When a horrific, inexplicable act of intentional evil is carried out by someone, should we always blame it on ‘mental illness’? I think we need to examine the reality more closely in many cases and acknowledge that we are engaged in a battle with spiritual wickedness in high places.

1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (KJV)

Here are four famous quotes on the subject.

C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters, 1942):
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”

---

John Piper (Desiring God):
“Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth.”

---

Charles Spurgeon (sermon on The Christian Soldier):
“Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart. Anything which can divide saints from one another he delights in. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.”

---

A.W. Tozer (This World: Playground or Battleground?):
“People think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight; we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land; we are at home. We are not getting ready to live; we are already living. And the idea that this world is a battleground has now been rejected by the great majority of Christians.”