This episode of The Screwtape Letters Podcast: Confronting Evil in Our Time features an in-depth interview with David Bates, co-founder and host of the long-running C.S. Lewis podcast Pints with Jack. Ian Faith and Galen Balinski open by sharing the heart behind their own devotional and podcast, born out of real spiritual battles, and welcome David as both a friend and an early supporter of their work. David shares his personal faith journey, describing how a childhood exposure to Christianity became a deeply personal commitment during university through prayer, Scripture, and formative encounters with God, particularly through practices like Lectio Divina that continue to shape his family life today.

David then traces the origins of Pints with Jack, which began organically as a small in-person reading group centered on Mere Christianity and unexpectedly grew into a nine-year podcast journey through much of Lewis’s major works. He explains how his early love for The Chronicles of Narnia reignited in adulthood, eventually leading him to Lewis’s apologetic, philosophical, and fictional writings. The podcast’s mission, he emphasizes, is to serve as an “on-ramp” for readers, helping modern audiences understand Lewis’s language, historical context, and interconnected ideas so they can more fully access the depth and coherence of Lewis’s thought.

The conversation closes with a thoughtful discussion of C.S. Lewis’s early life, loss of faith, and eventual conversion, shaped by suffering, war, and intellectual honesty. David highlights Lewis’s commitment to “mere Christianity” as a unifying core of the faith, transcending denominational divisions, an especially poignant theme given Lewis’s Irish upbringing amid sectarian conflict. The episode underscores a shared conviction between hosts and guest: that authentic Christianity should be evident in one’s life, marked by prayer, charity, and unity. Listeners are encouraged to explore Pints with Jack and continue the journey of confronting evil not through division, but through deeper faith, wisdom, and love centered on Christ.

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If you’re tired of pretending everything is fine, this is the book you need. Confronting Evil in Our Time - Now on Amazon https://amzn.to/3XgCodL

Our Guest, David Bates, Pints with Jack Podcast https://www.pintswithjack.com/

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The episode centers on the idea of catharsis, its roots in Greek tragedy and how it shows up today in social media outrage, reality TV, and public emotional outbursts. Ian and Galen contrast classical and modern understandings of catharsis with Christian wisdom, arguing that while emotional release is often celebrated as healthy or therapeutic, unrestrained emotion can become destructive when detached from truth, reason, and moral order. They frame catharsis as something that, when unchecked, stands in opposition to civilization itself.

Drawing from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, particularly Letter 22, the hosts explore how evil reacts violently to genuine goodness. Galen explains that Screwtape’s explosive response to a wholesome woman illustrates how evil cannot tolerate what is pure, ordered, and joyful. This insight is connected to modern cultural and political reactions, where perceived wrongs often provoke irrational fury rather than thoughtful engagement. They also reference contemporary thinkers and events to show how emotional manipulation, through media, fake news, and outrage cycles, fuels chaos and societal breakdown.

The conversation concludes with a call for wise emotional restraint and civil discourse, especially among Christians. Citing Scripture such as Proverbs 29:11, Ian and Galen emphasize that wisdom governs emotion rather than venting it freely. They discuss the role of social media as a catalyst for unhealthy catharsis and stress the importance of responding with love, discernment, and truth instead of rage. The episode wraps with reflections on the mission of the podcast and the encouraging reception of their book, Confronting Evil in Our Time, reinforcing their aim to help listeners navigate a culture increasingly driven by unchecked emotion.

If you’re tired of pretending everything is fine, this is the book you need. Confronting Evil in Our Time - Now on Amazon https://amzn.to/3XgCodL

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Ian Faith Co-Author of Confronting Evil in Our Time provides a reading of Chapter 15, "Breaking Anxiety's Grip.”

Introduction: In the quiet of his study, C.S. Lewis leaned forward, his fingers tracing the delicate lines of the manuscript that explores one of humanity's most profound spiritual struggles. Anxiety, he understood, was not merely an emotion but a demonic strategy, a subtle weapon designed to tear humans away from the sacred present.

The demonic realm understands something crucial: when our minds are fixated on potential disasters or imagined triumphs, we miss the sacred reality of today. This letter exposes how anxiety functions as a spiritual weapon, pulling us away from where God actually meets us, right here, right now. Lewis points out that the demonic will always try to get us to go in one of two directions: either tortured fear or stupid confidence. This revelatory tactic, once identified and confronted with a biblical strategy, will change how anxiety affects your life exponentially.

If you’re tired of pretending everything is fine, this is the book you need. Confronting Evil in Our Time - Now on Amazon https://amzn.to/3XgCodL

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