A Brief History of the War for Souls

Since the creation of Adam and Eve, the Earth has been a battleground. Satan and the forces of evil have been fighting against God and the Heavenly Host of Angels and Saints ever since the Fall.

In terms of strategy, the Devil is trying to seduce and kill as many souls as he can. God wants every soul that He created to go to Heaven, but at the same time, He respects their free will and allows them to make their own choices.

The Devil is fighting a war of attrition. He is trying to steal away souls from God, as many as he can. At the same time, however, his best tactic is that of stealth. Satan is most deadly when no one believes in his existence. His blows are whispers of temptation and discord. Only rarely does Satan resort to direct action. He would prefer to sit in the shadows and nudge souls away from God.

The best way to describe how Satan kills souls is to draw a comparison to the process of addiction: already a demonic process. All Satan needs is the smallest of faults for an opening. He looks for a chink in our spiritual armor and that is where he strikes. But like the coward he is, Satan does not fight fair. He waits until we are at our lowest, physically and spiritually. He strikes when we are tired, hungry, angry, or depressed. Satan prefers to kick us when we are already on the ground. Small sins become larger and larger faults which we overlook. It is denial. The first and hardest step is to admit that we have a problem. Satan wants us to justify and defend our problems until they look insignificant or excusable.

God, on the other hand, relies on our weakness. He does not take advantage of our lowliness, rather, He embraces us for it. If the Devil is fighting a battle of attrition, God has already won the war through a preemptive strike. In a  word, God sent His special forces: Jesus, down to Earth to strike the Devil a finishing blow. The Redemption was the height of asymmetric warfare. The war for souls was won in an instant: when Jesus died for our sins. Christ dashed to pieces all the hopes of Satan. He stormed the stronghold of Hell, rending the gates of Acheron with his Godly might.

The war for souls has already been won. So where does that put us now? Obviously, the Second Resurrection has yet to occur. Spiritual warfare is still continuing. There is still sin. There is still death.

What we are engaged in now is a rear guard action of sorts. The Devil knows that he has lost the war, yet he continues in his arrogance to fight. While there are still souls that can be seduced, Satan will persist to seduce them.

Our objective, therefore, as the Militia Christi, is to finish off the forces of Satan and rout the culture of death. We can take confidence in the fact that the victory is already in our hands. Jesus is already the victor. But victory does not mean that we should balk in our vigilance. Just as the Devil will continue to steal souls, we must continue to save them. Until the Second Resurrection, we must continue to fight. We must make the Earth ready for God's return. We must annihilate the last remnants of Satan's evil and the culture of death.

Deus Volt!