The Screwtape Letters: Letters 13-15

OK, so before we jump into tonight’s letters and discuss them, let me ask, who can give a quick summation of what has transpired thus far in the book. Just a very quick and simple overview?

WAIT FOR SOMEONE, OR SOMEONES, TO ANSWER.

Great, would anyone like to share anything that you have received or gleaned from any of the letters in this book, that we have studied, thus far. Anything that has really stood out to you or seemed relatable in your own life, or of someone that is close to you?

Letter 13: (Summary) - In this letter, Screwtape is not pleased with Wormwood. He has allowed his patient to awaken from his spiritual drift and into reality by experiencing real, simple pleasures. Screwtape understands that this repentance and renewal can have a more profound effect on the patient than his original conversion. However, all is not lost says Screwtape, as long as Wormwood can keep the patient from acting on his new feelings.

Highlighted thoughts and statements and questions:

“The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.” - Screwtape

Question: Screwtape refers to the man’s spiritual change as a “second conversion”. Some would call such an instance, a “rededication of one’s life”. Would you agree with this terminology and have any of you ever had such a similar experience?

Answer: (ANSWERS WILL VARY.)

READ THIS QUOTE: “As you ought to have known, the asphyxiating cloud which prevented your attacking the patient on his walk back from the old mill, is a well-known phenomenon. It is the Enemy's most barbarous weapon, and generally appears when He is directly present to the patient under certain modes not yet fully classified. Some humans are permanently surrounded by it and therefore inaccessible to us.”

Question: What is the “asphyxiating cloud” that Screwtape is referring to ?

Answer: The “asphyxiating cloud” is God working through the Holy Spirit.

Read and and tell how these verses support Wormwood’s inability to attack his patient.

2 Timothy 1:14 NLT

Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

1 John 5:18 NLT

We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.

Answer: Wormwood could not attack the man because God was shielding him. This does not mean that God will protect us from every temptation or shield us from the consequences of our choices, but rather God knows that for us to be free and still make right choices there will be times when we need His intervention and help.

Question: What does Screwtape say about the dangers of “real” Pain and Pleasure?

Answer: Screwtape says that the dangers of pain and pleasure are that their characteristics "are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality." Wormwood’s goal was to convince his patient of false pains and pleasures—ones that have no lasting positive effect but destroy us in the end. However, once someone experiences the real thing, the false pains and pleasures fail by comparison.

Question: Screwtape says that Wormwood has failed, in this letter, to employ either Romantic or Worldly methods of temptation. What does he mean by Romantic and Worldly temptations?

Answer: Romantic – The Romantic method relies upon causing the patient to be "submerged in self-pity over imaginary distresses." This strategy would involve the patient becoming disillusioned with a life of pleasures and thereby looking for distractions in foreign places. The patient would become depressed about his current situation and feel a sense of hopelessness that is out of proportion to his situation. The more he romanticizes about what another life would be like, the less content he becomes with his own.

Worldly –The Worldly method is based upon, as Screwtape said, "palming off vanity, bustle, irony, and expensive tedium as pleasures." This method relies on convincing the patient that the world is the source of real pleasure, not God.

To both of these methods of temptation, the Bible says:

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1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

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Psalm 16:11 ESV

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Question: What is the difference in the ways in which God and Satan want to detach people from themselves?

Answer: God wants us to abandon our self -will but not our individual uniqueness. Once we do, God "gives us back all of our personality...and makes us more of ourselves than ever." Satan wants us to “drift away” from our nature or our individual uniqueness and become something that we are not…a poser trying to find pleasures in the world. Screwtape says it is “always desirable to substitute the standards of the world, or convention, or fashion, for a human’s own real likings and dislikings.”

Question: Why would Screwtape want to eradicate simple pleasures like “enjoying country crickets or collecting stamps or drinking cocoa” from our life? What are some examples of innocent pleasures that if you stopped enjoying, might weaken your will?

from our nature or our individual uniqueness and become something that we are not…a poser trying to find pleasures in the world. Screwtape says it is “always desirable to substitute the standards of the world, or convention, or fashion, for a human’s own real likings and dislikings.”

Answer: By enjoying the simple pleasures of life (even those without virtue) for their own sake, we become disinterested in the trappings of this world. This somehow builds a wall that guards us against the attacks of Satan.

Question: What does Screwtape mean by, “The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able to act, and in the long run, the less he will be able to feel”?

Answer: Habits are built by repetition. If our habit is to continually recommit ourselves to God but not actually act on the commitment, our faith is useless. In addition, our feelings will fade over time, and it will actually make it harder for us to act on our faith in the future.

Letter 14: (Summary) - In this letter, Screwtape is concerned because Wormwood’s patient has discovered real humility. Screwtape tells Wormwood to draw the patient’s attention to himself and to just how humble he is being. As the patient become proud of his newfound humility and false modesty, the actual virtue of humility becomes worthless and he becomes susceptible to temptation.

Question: Screwtape says that he likes it when people make “confident resolutions” at their conversion experience. What confident resolutions might we make when we first accept Christ? How might this change as we mature as Christians?

Answer: “Resolutions” will vary. Generally, these confident resolutions are fueled by a certain amount of guilt. Guilt can be a great motivator for change causing us to say, “I will never (fill in the blank) again.” However, guilt is never the best motivator for true change. As we mature, our motivation to change should be fueled more from our grateful reliance on what Christ has done for us and pleasing Him and doing the will of His Father for our lives!

Question: What does Screwtape mean by, “All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them…?” What is the danger in making the man aware of his virtue?

Answer: If Satan can twist a humble person into being proud of his humility, the virtue of humility is now worthless. Once humility is gone, the person is now susceptible to temptation and falling into sin. The only danger in the man’s awareness is if he then becomes aware that he is being prideful. However, if this happens, Wormwood should just make him proud of the fact that he figured it out, and it starts all over again.

Question: Why does Screwtape instruct Wormwood to confuse humility with low opinion?

Answer: The idea is that to have a low self-opinion, one must believe that his talents and abilities are less valuable than they really are. Seeking to accomplish this keeps the man focused on himself. In this way, he will be kept from attaining true humility.

People have the mindset that “humility” and “meekness”, as found in the Bible, is WEAKNESS of the person who clings to and lives under these virtues. Remember what Jesus said in , “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Well, pay close attention to the word used for “meek” in this quote from Jesus, because in the Greek, the word here is “praus”, and it does mean, “mild, gentle and meek”, but you also need to know that this word has another understanding, that emphasizes the life of a Christian.

The Greek word “praus” (prah-oos) was used to define a horse trained for battle. Wild stallions were brought down from the mountains and broken for riding. They retained their fierce spirit, courage, and power, but were disciplined to respond to the slightest nudge or pressure of the rider’s leg. They could gallop into battle at 35 miles per hour and come to a sliding stop at a word. They were not frightened by arrows, spears, or torches. Then they were said to be meeked.

To be meeked was to be taken from a state of wild rebellion and made completely loyal to, and dependent upon, one’s master. It is also to be taken from an atmosphere of fearfulness and made unflinching in the presence of danger.

These stallions became submissive, but certainly not spineless. They embodied power under control, strength with forbearance.

So also is the Christian, who is “meek and humble”. We retain the power of God and His Spirit in us, but we are bridled and brought under His control, to use this power in accordance to His will and not our own!

Question: Why is bad for a woman who is really pretty or a man who is intelligent, to believe they are not?

Answer: This line of thought ends up creating a false sense of humility. Since what they are trying to believe is nonsense, it keeps their minds “revolving on themselves in an effort to achieve the impossible.”

In other words, by an intelligent person saying, “I am not smart”, they think that they are being humble. In reality, they are focusing on themselves more and the gift of intellect, but verbally telling themselves that it is not there, so as to give the appearance of humility.

Humility would be giving God the honor and glory for the intellect and thanking Him for it and using it to glorify God, more and more!

Question: Screwtape said, “The Enemy wants him, (the patient), in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents”. How does support this statement?

Romans 12:15 ESV

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Answer: Achieving that perfect balance of rejoicing in excellent work whether we created it or someone else did is a true sign of humility.

Question: According to , what is the type of humility that God wants from us? And from , where does humility begin?

Ephesians 4:2 ESV

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Mark 12:30–31 ESV

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Answer: Humility means being patient and gentle towards others. Christ wants us to be more interested in building each other up than we are in tearing each other down. Humility begins with first loving God then by loving our neighbor. It is impossible to truly love our neighbor unless we begin by loving God.

Letter 15: (Summary) - Currently, the patient’s anxiety level is low due to a lull in the war. Screwtape instructs Wormwood to direct the patient’s attention to either the past (which is gone) or to the future (which does not exist) but never to his present state. Either strategy will work, but focusing on the future works best.

“We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present.” - Screwtape

Question: What fears of the future distract you the most in your daily life? What is your line of defense when the enemy starts attacking you with those fears?

Answer: (ANSWERS WILL VARY). God’s Word is our line of defense when the enemy attacks.

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Matthew 6:34 ESV

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

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Philippians 4:6 ESV

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

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Isaiah 12:2 ESV

2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Question: According to Screwtape, what are the two things that God wants us to attend to and why?

Answer: God wants all humans focused on two things: 1) Eternity (or Him) so that we are focused on the greatness of God 2) The Present so that we are attentive to the things that God would have us to do in each moment.

Question: Screwtape says, “For the present is the point at which time touches eternity.” Why is living in the present, (in contrast to past experiences or future expectations), most like eternity?

Answer: Everything happens in the present. Freedom and choice exist in the present. In the present we have the opportunity to experience God in real time as we pray, listen to His voice, express gratitude, and experience trials. In the present, God can do amazing things that we have the opportunity to be a part of. And, when participating in God’s plan, we are as close to eternity as we can get. As Dr. David Jeremiah has said, “God’s man living in the center of God’s will is immortal—until God is done with him.”

Question: Why does Screwtape say that it is far better to make humans live in the future than in the past?

Answer: Screwtape says, “Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.” Although the past might be a useful temptation for some, in general, it is of “limited value”. As humans, we have knowledge of the past, and we might remember those past experiences with fondness—like a time of being close to God—and desire that again. However, because of our needs for food, shelter, clothing, companionship, health, etc., we are naturally concerned with the future. Since the future is unknown, it brings with it both “hope and fear” which cause us to think about all sorts of uncertainties that may or may not happen. The endless possibilities are what make the future the better choice.

Question: Read . What is Jesus’ advice for those who are living in the moment (the present), but in the wrong way?

Luke 12:16–21 ESV

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Answer: We are to live in the moment. It is not wrong to plan. In fact, God wants us to think about the future…just so much as it is necessary for “now planning” tomorrow’s duties. However, God also warns us against relying totally on ourselves and not relying on Him.