The Screwtape Letters: Letters 10-12
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· 2,070 viewsContinuation of our study of The Screwtape Letters.
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So, who can tell me what letters in the study we are looking at tonight? Letters 10-12, right?
So, who can tell me what letters in the study we are looking at tonight? Letters 10-12, right?
In letter 10, we read about the Patient’s “Bad Friends”.
In chapter 11, we read of the nature of one’s “Laughter” and how this can used to devil’s advantage.
And finally in chapter 12, we see the enemy’s plot of complacency in the believer’s life and getting our minds focused, literally, upon “Nothing”, to the avail of gradually drifting away from a relationship witrh the Lord and not even noticing, or really even caring.
Letter 10: (Summary) - In this letter, Screwtape approves of Wormwoods efforts to encourage a spiritually harmful relationship that his patient has developed with a couple that is fun, bright, wealthy, and wordly. This relationship will prove to be more effective if he can guide the man into leading a double life, one at church and another with his new friends.
Letter 10: (Summary) - In this letter, Screwtape approves of Wormwoods efforts to encourage a spiritually harmful relationship that his patient has developed with a couple that is fun, bright, wealthy, and wordly. This relationship will prove to be more effective if he can guide the man into leading a double life, one at church and another with his new friends.
Highlighted thoughts and statements and questions:
“All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.” - Screwtape
Question: How does Screwtape describe the middle-aged married couple that has just come into the patient’s life?
Answer: The couple is described as rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly skeptical about everything in the world. They are also vaguely pacifist, not on moral grounds but from a habit of belittling anything that concerns the great mass of their fellow man.
Question: How could all of these social sets become a snare for a Christian and especially for a new convert? Can you relate to being in a social snare, where you felt like a certain class, or group seemed to be the right path?
Answer: Someone who is fun, rich, smart, successful, and good looking appears to have it all figured out and can seem very attractive to individuals who desires those qualities for themselves. As a result, a new Christian might soon become skeptical of their newly found faith when compared to what the world has to offer.
Question: What is the danger or trap that we fall into when we find ourselves in relationships with friends whose faith doesn’t coincide with our own?
Answer: If we are not careful, we can be lured into a “false position” where we feel compelled not to speak the truth when it is essential that we should do so. “We are silent when we should speak” or “laugh when we should be silent.”
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For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
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If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
Question: What does Screwtape mean by saying, “All mortals tend to turn into the thing that they are pretending to be?”
Answer: Screwtape understands the powerful influence that our minds and imaginations can eventually have on our actions. It all begins with a thought. Then perhaps we talk about it until we decide to act on it. If we continue to act on it, the action can become habit that ultimately impacts our character and personality. If you imagine yourself as always sick or pitiful, you will very likely be. The converse is also true if you imagine yourself as a loving and caring person.
Question: If the above statement is true of, “All mortals tend to turn into the thing that they are pretending to be”, then what does , , and say about how we guard ourselves against compromising our faith?
They are always thinking about how much it costs.
“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
They are always thinking about how much it costs.
“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
They are always thinking about how much it costs.
“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Answer: We avoid compromise by taking on the actions and attitudes of Christ Jesus. If we do this, we will never be in jeopardy of compromising on our faith.
Question: Screwtape says that he sees a lot modern Christian writings about Mammon (the worship of material wealth and greed) but little about worldly vanities, choice of friends, and the value of time. What does Screwtape give as the reason for that?
Answer: It is much more palatable and obvious to point out gluttony and materialism as being worldly and wrong especially since most might say, “I’m not excessively overweight or wealthy.” However, the admiration of our appearance, our choice of friends, and how we choose to spend our time are often “off limits” or at the very least, can be sore spots. We don’t want to be perceived as Christian fanatics who avoid fun, certain people, or even media consumption.
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
POINT OF INTEREST: There are three tactics that Screwtape advises Wormwood to employ once the patient realizes that his faith and friends do not match up. Which tactic to use will depend on his patient’s level of stupidity. The three are as follows:
Parallel Lives - Screwtape tells Wormwood to "get him to realize the character of the friends only while they are absent; their presence can be made to sweep away all criticism." If Wormwood accomplishes this, the man will be living two parallel, yet inconsistent, lives. Once accomplished, the man will eventually have to choose one life over the other, and he will generally choose the easiest most comfortable life—one that does not require change.
Exploit his Vanity - Screwtape tells Wormwood to have the patient take pride in being two different people. While at church, he can feel confident during worship that he is not as intellectually lacking as his fellow church member. When he is out in the world, he is not totally focused on worldly vanities but has a spiritual side too that his worldly friends cannot understand. He is a completely balanced man who understands and can live in both worlds.
Doing sinners good by hanging around them - Wormwood is to get the man to think that he's doing his friends some spiritual good by sinning with them. If he stopped, he would be perceived “puritanical”, and they would not like him. They would stop hanging around him, and his mission would be lost
Letter 11: (Summary) - Wormwood’s patient has found a new set of sophisticated friends who are suitable to Screwtape because they are “consistent scoffers and worldlings” as well as “great laughers.” Screwtape feels it is important, at this point, to explore the subject of laughter and to explain why it is not always in the devil’s favor.
Letter 11: (Summary) - Wormwood’s patient has found a new set of sophisticated friends who are suitable to Screwtape because they are “consistent scoffers and worldlings” as well as “great laughers.” Screwtape feels it is important, at this point, to explore the subject of laughter and to explain why it is not always in the devil’s favor.
Highlighted thoughts and statements and questions:
Screwtape says this about the patients’ new friends that he has become associated with, “I am specially glad to hear that the two new friends have now made him acquainted with their whole set. All these, as I find from the record office, are thoroughly reliable people; steady, consistent scoffers and worldlings who without any spectacular crimes are progressing quietly and comfortably towards our Father's house.”
Question: How can someone, according to Screwtape, “progress quietly and comfortably” towards Hell without ever commmitting any “spectactular crimes?”
Answer: These are people who do not commit any heinous sins or crimes as we might define heinous sins or crimes: murder, rape, child molestation, etc. However, they still reject God. They measure the value or seriousness of their sin by a worldly standard, so as a result, their conscious is clear, and their heart becomes closed to promptings from the Holy Spirit for real change.
Question: Screwtape says that he doesn’t know the real cause of JOY. According to and , what does the Bible say is the source of JOY?
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him with all my heart.
He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.
I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
Answer: The source of true joy is God, and it cannot be forced or faked. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances.
Question: Why is Screwtape not a fan of fun either, like he was not of JOY? What is the benefit of fun according to Screwtape?
Answer: Screwtape said fun is “emotional froth arising from the play instinct” and can “promote charity, courage, contentment and many other evils.” The only benefit of fun for Screwtape is that it can be used as a diversion tactic for keeping humans from noticing or acknowledging God. However, it is largely ineffective in damaging their heart or soul.
Question: How can humor be an “invaluable means of destroying shame?”
Answer: In today’s culture, people will excuse their sin (and even feel good about it) by making jokes that help free them from guilt. Acts that God specifically prohibits can easily become the subject of laughter. Peers essentially offer their approval of another’s actions through their laughter and thereby lessen the seriousness of the sin. What Satan wants is for every person to come to the “discovery that almost anything [they] want to do can be done, not only without the disapproval but with the admiration of [their] fellows, if only it can get itself treated as a Joke.”
Question: Flippancy is defined as a “lack of respect or seriousness; frivolousness” especially when it comes to “grave or serious matters”. How does a “habit of flippancy build up around someone an armor-plating against God”?
Answer: The more sarcastic we become, the more likely we are to pass off every serious matter as ridiculous or as a joke where nothing is seen as having any consequence. This can eventually build up a callous heart that is insulated from the penetration of God.
As far as the issue of joking and what we say and do around others, there are a couple of verses that can be used to relate to this:
Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
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May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Letter 12: (Summary) - Wormwood is having success helping his patient drift away from God. However, Screwtape fears that Wormwood might be moving too quickly and provides advice on how to carefully guide the patient on a slow path to Hell. Screwtape notes that the danger in rushing the process is that the man will awaken spiritually, realize where he is, and start making positive changes in his life.
Letter 12: (Summary) - Wormwood is having success helping his patient drift away from God. However, Screwtape fears that Wormwood might be moving too quickly and provides advice on how to carefully guide the patient on a slow path to Hell. Screwtape notes that the danger in rushing the process is that the man will awaken spiritually, realize where he is, and start making positive changes in his life.
Highlighted thoughts and statements and questions:
“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gently slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” - Screwtape
Question: Why is it satan’s advantage to get us to believe that all of our choices are “trivial and revocable”?
Answer: Unfortunately, we cannot see the spiritual realm as God and Satan do. This blindness can lead us to believe that our spiritual condition is better off than it actually is. If we think all of our decisions are unimportant or of little value, then we can also be led to believe that the consequences of those decisions can easily be dismissed or cancelled without any repercussions.
Question: How can the mere habit of church attendance be a snare to our spiritual life?
Answer: If we can retain externally the habits of Christianity, we can be made to think of ourselves as Christians. It is possible to participate in church and in various Christian activities and still be separated from God. The thought, “all is well because I’m attending church” is a dangerous one. Well-known evangelist Billy Sunday said, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.”
JOKE: Did you hear about the guy who complained to his wife about the music at their church? “Honey,” he said, “I’m so tired of the same old music every time we come. It’s either, ‘Away In A Manger’ or ‘Up From The Grave He Arose.’”
Sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” after interviews with 3,000 teenagers. What they discovered is that many of today’s youth view religion and Christianity under the following set of core beliefs:
God wants people to be nice and fair to one another.The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.God doesn’t need to be involved in your life, unless something is going wrong and you need it resolvedGood people go to heaven when they die
1) God wants people to be nice and fair to one another.
2)The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
3)God doesn’t need to be involved in your life, unless something is going wrong and you need it resolved.
4)Good people go to heaven when they die.
We need to get out of the habit of playing a Christian and get into a true and lasting realtionship with Him!
Here’s a fun trick to play on Christians, especially if you want to expose their hypocrisy. Just ask them,
“Please explain the Gospel.”
“Please explain the Gospel.”
“Please explain the Gospel.”
“Please explain the Gospel.”
Question: Why does Screwtape suggest that when we are in the state of sin, we will dislike religious duties and hope that they will be done quickly?
Answer: When we are in this state of sin, we look for ways and reasons to avoid God or any Christian activities that would remind us of our sin. In fact, we might often dread contact with spiritual matters due to the conviction that is prompted by the Holy Spirit. This works right into Satan’s plans.
Question: Screwtape says, “It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the NOTHING.” Why doesn’t it matter how small the sins are?
Answer: Wormwood might want to brag about “spectacular wickedness”, but “the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from [God].” No sin is so little that it will not accomplish that task and if not removed by the blood of Jesus Christ, send its perpetrator to the pits of hell.
As Screwtape concluded to Wormwood by saying, “Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
Question: And what is another description of the “safest road to Hell”, that is used in the Bible?
Answer: tells us, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
The wide gait and the easy path, are the same as the “safest road to Hell”!