“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS” by C.S. Lewis Week 9 THE ...

“THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS” by C.S. Lewis
Week 9
THE CROSSWALK CLASS
Letter XXII
Theme:
“He’s a hedonist at heart… He makes no secret of it; at His right hand are ‘pleasures forevermore’… There are
things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least – sleeping, washing, eating, drinking,
making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it’s any use to us.” pp 101, 102
This is a recurrent theme for Screwtape – that the Enemy is the inventor of pleasure. He then goes onto browbeat
Wormwood for allowing the patient to fall in love. He then goes on to describe where the patient’s girl friend
lives and her family. About it, he comments, “The whole place reeks of that deadly odor… and the house is full of
that impenetrable mystery.”
To what, is Screwtape referring What is the odor To what, does Screwtape liken this woman’s home
When referring to heaven, Screwtape quotes George MacDonald:
“Nor shall we ever know that repose in the father’s hands which the Lord knew when the agony of death was over
and He entered the regions where there is only life, and therefore all that is not music is silence (for all noise
comes of the conflict of Life and Death) – we shall never be able, I say, to rest in the bosom of the Father, till the
fatherhood is fully revealed to us in the love of the brothers.”
Why does Screwtape detest “music” and “silence”
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7
What does this verse say about the importance of silence
“We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as
regards the Earth.”
-Screwtape
Letter XXIII
Theme:
“I find the best point of attack would be the borderline between theology and politics… The thing to do is to get a
man at first to value social justice as a thing which the Enemy demands, and then work him on to the stage at
which he values Christianity because it may produce social justice. The Enemy will not be used as a
convenience.” pp 106, 108, 109
Screwtape begins this letter by pointing out how “the flesh” and “world” have failed us, but then references a
“third Power” which lies in the borderline of theology and politics: the historical Jesus. What is the historical
Jesus
The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These
reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary
source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and cultural context in which he lived. The
quest for the historical Jesus operates under the premise that the New Testament does not necessarily give an

accurate historical picture of the life of Jesus. The biblical description of Jesus is sometimes referred to as the
Christ of Faith in this context. The Historical Jesus is thus based on the ancient evidence for his life such as in
fragments of early Gospels, and as preserved independently in the writings of neutral or hostile witnesses of the
period, such as in the writings of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (see Josephus on Jesus and the Testimonium
Flavianum) and various Roman documents, such as the Lives of the Twelve Caesars by imperial biographer
Suetonius, and the correspondence of Pliny to Emperor Trajan. The purpose of research, into the Historical Jesus
is to examine the evidence from diverse sources and critically bring it together in order to create a composite
picture of Jesus. Use of the term the Historical Jesus implies that the figure thus reconstructed will differ from
that presented in the teaching of the ecumenical councils ("the dogmatic Christ").
Screwtape cites four reasons, to his advantage, for devotion to the “historical Jesus”:
1. They all direct men’s attention to something that does not exist, for each “historical Jesus” is
_________________.
2. The construction of each “historical Jesus” places an importance on some peculiar theory and distracts
people’s minds from ________ He is and ________ He did.
3. The “historical Jesus” destroys the ____________ __________ in the patient.
4. The “historical Jesus”, as biography, does not bring ___________ or ____________ to a saving
knowledge of God and therefore, into the Enemy’s camp.
In addition to the “historical Jesus”, Screwtape encourages Wormwood to exploit the natural connection between
Christianity and politics: “… make men treat Christianity as a means; preferably as a means to their own
advancement, but failing that, as a means to anything – even social justice.” (or, we could add, a Republican- led
executive or legislative branch!)
So what, then, is the heart of the Gospel
I Corinthians 15: 12-18 12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that
there is no resurrection of the dead 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been
raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even
found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it
is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished.
“You see the little rift ‘Believe this not because it is true, but for some other reason.’ That’s the game.”
-Screwtape
Letter XXIV
Theme:
“You must teach him to mistake the contrast between the circle that delights and the circle that bores him for the
contrast between Christians and unbelievers. He must be made to feel (he’d better not put it into words) ‘how
different we Christians are’; and by ‘we Christians’ he must really, but unknowingly, mean ‘my set’; and by ‘my
set’ he must mean not ‘the people who, in their charity and humility, have accepted me,’ but ‘the people with
whom I associate by right.’” pp 112, 113
Screwtape calls ____________ _______________ the “strongest and most beautiful of the vices”. Why do you
think he believes this
Screwtape tells Wormwood to keep the patient confused: “What you want is to keep a sly self-congratulation
mixing with all his thoughts and never allow him to raise the question ‘What, precisely, am I congratulating
myself about’” What persons in the New Testament exhibited a similar attitude

What do these passages say about the combating “the strongest and most beautiful of the vices”
Proverbs 8:13 13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 16:18 18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Matthew 3: 9, 10 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that
out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every
tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
“The great thing is to make Christianity a mystery religion in which he feels himself one the initiates.”
-Screwtape
Letter XXV
Theme:
“What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call ‘Christianity And’…
He wants men, so far as I can see, to ask very simple questions: Is it righteous Is it prudent Is it possible Now,
if we can keep men asking: ‘Is it in accordance with the general movement of our time Is it progressive or
reactionary Is this the way that History is going’ they will neglect the relevant questions.” pp 115, 118
In this letter, Screwtape harkens back to Letter XXIII where he expounds on how to lead the patient to embrace
“the historical Jesus”. In this letter, Screwtape expounds on a similar strategy with the patient: have him embrace
“Christianity And.” This can be easily accomplished by creating in the patient “the horror of the __________
______________”. This leads to a craving of “absolute novelty”.
According to Screwtape, this craving is valuable in two ways:
1. It diminishes_____________ while increasing ____________. “The pleasure of novelty is by its very
nature more subject than any other to the law of diminishing returns.”
2. It elevates this craving to a philosophy so that nonsense in the _____________ may reinforce
____________ in the will. “He wants men, so far as I can see, to ask very simple questions: ‘Is it
righteous Is it prudent Is it possible’ Now, if we can keep men asking: ‘Is it in accordance with the
general movement of our time Is it progressive or reactionary Is this the way history is going’ they
will neglect the relevant questions”
What does this verse have to say about “Christianity And”
Hebrews 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
“We have trained them to think of the future as a promised land which favoured heroes attain – not as
something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
-Screwtape
DISCUSSION
Letter XXII
“Heaven is place of beauty, harmony, and delight. Hell is made up of that which distracts, destroys, and prevents
us from reaching harmony. One might ponder the implications of living in a culture which seems committed to
engulfing its members in perpetual sound. What does it mean for community and self-awareness when vast
numbers of college students spend large parts of the day walking around campus with either a cell phone or an
ipod in their ears” Bill King, Lutheran Campus Pastor, Virginia Tech

How would you answer Pastor King’s question, adding to college students, people in general, and listening
not only to cell phones and ipods, but watching TV, as well
Letter XXIII
“The final section returns to the danger of using God as a means to an end. Lewis says that it does not work to
embrace religion for secular reasons such as public order. But one might add that, beyond not working, such use
of religion has historically been actively evil. Religion is easily used as means of social control, and that is one
step from tyranny, Inquisition and witch trials.” King
Can you think of any modern examples of how “religion” has been used as a form of social control
Letter XXIV
“Where the ignorant are perhaps a little ridiculous and deserving of pity and enlightenment, the prideful are
dangerous precisely because they join ignorance to contempt–and thus become the makers of crusade and jihad.
The dangerous thing from Screwtape’s perspective is that we will become aware of our pride and remember, in
Augustine’s memorable phrase, that we are all “beggars at the table of grace.” Aware of our own unmerited grace
we are humbly thankful for what we have received and patient with those who have not come so far (which is
precisely how Lewis describes the Christian friends of Wormwood’s patient).”King
Where do you see spiritual pride in your own life and how have you tried to deal with it
Letter XXV
“Lewis is constantly reminding us that the important questions do not concern where an idea came from, whether it is
fashionable, or if it is new. The most important questions ask whether something is true, life giving, healing, righteous,
prudent, and righteous. The task of the Christian is not so much to respond to fashions as to be faithful and let fashions come
and go. That being said, one must also say that there is a very real danger of loving stability so much that one refuses to
recognize when the world has indeed changed. One cannot be driven by fashion at the deepest level, but fashions are a reality
in the world. The obvious place where this arises in the average congregation is in worship. Nobody wants to trade
substantive for trendy–but neither does faithfulness call us to speak in language and forms that do not communicate to our
intended mission field.”King
Do you agree Disagree Why or why not