I’m reading C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, which is a series of letters wherein an older devil advises a younger one on how to make some Christian dude stop believing in God so he’ll go to hell. It’s fantastic. Very witty and very logical. C.S. Lewis accomplishes what has to be the hardest task in all of Western civilization: He makes Christianity seem logically true. It’s a subtle performance. By having the devil out there arguing against christian ethics, he puts you, the reader, in the position of arguing in favor of them. And of course there’s a sleight of hand whereby once you start agreeing with Christian ethics (as opposed to being completely self-centered) then you’re led into agreeing with Christian cosmology as well.

Anyway, the other great thing about the Kindle edition of my book is that it’s annotated, but the annotations are SO basic. I’m pretty sure this is a book for people who’ve never read a book before. And that’s one of the great things about Christian texts! People who don’t normally read books will be drawn to Christian books. And if they’re drawn to C.S. Lewis then they’re really fortune to be encountering some of the best that English literature has to offer. I can’t imagine the number of people who must’ve been turned on to the power of literature by works like this (Mere Christianity is another common gateway drug).

(Yes, those are notations for “shilling”, “Napoleon”, “Shakespeare”, “Swift”, and “publisher’s autumn list.” And the notations are exactly what you’d expect. The one for Napoleon reads: “Napoleon Bonaparte (1769– 1821) was a French military leader who assumed political power toward the end of the French Revolution.”)