Screwtape Letter Reflection

This paper is a personal reflection of Team Erie’s performance in Phase One of Capsim.

The book, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, shows how Screwtape uses subtlety and psychology when he is tempting human beings into sin. He plays with the patient’s imagination, emotions, will, and intellect. Also, he shows great shrewdness when encouraging sin that does not appear to be sin. Screwtape shows effective psychology in encouraging the patient to displace intellect and will in prayer with imagination and emotion, and he shows subtlety in encouraging gluttony of delicacy, pride in humility, and superiority in being part of an elite Christian social circle.

This made forming a relationship with the Lord difficult for her and it took her quite some time to begin to understand what it meant to surrender to Him. Even after her conversion she was still in the process of learning how to surrender and pray. She says, “I prefer to find God in circumstances I think up in advance, at home in my spare time-circumstances God will fulfill for me like a gumball machine when I put the penny of my prayer into it” (page 363). She was and still is on a journey in her relationship with Him and is still learning to know Him better. I too am still in the process of learning how to pray and surrender, and I am sure I always will be. It is very easy for me to place prayer in the category of something I do because I’m a Christian rather than because I want to spend time with the Lord and grow in Him. When I pray seriously and I open myself up to Him, I always feel a sense of relief afterward. I may not feel happier, after all prayer can reveal aspects of myself that I may not wish to face, but it always reminds me of God’s power and goodness and leaves me feeling closer to

In the screwtape letters you could say that most of the book was based on temptation. Screwtape is firm on the fact that men and women could be tempted differently. But the true fact is that God sees everything the same. in the screwtape letters, screwtape actually States “it does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge of the man away from the light and into nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.

The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis describes the struggle between a patient and his tempter, Wormwood, in which the latter attempted to sway the patient’s soul away from God and towards “The Father” in hell. This description is accomplished through letters written by the uncle of Wormwood, Screwtape, who possesses considerable knowledge and experience with temptation. Throughout the book, Screwtape advises his nephew about the nature of temptation, as well as admonishing Wormwood when he makes mistakes in tempting the patient. On the other hand, the patient plays the part of the human, who, throughout the struggles of temptation, attempts to follow the path of Christianity and devotes himself to “the Enemy.” Screwtape shows clever subtlety in tempting patients to self-centeredness in prayer through feelings and images, to gluttony through delicacy, and to pride through membership in an elite Christian social circle.

I believe in this case it is imperative to deal with the whole person of Danielle. The whole person of Danielle in this case is considered psychology, her Christian theology, and her spirituality. According to McMinn (2011), “When counselors choose to use Scripture in counseling, it is important to consider the specific effects it might have on a client, based on a careful assessment of the client’s needs, the therapeutic relationship, and ethical standard (p.146). Essentially, prayer must be a key component in these sessions with Danielle. Consequently, Danielle’s reluctance to any religion regime will hinder me from praying with her together. In this situation, praying without disclosing my prayers to her will be essential. According to McMinn (2011), “Praying during pauses in the conversation is often a way not only to keep a spiritual focus in counseling but also to keep from impulsively filling the silence with unnecessary words” (p. 83). In addition, scripture plays a key role in helping this young lady out. Scriptures can be used whether they are in a Christian counseling profession or a secular profession. Dr. Johnson (n.d.) believes that the Bible has a home in psychological science. He created nine ways to sustain his point. They roles are as follows: foundational, experiential, contextual, axiological, anthropological, canonical, dialogical, creative, and transformational (Week 5, Slides 3-4, n.d). These are keys way to integrating the Bible in the counseling session, without the client even knowing that you are doing

I recently read The Screwtape Letter by C.S. Lewis, and the most striking thing I learned was that the devil does not put things in our mind, but rather lets us succumb to temptation on our own. In every instance of temptation, we must resist the urge to sin and grow closer to God.

The Screwtape Letters is a thought-provoking book that details how easily humans are ensnared by the Enemy. The enticement of the world seems so appealing to human, however, C.S. Lewis makes it very clear that the enticement in the world is only temporary, and is ultimately a tactic of the Enemy. Often times, temptation creeps into our minds unexpectedly, but temptation’s effects are deadly. The Enemy will stop at nothing to tempt us, but God’s Word says that He will not tempt you beyond what you can bear, and when temptation comes, God will provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).

In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, there have been many things learned from it. Firstmost, this is a spiritually driven novel, therefore, those things learned will be based on spiritual, mainly on the Christian faith. This book is about two demons with a nephew and uncle relationship. The demon Wormwood is having a particularly arduous tie trying to keep his subject from Christianity. The uncle Screwtape sends letters to Wormwood in hopes of helping the man stray away from faith and “The Enemy”, who is God himself. Initially the reader will see that the book teaches in a reverse kind of way. The reader is to take what the demons said and see that those things can happen to themselves. After, the reader would not do those things or take

“Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4). Many Christian often struggle with what they fear in life as “sin”. Going throughout every day, it is hard to live by all of the principles in the Bible. One of the main understandings that many Christians have come to know is: if you are living a Godly life, the Lord will fill your heart with the right kind of desires. Susan Isaacs struggles with her spirituality and demonstrates her conflicts through memories and records of her therapy sessions with her counselor in her novel “Angry Conversations With God.” Throughout her journey to create a better relationship with God, her counselors push her to really understand what God truly wants in her life. Through

Lessons from the Demon: A Reflection on the Screwtape Letters Lesson 1: Theatricality and Deception Right off the bat, C.S. Lewis introduces the central methodology used by Screwtape the Demon in the preface of the book. More specifically, Lewis says in the preface that one of the errors into which our race can fall into damnation is through disbelief in their existence. Here we see one of the most important characteristics of Screwtape: deception. Deception remains a central theme in the tactics that demons use to win over the human soul, although this quality is manifested in many different ways throughout the book.

The owner of the house, Violet, was such a sweet, nice, caring, and God-filled elderly woman who would join us during our discussion. An example of how God worked in her life, before my group was assigned to her house, she prayed constantly for God to provide her with the repairs and fixes she needed. Soon enough, my group came along and God provided her for what she needed on her old home. At the end of that amazing week, I saw God in a new way. I saw that God is always there for you and will always provide. In the past, my faith has been plateaued, staying stagnate, and just melancholy. Now, my faith and relationship with God has been closer and I have been faithful to Him and because he hasn't given up on me, I won't give up on Him. What this experience reveals about me is that no matter what I go through in life, whether it is bullying, negative emotions, bad times, etc. I know God is there for me and He hasn't changed how He feels and cares for me. This also reveals my loyalty to not only my friends, family, and acquaintances, but also my loyalty to God and Him

Engaging in spiritual practices is part of our Christian story, practices are “those cooperative human activities through which we, as individuals and as communities, grow and develop in moral character and substance.”[footnoteRef:1] Through these various practices, we grow in our faith and understanding of God in the world, in community and our lives. At the crossroads of our Christian practices, we see that "God is the agency who makes the story and who is revealed through the story…God is revealed to its hearers as a present reality in the contemporary telling and hearing.”[footnoteRef:2] Over the course of several weeks, a group of three met on a weekly basis to discern how God was speaking into our lives through

Another assignment that really stuck out to me this week was our discussion. The assignment asked us to talk about the manifestations of the enemy in our lives. It is hard having that level of honesty, even when it is with strangers as is the case with this class. Romans 8:1 tells us “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (English Standard Version). That should be the end of my shame, but I still struggle with sharing with others sins that I have struggled with in the past, even if they no longer rule my life. This morning I was reading my devotion which is a devotional that focuses on the Pauline letters. One of the things that I read this morning was Romans 7. Paul writes in Romans 7:18-19 “For I know

My mom once told me when I was young and ignorant, “Faith is the foundation of a beautiful friendship with the one person who will always remain by your side”. These words were expressed even more profoundly every Sunday in the echoing corridors of a small church by a priest I had yet to know or even care about. Preaching with his perplexing words in which I could only muster barely a fourth of my full attention span listening to. Thus, the term faith did not exactly resonate with me until many years later. My early years were filled with the teachings of the bible in Sunday school and later on as well in middle school during Friday night sessions. Unfortunately, my mom was an extremely strong enforcer of our faith for she was also raised Catholic from birth, but my dad on the other hand has a more scientific approach to how the world came to be. The years I spent in Sunday school blurred into an everlasting line of bleak nothingness just a ticking clock waiting till an end. Even today I do not remember anything that occurred within those taxing sixty minuets of constant bible studies it’s as though I lost the key to the inner workings of my childhood. Nonetheless, there have always been unbelievably great role models in my faith such as my mom, youth ministers, and friends who encourage me to be open to my faith. However, it’s always been my own restrictions that prevent me from furthering my relationship with God. So when my sister suffered her first severe