C. S. Lewis on Evil & “Enemy-Occupied Territory”

From C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity,” at the end of chapter 2; my abridgement

One of the things that surprised me when I first started reading the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. This Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, but then rebelled and went wrong. Thus this universe is at war, a civil war, a rebellion, and we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the Dark Power that is rebelling against good.

Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.

Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed—you might say landed in disguise as one of us—and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.

So when you go to church you are really listening-in to the secret communications from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going to church or reading the Bible. He does it by playing on our conceit and pride and laziness and intellectual snobbery.

I know some will ask me, ‘Do you really mean, at this time of day, to re-introduce our old friend the devil—hoofs and horns and all?’ Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. Yet in other respects my answer is ‘Yes, I do.’ But I do not claim to know anything about his personal appearance.

If anybody really wants to know him better I would say to that person, ‘Don’t worry, if you really want to know him better, you will. Whether you’ll like him when you do is another question.’