Screwtape Letters Summary

One of Lewis’ earliest turning points in his life was when his uncle gave him his first bible. Lewis recalls, “Growing up, what I really wanted to be was a preacher. An uncle gave me a bible for Christmas when I was four. (Lewis 26) Even before he received the bible, Lewis had strong religious views and the bible gave him that extra encouragement. Lewis said, “So I preached to my chickens about every night.” (Lewis 27) This showed Lewis’ dedication to his bible and even though the chickens couldn’t quite understand, it was a beginning for him. He stated, “I imagined they (chickens) were my congregation, and me—I was a preacher.” (Lewis 28) Even as a child, Lewis imagined him preaching to a larger crowd beyond the rural chicken farm of Alabama. The bible directed him toward his religious path, and eventually the teachings on nonviolence.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book made up of 31 letters of teaching, communication, and familial advice communicated with the only two physical tempters in the book, Screwtape, the mentor, and his young eager to learn “nephew” or mentee, Wormworth. Screwtape uses the letters to aid him in influencing his nephew to do as he does in actions, thoughts, and in his work and convinces him to follow the way of Satan, their “Father” and to follow in both Screwtape and the Devil’s path. Wormworth’s “patient” is a young male who has newly tried to connect with the “Enemy”, God. Screwtape uses very common flaws, some of which are, materialism, physical attraction, and gluttony to try to draw him away from God, and brainwash him into believing all of his thoughts and detesting all outside sources as much as he can.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a book of thirty –one letters in which a retired, senior demon named Screwtape coaches his newly educated nephew, Wormwood. Wormwood is quite troubled when it comes to tempting his “patient.” Nevertheless, he need not fear because faithful uncle Screwtape has offered his services. A unique character featured in the letters is, “The Enemy.” This character refers to God, the natural enemy of Satan. Of course Satan is referred to as “Our Lord.” In the letters, and Wormwood and Screwtape try their very best to please Satan and bring him glory. Although the book is written from the demons’ perspective, Lewis naturally uses it to highlight important truths of the Christian faith.

The demons that lurk around each and every one of us, in the darkness and shadows, can use things like reality or bad influences and many other ways to get in their “patient’s” head. The demons can’t even use the same things that God uses, to get to us; the demons just use it in an evil way. In The Screwtape letters, all of these pains plus many more pains are used to lure “Patients” towards the darkness. In the Gospel of Matthew, we are warned about demons and other false teachings, “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

Have you ever wondered how demons try and lead us away from God and begin to sin? In the Screwtape Letters C.S Lewis shows us how a demon named Screwtape guides his nephew Wormwood on how to make sure their “patient” stays away from Christianity. The Screwtape Letters is an Epistolary novel that was written during World War II. In this novel God is considered “The Enemy” and Satan is “Our Father.” The main characters in this novel are Wormwood, Screwtape, and the patient. Screwtape is a demon who writes his nephew Wormwood from hell. Screwtape teaches his nephew the different steps of keeping his “patient” away from God. Humans are called patients by demons because they are trying to lead humans away from God. In this novel we don’t really

Lewis' argument in the third book is most important to the point I want to discuss. He argues through this chapter the Christian behavior. Morality is what he considers to be the basics of good Christian behavior. Lewis states that morality is not simply, "something that prevents you from having a good time", but rather morals are the "directions for running the human machine". Every moral rule is there to prevent wear and tear on the way machine operates. He realizes that is why the rules seem to be constantly getting in the way of are natural behavior. Lewis sees that some people think in terms of moral ideals not rules and obedience. Ideals suggest preference to personal taste. Something that subjective would be meaningless in practice. Idealistic notions are meaningless unless we try to carry them out. Acting on ideals requires rules. Lewis uses the analogy of the ship to show how ideals without rules can go wrong. If the ships keep on having crashes they will not be able to sail. If their steering gears do not work they will not be able to avoid crashes.

Lewis refers to God, Satan and Hell many different ways. When mentioning God, he uses the term “The Enemy” which in our minds, would normally be in reference to Satan. He also refers to him as “The Father Above,” and to Satan as “Our Father Below” and “High Command.” Hell is referred to as “Our Father’s House.” “Screwtape Letters” is written with this context because it is from the point of view of a demon who goes by the name of Screwtape. This is satirical, it is the opposite of the way we would normally think. In our minds, we think of God as “High Command,” and as Our Father, not as “The

In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis proposes a dialog between an experienced devil and a young inexperienced devil. We only get to read letters from the senior, Screwtape, to the junior, Wormwood. In these letters we overhear how Wormwood’s first assignment is going, what tempting strategies he should try, and what might happen to him if he fails. Screwtape comes across cordial in all his letters, but just beneath his tone he seems to dislike his young mentee. In every letter, Screwtape belittles Wormwood in some way or another, and by the end we hear Screwtape’s outright anger and outrage at Wormwood’s failure when his patient dies a Christian. Lewis’ style of writing equips me to better recognise Satin’s subtle deceptions, and does not make

At a very young age John Lewis’ love for the gospel was born. At four his uncle gave him his first Bible for Christmas. Even though he was too young to read it for himself; the words that his mother read to him, had a strong impact. He said, “I’ll never forget my mother reading aloud to me the first words in that book-- ‘In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth’” (Lewis and Aydin March Book one 26). By age five he could read the Bible himself, and the messages began to shape him, and mean even more to him. John Lewis then wanted to be a preacher, so he began preaching to the chickens on his farm, with soulful messages. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. [...] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Lewis and Aydin March Book one 27). Little did he know, that what he preached to the chickens were molding his future. Those words are what he was going

At a very young age John Lewis’ love for the gospel was born. At the age of four his uncle gifted him his first Bible for Christmas. Even though he was too young to read it for himself; the words that his mother read to him, had a strong impact. He said, “I’ll never forget my mother reading aloud to me the first words in that book-- ‘In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” (Lewis and Aydin March Book one 26). By age five he could read the Bible himself, and the messages began to shape, and impact him even more. John Lewis then wanted to be a preacher, so he began preaching to the chickens on his farm, with soulful messages. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. [...] Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Lewis and Aydin March Book one 27). Little did he know, that what he preached to the chickens were molding his future. Those words are what he was going to stand for, his morals. What he was going to be known for, what will become his determination, and will drive him for years to come. There was one verse in particular that did stand out to Lewis, John 1:29: “Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (KJV). In this verse the lamb of God is referring to Jesus, whom sacrifices himself to take away the sin of every person and save every person. There is a strong connection between John Lewis and Jesus Christ. Foreshadowing, that John Lewis believes his purpose is to liberate the lives of African Americans.

C.S. Lewis covers many topics in his fourth book contained in Mere Christianity titled BEYOND PERSONALITY: OR FIRST STEPS IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. He addresses such topics as theology, what it means to be the Son of God, the three personal God, the relationship of God and time, the cost of being a Christian, how God works to turn us into image of Christ, why Christian growth is both hard and easy, and also what he thinks about our old personalities before becoming Christians. These are all relative topics that apply to us and our daily lives. Learning and understanding this book can help a Christian tremendously in forming a deeper relationship with God.

It is often said that something big that happens in your childhood can make a huge difference in your life. Lewis’ first bible made him want to become a preacher. As he states that he would never forget as his mother read the first words in the book saying, “In the

The question of whether or not God exists has been asked by billions of people since the concept of religion emerged. Many people try to explain things such as hurricanes and tornadoes as “Acts of God” or even the existence of human beings and the world itself to be “created” by an almighty power. Others claim that the harm they inflict was demanded of them by their God. CS Lewis argues that through the comprehension of standards of good and bad, God’s existence is proven. However, Lewis’s defense for the existence of God is adequate because it fails to acknowledge the possibility for people to be good on their own, without the instruction of a supernatural entity.

not open to the idea of Christianity? He believed that the best way to do this

However, something worth noting before delving into the argument of this essay, is the background of C.S Lewis. Although this is not a research essay, his personal religion does hold some relevance to the context of this essay. Despite some struggles with his belief in religion at an early age, by the time he was late into his adult years, C.S Lewis was a definite Christian. Not only was this his personal religion, but also very publicly so. He wrote novels explicitly outlining his Christian views and gave several