The Catholic Book Blogger
PETE: Slubgrip Instructs and your previous book Gargoyle Code clearly borrow a page from C.S. Lewis’ renowned classic The Screwtape Letters. How much has C.S. Lewis’ work influenced you in your conversion and your life as Catholic priest since?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER: I think C.S.Lewis’ greatest influence on my life is his ability and passion for communicating the faith in a way that is intriguing and entertaining. In so many of his books he is willing to cut through all the intellectual mumbo jumbo to write plainly. He makes theology fun to read with his creative, wit and zest for life. That’s what I am trying to do, and if I sometimes borrow his ideas I hope he won’t mind.
PETE: Slubgrip Instructs is a valuable read as far as learning about what themes in today’s society are attacking the Catholic faith. You wrote the book from the side using these tools and doing the undermining. How difficult was it to “walk in their shoes” while writing this book?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:I have always been suspicious and questioning about the values of the world. Maybe it is because my heritage is Amish and Mennonite! Those groups are never taken in by the silliness, the vanity and arrogance of the worldly ways of thinking. Consequently, I’ve always been ready to see beyond the attractions of the world and that helped me to see how the devil maneuvers and manipulates.
PETE: Who do you think would be attracted to this book and benefit the most from it?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:I hope college and high school students read it. Our Catholic young people are threatened by secular relativism and are having their faith challenged all the time. By having Slubgrip teach Popular Culture 101 I hope they will see some of the ideas they are being presented with in their true light. The book will also be good for Catholics who need to see past the culture we live in and understand the elements in our culture which run counter to true Catholicism.
PETE: Both Slubgrip Instructs and Gargoyle Code are ideal books for Lenten reading. In addition to reading what other Lenten practices do you recommend for Catholics to partake in?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:Prayer, Fasting and Giving Alms are the three classic tasks during Lent. Reading a good book should be a form of prayer during Lent. We engage our mind, we see things in a new way and this should help us to be more aware of how to pray and what to pray for. St Benedict told all his monks that each one should have a good book on the go during Lent. This was not something separate from their prayers, but an aid them in their pursuit of a deeper prayer life.
PETE: Will we be seeing more of the diabolical Slubgrip in future books?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:I think Slubgrip has gone below for a very long time…
PETE: Time for my signature ending question. This is a blog about books. What boos are currently on your bookshelf to read?
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:I just finished a delightful children’s hagiography of the Cure d’Ars, I’m reading the first book in Mircea Eliade’s history of religious thought, enjoying Taylor Marshall’s novel about St George called The Sword and the Serpent and I am reading The Joy of Being Wrong—a study of the thought of Rene Girard.
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Other titles by Fr. Dwight Longenecker
The Gargoyle Code: Lenten Letters between a Master Tempter and his diabolical Trainee
The Romance of Religion: Fighting for Goodness, Truth, and Beauty
More Christianity: Finding the Fullness of the Faith – Expanded Revised Edition
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