【金句】C.S. Lewis - The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot...

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The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

通往地獄最安全的道路是漸進的——溫和的斜坡，腳下柔軟，沒有突然的轉彎，沒有里程碑，沒有路標。

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《螺絲釘信札》The Screwtape Letters相關內容

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One of the themes C.S. Lewis explored in The Screwtape Letters is the subtlety of the methods used by Satan and his angels in seeking to recapture Christians in their snare.

In one letter, senior devil Screwtape advises his nephew Wormwood to avoid anything that would hurry a man he has been tempting to awaken to a sense of his real position. Screwtape explains that while they know they have “introduced a change of direction in his course which is already carrying him out of his orbit around the Enemy,” the man “must be made to imagine that all the choices which have effected this change of course are trivial and revocable.” He adds that he is almost glad to hear that the man is still a churchgoer since “(a)s long as he retains externally the habits of a Christian he can still be made to think of himself as one who has adopted a few new friends and amusements but whose spiritual state is much the same as it was [before].”

Screwtape concludes his letter:

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis reminds us that, whether we realize it or not, we live on a spiritual battlefield. Is there anything in your life that is edging you out of the orbit around God and onto the gentle slope? In fighting this battle, we need on a daily basis to keep our focus on God, who is infinitely more powerful than Satan. And, as the Apostle Paul exhorted the believers in Ephesus, we need to “put on the whole armor of God” to “be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith…."
1 PETER 5:8-9 (ESV)

《螺絲釘信札》中，C.S. Lewis探討了一個主題，即撒旦及其天使們在試圖將基督徒拉回他們陷阱時所運用的微妙手法。

在一封信中，資深惡魔螺絲釘勸告他的侄子蟲木，要避免任何可能促使他誘惑的男人清醒過來，意識到自己的真實處境的事情。螺絲釘解釋說，雖然他們知道自己已經「在他的軌道上引入了方向變化，這已經把他帶離了圍繞著敵人的軌道」，但這個男人「必須被製造出一種想像，認為所有導致這一方向變化的選擇都是微不足道且可以撤銷的」。他補充說，他幾乎高興地聽到這個男人仍然是一個教徒，因為「只要他外部保留著基督徒的習慣，他仍然可以被製造出認為自己是一個採用了一些新的朋友和娛樂，但精神狀態與以前大致相同的基督徒」。

螺絲釘在他的信中得出了結論：

你會說這些都是微不足道的罪孽；無疑地，就像所有年輕的誘惑者一樣，你迫切地想報告一些令人驚嘆的邪惡行為。但請記住，唯一重要的是你在人與敵人之間製造了多大的隔閡。只要罪孽的累積效應是將人從光明推向虛無，那麼罪孽的大小就不重要了。如果打牌能達到效果，那麼謀殺就和打牌一樣好。事實上，通往地獄最安全的道路是漸進的——溫和的斜坡，腳下柔軟，沒有突然的轉彎，沒有里程碑，沒有路標。

在《螺絲釘信札》中，路易斯提醒我們，無論我們是否意識到，我們都生活在一個靈性戰場上。你的生活中是否有任何事情正在把你帶離上帝的軌道，並引向那條溫和的斜坡？在對抗這場戰鬥時，我們每天都需要將焦點放在上帝身上，因為祂比撒旦強大無數倍。而且，正如使徒保羅在以弗所書中敦促信徒們那樣，我們需要“穿上上帝的全身盔甲”，以“能夠站立得住，抵禦魔鬼的詭計”。

“務要謹慎，要警醒。因為你們的仇敵魔鬼，如同咆哮的獅子，走來走去，尋找可吞吃的人。你們要用堅固的信心抵擋他……”
彼得前書 5:8-9