Jonathan Bellamy spoke with author Derek Wilson

Derek Wilson

Earlier this year a new book by Derek Wilson, called Magnificent Malevolence: Memoirs Of A Career In Hell In The Tradition Of The Screwtape Letters was published. Written from the viewpoint of an active demonic being, the book is a commentary on the spiritual forces at work throughout the twentieth century or so, both in the Church and also in the wider world. Jonathan Bellamy spoke with Derek to find out more.

Jon: Can you describe how the inspiration for your narrative developed?

Derek Wilson: Well, it didn't really begin life as a book. It came out of my daily Bible reading and reflections and what was being impressed upon me was that we have a cosmic gospel. Jesus knew this, Paul taught this and many of our best Christian exegetics through history, including John Milton and CS Lewis, were acutely aware of this spiritual battle going on. So I got to looking again at the Screwtape Letters and was particularly struck by the last word that CS Lewis puts into the mouth of Screwtape. He says, "Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps of the altar". We do battle against spiritual wickedness in high places and the primary objective of the Devil is to hinder, oppose, undermine, compromise and generally screw up everything Christians attempt in the name of the Lord. You know this, Jonathan; you encounter it every day in your work. The more I thought and prayed, the more it seemed to me that the line of thought had been given to me for a purpose and should be shared. CS Lewis said that we can make two mistakes about the Devil: we can refuse to believe in his existence or we can become fixated on him. Lewis used humour to try to help us get a sensible balance and I think he was right.

Jon: In many ways the book provides a context for your personal interpretation of the spiritual forces at work in the world and Church events throughout the twentieth century. How confident are you in your personal spiritual discernment to back up these interpretations and was it difficult to assert them in your writing?

Derek Wilson: That's a very fair question and one that's difficult to answer without falling into spiritual arrogance I suppose. Of course I had to rely on my own judgement when deciding what to put in and what to leave out. I've been involved in leadership and teaching and mission at several levels and in different places over the last half-century. I've experienced at first hand many of the ways the enemy uses to frustrate God's work in God's world and of course I drew on this experience - and of course my judgement can be off-key. But if the impulse to write the book was of God and if prayer works then I think the end result is something God can use. You asked, "Was it difficult?" No, not really. I never felt more as though I was just a pen in God's hands. I rarely knew at the beginning of the day what I was going to write. By the end, what ended up on the page was quite often a surprise.

Jon: Of course, having done that, many Christians who read the book may feel an uncomfortable prod by your challenge of certain ideologies and activities, for example your take on the prosperity gospel. When you write about the failings of the Church, their doctrine or Christian leaders, is it difficult to hold that tension between not being afraid to identify failure versus straying into judgementalism and how do you balance truth and grace?

Derek Wilson: Wow, you ask some probing questions Jonathan and that's good, thank you. My first response is that this is a positive book. It's not a sequence of personal carping criticisms. I'm not against any Christian group or individual. But if there is a battle going on, then we have an enemy and an important element to military strategy is "know your enemy". I've looked at some of the battles and skirmishes in various parts of the Church over recent decades. Some we lost; some by God's grace we won - but win or lose, past campaigns are of no use to us unless we learn from them. If some brothers or sisters think I've trodden on their toes there are two things I want to say. First, I'm sorry if you're hurting; secondly, in the words of Oliver Cromwell, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, consider the possibility that you might be wrong". What we read in 1 Peter is crucially true: our enemy, the devil, is prowling around like a lion, always, always, always looking for some Christian or group of Christians or Church to chew up and spit out the bits. Well if we are vigilant, if we are aware of the chinks in our armour, if we are well versed in the enemy's stratagems, we will be able, as James says, to resist him and if we resist him, he will flee. Incidentally there are many examples in this book of the enemy doing just that: fleeing.

Jon: You're right in what you say. When I read the book, which is from the basis of one demon, in parts of it, he was identifying the flaws and failings and vulnerabilities of the Church but other parts, there was recognition of the global progress made by the Church over the last hundred years. In your research and evaluation, how would you say that you personally identify the strength and effectiveness of the Church today from what it was say a hundred years ago? Would you say it's stronger and healthier?

Derek Wilson: I'm hopeless at mathematics and even more hopeless at spiritual mathematics. Thanks to our modern communications technology we are more aware than ever before of the global situation, but I don't find it easier to say that things are better or worse. Like you, Jonathan, there are stories that make me want to sing out "Alleluia" and others that drive me to my knees in disappointment and frustration and shame and repentance. But one thing that obviously has changed over the last hundred years is the sheer pace of change. That's a recurring theme of the book, for example: how is the cosmic war now being fought out on the internet? How can we use this fantastic technology for the gospel and how can the enemy use it to undermine the gospel by preying on people's weaknesses, spreading false teaching, presenting a distorted view of the Church? You know the sort of stratagems he's up to. Just as we go on developing new weapons to wage territorial warfare, so we and our enemy are faced - are forced to use new means of spiritual warfare. The war's an old one - as old as the cosmos itself - but the battle tactics constantly change. We need to keep up to date.

Jon: You declare on the book cover that it's written in the tradition of The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. Can you identify the main Christian writers who've influenced you the most and how?

Derek Wilson: Well, I'm an enormous fan of CS Lewis, as you may have guessed. I'm privileged in this fiftieth-anniversary year of his death to be delivering some talks about him in various churches round the country. He was blessed with a brilliant mind, a warm humanity and a deep spirituality. I've recently been reading some of his letters. He was a prolific correspondent: he received letters from friends and fans all over the world and always replied. His collected letters run to seven volumes with so much wisdom in them and humanity and humour. But he's only one of a countless number of Christian thinkers who have left us their insights over the centuries. Perhaps it's because I'm a historian that I prefer to dip into the immense treasury of poets, exegetics, devotional writers, preachers and mystics of the past rather than looking for the latest Christian guru. As I run my eye over my own bookshelves I see names of faith heroes who have plumbed far deeper depths than I've yet reached: St Augustine, Bonheoffer, Martin Luther, Julian of Norwich. I can write about the faith; those who really impress us, inspire us, are those that live it, often at great personal cost. It was John Wesley who said, "Rejoice in the truth wherever it's found: the truth that springs from godliness".

Jon: What's your aspiration and hope that this book will achieve?

Derek Wilson: Oh gosh, Jonathan, aspirations! They're not very real are they? Our understanding of God's purposes are so limited. You and I do what we led to do, say what we're led to say, write what we're led to write. If we've got it halfway right then God will use our words and views to his glory, usually in ways we could never have foreseen or hoped for. What was it God said to Isaiah: "My word will accomplish what I send it forth to do". All of us are called to be a part of that process, whether we are writers or broadcasters or nurses or office workers or whatever. That's the contract we signed up to, isn't it?

You can buy Magnificent Malevolence from Cross Rhythms Direct for £7.59.