Book Recommendation
Dive into a Modern-day take on The Screwtape Letters: Dear Judas
Author: James Finke
Genre: Supernatural Christian Fiction
Have you ever wondered if there’s an unseen world? Like, spirits working behind the scenes to impact our lives? Some skeptics who pride themselves on walking by sight and not faith will tell you it’s all rubbish. They’ll say that what we see with our eyes is really all we can (and will) get. But Dear Judas begs to differ.
To give you an unsolicited back story, I was craving a new read (despite having many pending books on my shelf). I wanted something that highlighted the supernatural, all while telling the story of a regular character living a regular life. That’s when Dear Judas popped up in my search, and immediately, I added it to my cart.
If you’ve ever read The Screwtape Letters, then you know that there’s a senior demon giving insight to his nephew, a junior demon, on how to lead someone away from God to hell. Well, author James Finke reimagines that with a clever name for the junior demon—Judas —and takes us on a journey in which Judas gets evil pointers from Legion Grimshaw III, a supervising demon. He seeks to use those same pointers in the life of an Atheist trying to come to grips with life after a near-death experience. A pro-science guy at heart, the main character, Tommy, knows there’s more to life, but Judas’ plan is to keep him from connecting that “more” to God.
Just like you, you may have hit moments in your own life where you’re telling yourself, “There has to be more to life than this.” Or you may be a believer who has already come to that conclusion, but now life after salvation is becoming unexplainably rough.
Finke introduces the reality of spiritual warfare as the reason behind many things we can’t truly explain. I like how Pastor Tavares Robinson defines spiritual warfare: It’s when Satan begins to single you out to oppose you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to get you to see things his way. And this is what we see Judas trying to do in Tommy’s life—Get him to question Christianity, cause him to view his wife as a nagging enemy, and make him prioritize things like his career, which has no real eternal value.
What I like about Finke’s approach is that, in between his storytelling, we see explicit tactics that Satan’s minions use to wreak havoc in our lives. What we may have overlooked is well-thought-out plans to move us away from God, one troubling act at a time. In case you didn’t know, according to Dear Judas, Demons seek to lead us away from God’s intentions by causing us to:
- get distracted with everyday concerns.
- question the mercy moments that God has shown in our lives.
- and become internally conflicted because of insecurities and flaws. With this one, they hope that our shortcomings make our walk with God less attractive and more puzzling.
While many people question the reality of the unseen world, demons like Judas understand what’s truly at stake. It’s important that souls of infinite value do not get to experience peace and everlasting joy in a place where God resides.
The great news about this book is that it ends on a positive note. But the reality is that not many believers make it out on the other side after experiencing spiritual warfare. Contrary to some beliefs that only the truly saved will overcome, there are genuine people who did start off on the right path with God, but they could not overcome the schemes of the enemy.
God is gracious, and we can experience His empowering grace through reads like Dear Judas, where we learn about pitfalls and how to truly fight the good fight of faith, knowing that God, in His almighty power, can help us overcome the Devil.
I’ll leave you with this quote from C.S. Lewis:
“The enemy will not see you vanish into God’s company without an effort to reclaim you.”
Photo Credit: James Finke. authorjamesfinke.com
