. Cyprus\u2019 \u201cLetters to Bentrock\u201d are examples of such works. <\/p>\n<p>Cyprus has an innovative and modern take on the \u201cScrewtape\u201d format that takes place inside a prison. This fresh perspective makes \u201cLetters to Bentrock\u201d an engaging read for younger and more jaded audiences. There is also Jim Peschke\u2019s book \u201cThe Michael Letters,\u201d which looks at \u201cThe Screwtape Letters\u201d from the point of view of a guardian angel.<\/p>\n<p>For those who prefer audio formats, John Cleese\u2019s audiobook version of \u201cThe Screwtape Letters\u201d is well worth a listen. Marvel Comics produced a graphic novel based on the story as well. Focus on the Family also created a free online audio drama of all 31 letters. Although several stage productions of \u201cThe Screwtape Letters\u201d have been produced, no movie version has been made yet.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Carter, the creator of the TV series \u201cThe X-Files,\u201d produced a series called \u201cMillennium\u201d that aired for three seasons (1996-99). One of the episodes was called \u201cSomehow Satan Got Behind Me,\u201d and in it, four devils sit around a table in a donut shop talking about how they go about \u201cgutting souls\u201d in the modern age. <\/p>\n<p>Spending some time in reflection on the topic of temptation is time well spent. Holy Week is based on the 40 days that Jesus spent praying and fasting in the desert before beginning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For those who have earnestly spent Lent praying and fasting, it is not uncommon for some to experience an increase in temptation and weariness during the last days of Lent (what used to be called Passiontide). Combating our selfish desires and staving off temptations to vice is a cross to bear and crown to wear<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1909,"featured_media":1909058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[6962,5454,19119,7031,23305,23428,23427,12276],"class_list":["post-1909057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-the","tag-avoid","tag-lent","tag-letters","tag-revisit","tag-screwtape","tag-spin-offs","tag-temptation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1909057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1909057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1909057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1909058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1909057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1909057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1909057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}