Transcript A Study Guide for CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters for Daily Living

A Study Guide for CS Lewis’s Screwtape Letters
With Special Emphasis on Calling and Vocation Issues
for Daily Living
A Lilly Grant Project
Calvin College
Paulo and Adriana Ribeiro
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship
Tallahassee
Fall 2006
Be self-controlled and alert. Your
enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the
faith, because you know that your
brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
I Peter 5:8-9
Rather, we have renounced secret and
shameful ways; we do not use
deception, nor do we distort the word of
God. On the contrary, by setting forth
the truth …
The god of this age has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the
glory of Christ, who is the image of
God. II Co. 4:2-4
Introduction
•These letters were supposedly written by an experienced devil,
Screwtape, to his young nephew, Wormwood.
•When these letters first appeared in the Manchester Guardian during the
World War II, a reader wrote as to cancel his subscription because “much of
the advice given in these letters seemed to him not only erroneous but
positively diabolical.” The objective is not to wonder about the diabolical
life but to throw light from a new perspective on the life of man.
•The letters cover many different situations, which Christians are faced with
on a daily basis.
•The objective is to encourage us to reflect on these “daily life” issues,
trying to understand how they can affect our spiritual life and vocational
struggles.
Introduction
•Screwtape is a senior devil in the “lowerarchy of Our Father
Below”
•The letters are directed to his nephew (Wormwood) on
earth, working on a young Christian (“the patient”).
•The goal is to “secure his soul forever”
•To turn the patient against God (“the Enemy”)
•To the devils, we humans are “primarily food.”
Introduction
•The Screwtape Letters is fiction with the Christian perspective presented
in an upside down way .
•World War II serves as the backdrop for the Letters, but the war does not
affect the timelessness of the instructions.
•It does not address evil on a grand scale, but evil on a small scale.
•It deals with relationships with friends and family, the church, prayer, etc.
•The letters entertains while it instructs.
•It is a book to be studied with humility and prayer.
"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. 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."
Introduction
•Are you here just (as a spectator) for this bible study?
•If yes, you came to the wrong place?
•If no, are you prepared to face the consequences (of this,
or any other bible study)?
Word of Caution
•There are two equal and opposite errors into which our
race can fall about the devils:
•One is to disbelieve in their existence.
•The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and
unhealthy interest in them.
•They themselves are equally pleased by both errors
and hail a materialist or a magician with the same
delight.
•When reading the letters we should not forget that the
devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should
be assumed to be true even from his own angle.
The Book, etc.
Dedicated to JRR Tolkien (instrumental in Lewis’s conversion)
Who did not like the dedication - - Lewis became instrumental in Tolkien’s publications - - Tolkien did no like the Narnia Chronicles - - -
Calling – Vocation
Temptation – Protection (Shielding) Dynamics
Sovereignty of God
Man’s Will
Temptations
Justice
Shield (Eph 6:13-18)
Virtues
Fear of the Lord
Mercy
Competence
Responsibility
Temptations
Temptations
Calling
Temptations
Temptations
A Vocation / Temptation Flow Chart
Talents
Vocation
Service
(Holy Spirit)
Re-Direction
"What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could 'be like
gods' - could set up on their own as if they had created themselves - be their own masters invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that
hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition,
war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - the long terrible story of [humanity] trying to find
something other than God to make [them] happy."
The Voice of the Vocation
“This is the very portrait of a vocation: a thing that calls
or beckons, that calls inexorably, yet you must strain
your ears to catch the voice, that insists on being
sought, yet refuses to be found.”
“To follow the vocation does not mean happiness: but
once it has been heard, there is no happiness for those
who do not follow.”
Preface to Paradise Lost
The Fundamental Process
God’s Law
God’s Will
No
Obey?
Unhappiness
Hard Way
Virtues
Duty
Yes
Easy Way
Joy
(not necessarily
happiness)
Rebellion
Rejection
The Fundamental Questions
Any Human Activity
No
Has It Been Affected
By Sin?
Creation
Yes
Is It Good?
(Moral)
Yes
No
What Can I Do
To Renew It?
Physical
Psychological
Yes
Is It Permanent?
(Eternal)
No
Spiritual
Redemption
Yes
Fall
Is It Beautiful?
(Creational)
The Nature and Possibilities of Choices
‘Milton was right,’ said the Teacher. ‘The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the
words “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” There is always something they insist on
keeping even at the price of misery. There is always something they prefer to joy – that is to
reality. You see it enough in a spoiled child that would sooner miss its play and its supper
than say it was sorry and be friends.
Every day we are - - - - -becoming or helping others to become Hellish or Heavenly creatures
For Every Choice One Makes
(In Any Human Activity)
Does Not Conform to BGP
Leads to Hell
Conforms to BGP
Which Way?
Uncertain
Two Possible Directions
BGP = Beautiful, Good and Permanent
Leads to Heaven
Good or Evil Multiplies as a Fractal:
One Simple Structure Can Create a Beautiful Picture or a
Hellish Design
http://sparktography.blogs.com/blogtonia/Blue-cloud-render.jpg
http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/fractal/Fractals269.jpg
"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain
in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules, I'll reward you,
and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the
best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every
time you make a choice you are turning the central part of
you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little
different from what it was before. And taking your life as a
whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long
you are slowly turning this central thing into a Heaven
creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature
that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures,
and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war
and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and
with itself. To be the one kind of creature is Heaven: that is,
it is joy, and peace, and knowledge, and power. To be the
other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and
eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing
to the one state or the other."
http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/fractals/clifford/
Reasons for the Lack of Stock Responses
Decay of Logic
Romantic Primitivism (preference for the natural rather than
elaborated, the un-willed to the willed)
Confusion between organization and pretense of response
A belief that certain elementary rectitude of human response is
given by nature herself.
“That elementary rectitude of human response, at which we are so ready to
fling the unkind epithets of ‘stock’, ‘crude’, bourgeois’, and ‘conventional’,
so far from being ‘given’ is a delicate balance of trained habits, laboriously
acquired and easily lost, on the maintenance of which depend both our
virtues and our pleasures and even, perhaps, the survival of our species. ...
While the moderns have been pressing forward to conquer new territories
of consciousness, the old territory, in which man alone can live, has been
left unguarded, and we are in danger of finding the enemy in our rear .”
The Fundamental Mechanism
Vision
Passion
Action
Discipline / Habit
http://www.graphics-galore.com/images/Abstracts,%20etc/Abstracts,%20etc-2/Shalom.jpg
Outline
•
General Introduction
– The Letters
– How to read them
– How it all begun – Lessons from Paradise (The Losing of the Original Calling /
Vocation)
•
•
•
•
•
Defining Calling / Vocation
– Considerations on Calling and Vocation
Letters (31 Letters)
– Title, Topics and Issues
– Vocabulary / Key Words
– Analysis Matrix
– Questions for Thinking, Discussions and Reflections
– Resistance Strategy
– Key Scriptures to Memorize (and repeat!!)
– Virtues and Stock Responses to Cultivate
– Concepts to Restore
– Characters From The Great Divorce, The Pilgrim’s Regress, etc.
Conclusions
– Steps for Restoring The Vocation Path / Road Map
Appendices
References
Outline
1 - Reason / Truth, Material Needs and Science Books and Friends
Intellect, Philosophies, Doctrines Material Needs
Meaning of Life
Science & Knowledge
2 - Appearance, Reality and the Church
Habits
Mental
Bodily
The Church
Appearance and Reality Emotions
Humility
Prayer
3 - Relationships, Prayer and Faith and Action Relationship with Spouse and Family Common
Ground and Actions
Prayer
Coffee and Heart Attack
Outline
4 - Prayer: Why? And Does It Work?
Prayer
Form
Position
Attitude
Direction
5 - War, Fear of Pain, Suffering, Death and Faith Pain, Suffering and Faith
Reaction to War
Death
Faith
6 - My (Not Thy?) Will Be Done Life's Tribulations
General Activities of the Mind General Attitude to War General Attitude
7 - Devil’s Existence, Church and War the Devil’s Existence
Church
Attitude to War (different ages) Church and War
Outline
8 - The Natural Law of Undulation Human Nature
Human Freedom
The Continuous Struggle the Best Weapon
9 - Undulation, Moderation and Phases Undulation and Pleasure Knowledge of Right and
Wrong Religion
10 - Flirting with the World, Friends and Acquaintances Attitudes
Christian Literature Parallel Lives
11 - Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy Joy, Fun
The Joke Proper (Sudden perception of incongruity) Flippancy (frivolous, disrespectful,
saucy, impertinent)
12 - Lukewarm Behavior - The Safest Road to Hell Spiritual Condition
Prayer Life
Pleasures
Activities
Outline
18 - Complete Abstinence or Unmitigated Monogamy Sexual Temptation
Philosophy of Hell
Sex
19 - The Essence of God: Love
The Essence of the Devil Marriage and Being in Love
20 - The Devil's Agenda: Sexual Insanity, Promiscuity and Pervasion Chastity
Sexuality and Marriage
Sexual Taste
21 - Our False Sense of Ownership - All Belongs to Him Intellect
Claims on Life
Time
Ownership
Possession
Outline
22 - Beatific and Miserific Visions Love
Character Traces Pleasures
Witness
Music and Silence
The Devil
23 - Liberal Theology Spirituality
Theology and
Politics
Historical Jesus
Prayer and Sacrament Resurrection & Redemption Christianity and Politics
24 - Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles Armor of God
Color of our Faith
Pride
Inner Circles
Outline
25 - The Horror of the Same Old Thing - Replacing Mere Christianity by Fashion and Christian
Coloring
Fashions
Feelings
Experience of reality in time
Emotional Changes
Intellect
The Future
26 - Love, Unselfishness: Charity and Conflict Relationships
Unselfishness
Generous Conflict of Illusion
Mrs. Fidget (The Four Loves)
27 - Prayer, Love, and Truth
Prayer
Love and Petitionary Prayer Time, Prayer and Predestination the Historical Point of View
Outline
28 - Time, Aging, and Perseverance
Life and Death, Body and Soul, Time and Eternity and Youth
Longing, Optimism, Perseverance
Middle Age, Adversity and prosperity,
Worldliness, Old Age, Pride, Experience, Death
29 - Virtues and Vices Danger and Virtues Love / Hatred Fear,
Cowardice Courage
Despair
30 - Fear, Fatigue, Emotions, and "Reality" Self Knowledge
Emotions
Fatigue
Reality
31 - Death: Is that The End? Eternal Life: Everlasting Glory or Eternal Damnation Death
New Life
In God's Presence
A Suggestion on How to Read Them
I note what you say about guiding our patient's reading and taking care that he sees
a good deal of his materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïf? It sounds as if
you supposed that argument was the way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches.
That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries earlier. At that time the
humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not; and if it
was proved they really believed it. They still connected thinking with doing and were
prepared to alter their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning. But what with
the weekly press and other such weapons we have largely altered that. Your man
has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible
philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of doctrines as
primarily "true" of "false", but as "academic" or "practical", "outworn" or
"contemporary", "conventional" or "ruthless". Jargon, not argument, is your best ally
in keeping him from the Church. Don't waste time trying to make him think that
materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or courageous—that it is the
philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about.
Red – Devilish Comments and Advices
Blue – Dubious Devilfish Comments and Advices
Black – Connecting Sentences
Area of Life
Books and
Friends
Devil’s Advice
Materialistic
Incompatible Philosophies
God’s Way
Christian Character Building,
Believing
Search for Wisdom
Truth, honesty are needed
Observations/ References
Ro 5:3-5 “rejoice in our sufferings, because
we know that suffering...character”
Jas 1:6 “he must believe and not doubt”
Pr 4:7 “get wisdom. Though it cost… get
understanding”
Jeremiah 5:1 “deals honestly …the truth”
Php 4:8 “whatever is true”
A Hint on How it all began – Lessons from
Paradise
The Losing of the Original Calling / Vocation
The Steps towards the first misdirection on our vocation road map:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Feeling of self importance
Sense of insatisfaction
Desire for more (power)
Lusting with prohibited things
Falling (active participation) into temptation
Realization of the deadly consequences
Rejection of sole responsibility
Recognition of obedience and disobedience
Provokes others to follow similar action of disobedience - spreads evil
Hides the motivation behind the actions
Exploits the secret motivation to gain control
Rouses transgression for promoting its own benefit
Action causes death, in other words: an act of murder is committed
Becomes blind to the real meaning for the action (No man / woman, perhaps, ever at first
described to himself the act he was about to do as murder, adultery, perversion. When he
hears it so described by other men he is sincerely shocked and surprised” )
15. Hides from the presence of God
References: Compiled from readings from Genesis, Paradise Lost, and Preface to Paradise Lost
Defining Calling / Vocation
Considerations on Calling and Vocation
Vocation, profession, gifts, work, trade, talent, aptitude, calling, etc.: What are their
meanings? What is a talent? What am I supposed to be and do? What should I be
doing as an agent of renewal? What is their significance in our choice of studies and
professional life? What is the most significance factor in our calling to be salt and
light? What will I be when I grow up? What and how should I live out my
professional life as to be a blessing and help forwarding of God’s Kingdom?
We pray daily: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). But how
does this apply to my living, working, and how do I incorporate play?
Before we go on let us just remind ourselves the meaning of vocation: career:
profession, job, occupation, work, trade, craft, art or calling: aptitude, inclination,
talent, natural ability, ability. With these definitions in mind let us work through a few
examples of people in the bible who where called to serve. How did they fare under
God’s guidance? In the Old Testament we see for example of Abraham, some of the
artisans of the first tabernacle, Barak and Debora, Isaiah and Jeremiah. In the New
Testament, we see the examples of Maria, Philip and Paul. You add more examples
from the bible and of your circumstances. - - - - - - - - - Reference: Callings, etc.
A Lesson from OT Biblical
Botanical Parables
The Old Testament is full of stories, full of warnings, occurring as “examples to keep us from
setting our hearts on evil things as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6). What a richness and wealth
is available to us as we read under the guidance of the Holy Spirit!
In the midst of a nasty development after Gideon’s death, some of his mistakes came with
consequences to his sons. He had taken a slave girl from Sechem as a wife and had a son
with her. This son after his death killed, in a plot, all other sons except one. This is part of the
complaint of the only son still alive.
Judges 9:8-15
One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our
king.'
9 "But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are
honored, to hold sway over the trees?'
10 "Next, the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be our king.'
11 "But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the
trees?'
12 "Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be our king.'
13 "But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold
sway over the trees?'
14 "Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be our king.'
15 "The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take
refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the
cedars of Lebanon!'
A Lesson from OT Biblical
Botanical Parables
The plants express honor in the work God had assigned to them. Their natural gifts
accepted as worthy of full engagement. There is no desire to rule, just an intense
desire to continue doing what they could do best.
What should our vocation be? In Genesis God made “man in our image, in our
likeness, and let them rule” (Genesis 1:26) we where made rulers -each with our
own, specific, God given gifts. Then, we hear our Lord Jesus, in Mark 10:42-44
when he sates "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord
it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wants to be first must be slave of all”. We here have an excellent guideline
to our vocational choice. Not forgetting that: we need to serve in love (Galatians
5:13) wholeheartedly (Ephesians 6:7), It is actually a liberating experience not to
be in need to be the best (even if I have no gift for the job) as to achieve that
specific, most desired ruling job. Our rule should be one of servitude. And, if God
gives us a position of leadership, we should be humble and serving, following our
master, always aware of proverbs 16:18 which says: “Pride goes before
destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” King Solomon himself being one of the
outstanding examples.
As an addendum it needs to be said that 10Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
11If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If
anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things
God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for
ever and ever. Amen. Adriana
Letter I
Title: Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science
Fundamental Principles For Seeking Direction
In this letter CSL covers many subjects related to seeking direction for life. From
books and friends, to intellectual attitudes; from material needs to the meaning of life
and the popular understanding and use of science and knowledge, he briefly brings all
these issues into light. Since the advice proceeds from a devilish perspective the
approach is to put us into a state of confusion and emphasize what Lewis calls it
“chronological Snobbery” (ref..).
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same
kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle only
by losing your bishop.” CSL
MY DEAR WORMWOOD,
I note what you say about guiding our patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his
materialist friend. But are you not being a trifle naïf? It sounds as if you supposed that argument was the
way to keep him out of the Enemy's clutches. That might have been so if he had lived a few centuries
earlier. At that time the humans still knew pretty well when a thing was proved and when it was not; and
if it was proved they really believed it. They still connected thinking with doing and were prepared to alter
their way of life as the result of a chain of reasoning. But what with the weekly press and other such
weapons we have largely altered that. Your man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to
have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together inside his head. He doesn't think of
doctrines as primarily "true" of "false", but as "academic" or "practical", "outworn" or "contemporary",
"conventional" or "ruthless". Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church.
Don't waste time trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is strong, or stark, or
courageous—that it is the philosophy of the future. That's the sort of thing he cares about.
The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle onto the Enemy's own ground. He can
argue too; whereas in really practical propaganda of the kind I am suggesting He has been shown for
centuries to be greatly the inferior of Our Father Below. By the very act of arguing, you awake the
patient's reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result? Even if a particular train of thought
can be twisted so as to end in our favour, you will find that you have been strengthening in your patient
the fatal habit of attending to universal issues and withdrawing his attention from the stream of
immediate sense experiences. Your business is to fix his attention on the stream. Teach him to call it
"real life" and don't let him ask what he means by "real".
Remember, he is not, like you, a pure spirit. Never having been a human (Oh that abominable
advantage of the Enemy's!) you don't realize how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary. I
once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British Museum. One day, as he sat
reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the wrong way. The Enemy, of course, was
at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years' work beginning to totter. If I
had lost my head and begun to attempt a defense by argument I should have been undone. But I was
not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control and suggested
that it was just about time he had some lunch. The Enemy presumably made the counter-suggestion
(you know how one can never quite overhear What He says to them?) that this was more important than
lunch. At least I think that must have been His line for when I said "Quite. In fact much too important to
tackle it the end of a morning", the patient brightened up considerably; and by the time I had added
"Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind", he was already half way to the
door. Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper,
and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an
unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man's head when he was shut up
alone with his books, a healthy dose of "real life" (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was
enough to show him that all "that sort of thing" just couldn't be true. He knew he'd had a narrow escape
and in later years was fond of talking about "that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate
safeguard against the aberrations of mere logic". He is now safe in Our Father's house.
You begin to see the point? Thanks to processes which we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it
all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes. Keep pressing home
on him the ordinariness of things. Above all, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as
a defense against Christianity. They will positively encourage him to think about realities he can't touch
and see. There have been sad cases among the modern physicists. If he must dabble in science, keep
him on economics and sociology; don't let him get away from that invaluable "real life". But the best of all
is to let him read no science but to give him a grand general idea that he knows it all and that everything
he happens to have picked up in casual talk and reading is "the results of modem investigation". Do
remember you are there to fuddle him. From the way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would
suppose it was our job to teach!
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter I
Imagination
Reason
Materialism
Reasoning
Truth
Philosophies
Doctrines
True / False
Academic / Practical /Outworn
Contemporary / Conventional
Jargon
Church
Argument
Stream
Spirit
Science
Ordinary
Atheism
Actuality
Unfamiliar / Ordinariness
Science
Economics / Sociology
Real life
Modern
Fuddle
Analysis Matrix – Letter I
Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations/ References
Books and
Friends
Relativistic, materialistic
Christian Character Building,
Believing
Search for Wisdom
Truth, honesty are needed
Ro 5:3-5 “rejoice in our
sufferings, because we know
that suffering...character”
Jas 1:6 “he must believe and
not doubt”
Pr 4:7 “get wisdom. Though it
cost… get understanding”
Jeremiah 5:1 “deals honestly
…the truth”
Ph 4:8 “whatever is true”
Intellect
a. Avoid argument and reasoning.
b. Use jargon instead.
c. Make him THINK he is strong
a. Avoid stupid arguments…
b. Real Wisdom comes from God
c. Get truth and understanding at
all cost
d. God Says BE strong,
e. God’s wisdom is GRACE
a. 2Tim 2:23 “Don't have
anything …stupid arguments”
b. 1 Kings 3:28 “wisdom from
God”
c. Prov 23:23 “Buy the truth
and do not sell
it…understanding”
d. Php 3:13-14 “Forgetting
what is behind and straining
toward” Isa 35:4 “Be strong,
do not fear”
e. 2 Corinthians 1:12 “not
according to worldly wisdom
but according to God's grace”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter I
Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science
Area of Life
Philosophies
Doctrines
Devil’s Advice
a. Encourage several Incompatible
Philosophies inside his head
b. Doctrines
Academic or Practical
Outworn or Contemporary
Conventional or Ruthless
d. Language
Use Jargon (and propaganda)
Colossians 2:4 “so that no one
may deceive you by finesounding arguments”
f. Materialism
The Philosophy of the Future
God’s Way
a. Built on the foundation of
Christ ...
b. Avoid unstable teaching
c. The god of this age blinds
d. True/False and Yes/No
e. Use Scriptures
Use argument / reasoning
f. Store treasures in heaven
Observations/ References
a. Eph 2:20 “built on the
foundation”
b. Eph 4:14-15 “be infants…
tossed back and forth”
c. 2 Co 4:2-4 “the god of this
age has blinded”
d. Mt 5:37 “let your 'Yes' be
'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'”
Ps 25:5 “Guide me in your
truth and teach me”
e. 2 Tim. 3:16 “Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for
teaching” Titus 2:12 “say "No"
to ungodliness and worldly
passions” 2 Corinthians 10:5
“demolish arguments and
every pretension”
f. Galatians 1:4 “present evil
age” Mt 6:19-21 “treasures in
heaven”; Luke 12:15 “life
does not consist in abundance
of”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter I
Reason, Truth, Material Needs and Science
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations/ References
Material Needs
Takes Precedence
Use the pressure of the ordinary to
enslave your patient. Teach him to
call it “real life”
Lower Priority
Not of bread alone
Seek first the kingdom…
Real Life – Eternal Life
Mt 4:4 “not live on bread
alone”
Mt 6:33 “first…kingdom”
Jn 17:3 “this is eternal life”
Matthew 25:46 “eternal
punishment, but the righteous
to eternal life”
Meaning of
Life
Keep pressing home on him the
ordinariness of things
God uses Ordinary for the
extraordinary!
Purpose and Meaning of Life
God has an eternal plan
Acts 4:13 “ordinary men, they
were astonished”
Ps.139:16 “ordained
…written in your book”
Proverbs 19:21 “plans in a
man's heart…
LORD's purpose that prevails”
Use Chronological Snobbery
General / updated information,
modern investigations
Avoid exact science.
Try sociology, economics
Fuddle
Proven science
Be humble
Ps 19:1 “heavens declare the
glory of God”
Mt 23:12 “whoever humbles
himself will be exalted”
Science
&
Knowledge
Seek Wisdom and Discernment
Pr 4:7, Proverbs 14:6
“the mocker seeks wisdom
and finds none, but knowledge
comes easily to the
discerning”
Letter I
Characters From The Great Divorce
An interview with an apostate cleric ... ...
"My dear boy, I'm delighted to see you," it was saying to the
Spirit, who was naked and almost blindingly white. "I was
talking to your poor father the other day and wondering where
you were." "You didn't bring him?" said the other. "Well, no. He
lives a long way from the bus, and, to be quite frank, he's
been getting a little eccentric lately. A little difficult. Losing his
grip. He never was prepared to make any great efforts, you
know. If you remember, he used to go to sleep when you and I
got talking seriously! Ah, Dick, I shall never forget some of our
talks. I expect you've changed your views a bit since then. You
became rather narrow-minded towards the end of your life: but
no doubt you've broadened out again." "How do you mean?"
"Well, it's obvious by now, isn't it, that you weren't quite right.
Why, my dear boy, you were coming to believe in a literal
Heaven and Hell!" "But wasn't I right?" ----------
Questions for Discussion - Letter I
1 – How enslaved are we to chronological snobbery?
How can we use reasoning to grow spiritually?
3 – How enslaved are we to the pressures of the ordinary?
4 – How can argument and reason bring us close to God? (Gods ways are not our
ways, but should we use our God given intellect?)
5 – Is science (real science) a help or a threat to our understanding of God?
6 – How do these issues affect my perspective on my spiritual life and personal
vocation plans and goals?
7 – How do these issues affect my DAILY walk with God?
For Further Reading and Reflection
How does this chapter shows a light on how I relate to God and see my vocation?
Reading: TheWeight of Glory..
Think About This! – Arguing From Reason
(against naturalism and materialism)
Letter I
1 - No proposition is valid if it can be fully explained as a result of non-rational
causes.
2 - If non-rational causes are the only existing causes, then all propositions can be
fully explained as the result of non-rational causes.
3 - But if non-rational causes are the only existing causes, then no proposition is
valid.
4 - If no proposition is valid, then the proposition that non-rational causes are the
only existing causes is not valid.
5 - Therefore, if non-rational causes are the only existing causes, then the
proposition of non- rational forces is not valid.
6 - Any proposition that entails its own denial must be rejected.
7 - Therefore, the non-rationality of causes ought to be rejected and its denial
ought to be accepted.
Think of an independent argument for premise 1. Why exactly do you think it
is true? What reasons could be given to support it? If you could do that, I
think that maybe you would be getting at the real core disagreement
between yourself and the naturalist/materialist.
Letter I
Think About This! - What is Argument
"You see he is trying to argue. Now tell me, someone, what is
argument?"
There was a confused murmur.
"Come, come," said the jailor. "You must know your catechisms by now.
You, there" (and he pointed to a prisoner little older than a boy whose name was
Master Parrot), "what is argument?"
"Argument," said Master Parrot, is the attempted rationalization of the
arguer's desires."
"Very good," replied the jailor, "but you should turn out your toes and put
your hands behind your back. That is better. Now: what is the proper answer to
an argument proving the existence of the Landlord?"
"The proper answer is, 'You say that because you are a Steward.'"
"Good boy. But hold your head up. - - - - Now just one more. What is
the answer to an argument turning on the belief that two and two make four?"
"The answer is, 'You say that because you are a mathematician.'"
"You are a very good boy," said the jailor.
The Pilgrim’s Regress
Letter I
Think About This!
Herman Dooyeweerd - Modal Aspects of Reality
Aspects
Quantitative (to do with quantity, amount)
Spatial (to do with continuous extension, space)
Kinematic (to do with movement; flowing movement)
Physical (to do with energy + mass)
Biotic (to do with life functions)
Sensitive (to do with sense, feeling, emotion)
Analytical (to do with distinguishing )
Formative (to do with history, culture, technology: shaping and creativity)
Lingual (to do with symbolic communication)
Social (to do with social interaction)
Economic (to do with frugal use of resources)
Aesthetic (to do with harmony, surprise, fun)
Juridical (to do with what is due; 'retribution', rights and responsibilities)
Ethical (to do with self-giving love)
Pistic (to do with vision, aspiration, commitment, creed, religion)
Letter I
Think About This!
Inter-disciplinary Modes and Issues
Impacted by and Impacts
Morality / Ethics
Transcendental / Religious Population
Worldview
Employment
Life Style
Life Style
Globalization
Economics, Aesthetic, Juridical, Ethical
Politics
Justice
Food
Prosperity
Sensitive, Analytical, Formative, Lingual, Social
Population
Technologies
Globalization
Culture
Biotic Life
Life Style
Politics
Globalization
Politics
Population
Food
Spatial, Kinematics Motion, and Physical
Population
Technologies
Food
Technologies
Environment
Energy
Globalization
PF Ribeiro
Think About This!
Letter I
TRUTH
Revelation
Wisdom
Creation
Meaning
The Pathways to TRUTH
truth
Metaphysics
Science
Religion
Literature
Com. Sense
Philosophy
Imagination
Creation
Reason
Can you think of a better
ways to describe this
search?
Think About This!
And Discuss?
Science vs. Spiritual Methodology
Theory / Law
Yes
Scientific Method
Observe Nature
No
Good ?
Not Yet
Infer
Construct
Scientific
Model
Collect Hard Data
Physical
Test Model
Math - Analytical
Faith
Religious Method
Observe Life
No
Yes
Good ?
Is There
A First Cause?
Construct
Theological
Model
Collect Soft Data
Ethical, Spiritual
Test Model
Meaning, Value
Not Yet
A Rational Approach to Mere Christianity
End of the
Story
Do you believe
in the existence
of a Moral Law?
No
Yes
What Kind:
A Force
(Power)?
An inconsistent Power
End of the
Story
No
Yes
No
A God ?
No
A Force/Power is a sort of a
tame and convenient God .
Is there anything
or anyone
behind the Moral
Law?
End of the
Story
Are you tricking
me with a
religious talk?
Yes
No
We are trying to find
truth and the meaning of
the universe.
Yes
Are you
interested?
No
End of the
Story
Yes
How can we find out more about the
thing behind the moral law and
the meaning of the universe?
Looking into the
The Universe He Made
He is
a great artist
But you cannot know
a man by looking at
the house he built.
Looking inside ourselves,
where He wrote the moral
laws
He is
quite merciless.
The universe is
a very dangerous place.
End of the
Story
The Moral Law ells you to do the
straight thing and it does not seem to
care how painful, or dangerous, or
difficult it is to do.
The Moral Law does not give us any
grounds for thinking that God is “good”
in the sense of being soft and nice..
The Moral Law is as hard as nails.
If God is like the Moral Law, then
HE IS NOT SOFT.
No
Do you want
to proceed?
at your own
risk?
End of the
Story
Yes
End of the
Story
Is He an Impersonal
Absolute
Goodness ?
No
Is He a Personal
absolute
Goodness ?
If the universe is not governed by an
absolute goodness, then all our efforts
are in the long run hopeless.
Yes
Absolute Goodness is either the great safety
or the great danger - according to the way
you react to it.
God is the only comfort and supreme terror
No exceptions, or
allowances
permitted.
End of the
Story
No
End of the
Story
Yes
Have you broken
the Moral Law?
Do you think you need
Forgiveness?
Yes
Yes
Do you want to
find out more
about God
No
End of the
Story
Christianity tells how the demands of the Moral Law,
which we cannot meet, have been met on our behalf, how
God Himself becomes man to save man from the
disapproval of God.
Beginning of Chapter 1 of the Great Story ...
Which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better
than the one before.
Letter I
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Passion for
Truth
www.blogging.your.experience.com
Letter II
Title: Appearance, Reality and the Church
Fundamental Principles For Exercising Discernment
Screwtape advises Wormwood to focus the patient’s attention upon the actual people
in the church sitting in the pews around him; not upon “the Church as we see her
spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with
banners.”
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me” (James 1:13)
“If you think you are standing firm…No temptation has seized you except what is common
to man…He will also provide a way out so you can stand firm under it.” I Co 10:12-13
“You however, are not controlled by a sinful nature” (Ro 8:5-17)
----------------------“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle only
by losing your bishop.” CSL
“We should never ask of anything ‘Is it real?’, for everything is real. The proper question is “A real what?” e.g., a real
snake or a real delirium tremens?” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter II
Appearance
Reality
Sham Gothic
Liturgy Books
Neighbors
“The body of Christ"
Togas and sandals
Hazy mind
Disappointment
Anticlimax
Nursery
Greek
Transition
Aspiration
Free lovers
Servants, sons
Freedom
Religion
Hypocrisy
Convention
Prayer
Parrot talk
“We should never ask of anything ‘Is it real?’, for everything is real. The
proper question is “A real what?” e.g., a real snake or a real delirium
tremens?” CSL
Analysis Matrix – Letter II
Appearance, Reality and the Church
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations, References
Habits
Mental
Bodily
Now the habits are still in our favor
(sinful nature)
See with eyes, not heart
Be controlled by the Spirit
fruits of the Spirit, in love
Consider others better
than yourself
Work your salvation with
fear and trembling
Ro 8:9 “are controlled not by the sinful
nature but by the Spirit”; Gal 5:10-26
serve one another in love; fruits of the
Spirit; Ph 2:3 “not vain conceit…
humility consider others better”; Ph
2:12-13 “Work out your salvation with
fear and trembling”
The Church
Unfinished buildings
Unpleasant people
Boring liturgy books
“Rooted in eternity, spread
through space and time,
terrible as an army with
banners”
Col 1:18 “He is the head of the body,
the church” 1 Tim 3:15 “church of the
living God” Revelation 19:19 (army)
Appearance
Reality
Lean heavily on outward
appearances
Appearance signing out the future
Keep the real question out of sight
Keep everything hazy
Do not let them come past the initial
dryness
Reality, the real body of
Christ, Inward beauty
Deal with realities
Gods plan is our victory
Col 1:24 “his body, which is the
church”; 1 Peter 3:3
“ beauty should not come from
outward adornment”
Colossians 2:17 “shadow of the things
… reality, however, is found in Christ”
Ephesians 4:25 “falsehood and speak
truthfully” OT=Veiled: Ex 34:29-30,
II Co 3:7 & NT=Unveiled: II Co
3:17-18
I Co 15:57 “He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter II
Appearance, Reality and the Church
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations, References
Emotions
Fluctuating emotions
work hard at disappointment
and the anticlimax
Real Life: disappointments
help to get rid of
emotions/suffering produces
perseverance
Sound reasoning: see our
own faults
God’s Word is a mirror
Ro 5:3 “also rejoice in our sufferings”
Ps 139:23-24 “know my heart” 2 Tim.
1:13 “keep as the pattern of sound
teaching”
Heb 12:1 “run with perseverance the
race”
James 1:22-25 “listens to the
word…looks …mirror”
Humility
Avoid humility
Making him Think he is humble
God teaches real humility
A haughty spirit before the
fall
Mt 23:12 “whoever humbles himself
will be exalted”; Mt 18:4 (be humble)
Pr.16:18
Prayer
Today
A culture of the now
No hard work or effort
Only feelings and what you see
counts - Teaches self esteem
Loose all to gain all
A pearl of Great Price
Consider all loss
Php 3:8-11“consider everything a loss
compared”
Mt 13:46 “away and sold everything
he had”
Romans 8:36 “For your sake we face
death all day long”
Questions for Discussion - Letter II
1. Define the Church Visible and Invisible (Building, People, Liturgy - Transcendental
Body) and what is the impact on our attitude when we focus on the behavior of
individuals?
2. How do we differentiate between reality and appearance? Why daily life issues are
such fertile ground for temptations?
3. How can one avoid the “anticlimax” after a conversion experience?
4. How can we prepare to overcome the disappointments, and the “dry spells” in our
Christian Life?
5. Discuss the contrasts of hypocrisy and humility.
6. How do we respond to God’s love?
7. Are Christians better than other people in any sense?
8. What is the common component of “free lovers and servants” and do you agree that
God let us do it on our own?
9. How can learn to control our emotions and why trained emotions can be a source of
joy not a step towards hypocrisy?
10. Discuss the importance of habits (discipline): mentally and bodily (and its role in
the sanctification process)
For Further Reading and Reflection
How does this chapter show a light on how I relate to God and see my vocation?
Reading: TheWeight of Glory..
Letter II
Character From The Pilgrim’s Regress
Mr. Sensible ... ...
"Why, as to that you know, the great art of life is to moderate our passions.
Objects of affection are like other belongings. We must love them
enough to enrich our lives while we have them--not enough to
impoverish our lives when they are gone. You see this puzzle here.
While I am engaged on it seems to me of sovereign importance to fit the
pieces together: when it is done I think of it no more; and if I should fail
to do it, why I would not break my heart. Confound that Drudge. Hi!
whoreson, are we to wait all night for our supper?"
"Coming, sir," said Drudge from the kitchen.
"I think the fellow goes to sleep over his pots and pans, "said Mr.
Sensible, "but let us occupy the time by continuing our conversation.
Good conversation I reckon among the finer sweets of life. But I Far
from attacking the spiritual life, the cultured world patronizes it would
not include diatribe or lecturing or persistent discussion under that
head. Your doctrinaire is the bane of all talk."
Letter II
Character From The Pilgrim’s Regress
Mr. Sensible ... ...
"You refer, no doubt, to some aesthetic experience. There again--I would
not urge a young man to shut his eyes to that sort of thing. Who has not
felt immortal longings at the lengthening of the shadow or the turning of
the leaf? Who has no stretched out his hands for the ulterior shore ?
But our imaginations, like our appetites, need discipline: not, heaven help
us, in the interest of any transcendental ethic, but in the interests of your
own solid good. That wild impulse must be tasted, no obeyed. The bees
have stings, but we rob them of their honey.
To cut off pleasures from the consequences and conditions which they
have by nature, detaching, as it were, the precious phrase from its
irrelevant context, is what distinguishes the man from the brute and the
citizen from the savage. I cannot join with those moralists who inveigh
against the Roman emetics in their banquets: still less with those who
would forbid the even more beneficent contraceptive devices of our later
times. That man who can eat as taste, no nature, prompts him and yet
fear no aching belly, or who can indulge in Venus and fear no impertinent
bastard, is a civilized man. In him I recognize Urbanity--the note of the
centre."
Letter II
Character From The Pilgrim’s Regress
Mr. Sensible ... ...
"Do you know of any way across the canyon?" said Vertue abruptly.
"I do not," said the host, "for I have never made inquiries. The proper
study of mankind is man , and I have always left useless speculations
alone. Suppose that there were a way across, to what purpose should I
use it? Why should I scramble down this side and up the other to find after
my labours the same soil still beneath me and the same heaven above? It
would be laughable to suppose that the country beyond the gorge can be
any different from the country on this side of it.
"There might be different people on the other side of the canyon,"
suggested John in the momentary pause that followed.
"That is even less likely," said Mr. Sensible. "Human nature is always the
same. The dress and the manners may vary, but I detect the unchanging
heart beneath the shifting disguises. If there are men beyond the canyon,
rest assured that we know them already. They are born and they die: and
in the interval between they are the same lovable rascals that we know at
home."
"Still," said John, "you can't really be certain that there is no such place as
my Island. Reason left it an open question."
Letter II
Character From The Pilgrim’s Regress
Mr. Sensible ... ...
"Reason!" exclaimed Mr. Sensible. "Do you mean the mad woman
who goes riding about the country dressed up in armour? I trust that when
I spoke of the reasonable life you did not think that I meant anything under
her auspices? There is a strange confusion in our language here, for the
reasonableness which I commend has no more dangerous enemy than
Reason. Perhaps I should drop the use of the name altogether, and say
that my deity is not reasons but le von sens ."
"What is the difference?" said Vertue.
"Sense is easy, Reason is hard. Sense knows where to stop with gracious
inconsistency, while Reason slavishly follows and abstract logic whither
she knows not. The one seeks comfort and finds it, the other seeks truth
and is still seeking. Le bon sens is the father of a flourishing family:
Reason is barren and a virgin. If I had my way I should clap this Reason
of your in the bridewell to pursue her meditations in the straw. The
baggage has a pretty face, I allow: but she leads us from our true aim-joy, pleasure, ease, content, whate'er the name! She is a fanatic who has
never learned form my master to pursue the golden mean, and, being
mortal, to think mortal thoughts. Auream quisquis --"
Letter II
Character From The Pilgrim’s Regress
Mr. Sensible ... ...
"It is very odd that you should say that," interrupted Vertue, "for I also was brought up on Aristotle.
But I think my text must have differed from yours. In mine, the doctrine of the Mean does not bear
the sense you have given it at all. He specially says that there is no excess of goodness. You
cannot go too far in the right direction. The line that we should follow may start from a middle point
in the base of a triangle: but the further off the apex is, the better. In that dimension--"
Its ignorant and dilettante skepticism
"Do manus !" broke out Mr. Sensible. "Spare us the rest, young man. We are not at a lecture, and I
readily admit that your scholarship is more recent than mine. Philosophy should be our mistress,
not our master: and the pursuit of a pedantic accuracy amidst the freedom of our social pleasures
is as unwelcome as--"
"And the bit about thinking mortal thoughts," continued Vertue, whose social experience, as I
dreamed, was not extensive, "the bit about mortal thoughts was quoted by Aristotle to say that he
disagreed with it. He held that the end of mortal life was to put on immortality as much as might be.
And he also said the most useless of studies was the noblest."
"I see you are letter-perfect, young man," said Mr. Sensible, with a rather chilly smile, "and I am
sure these pieces of information, if repeated to your teachers, would win the applause they
deserve. Here, if you will forgive me, they are a little out of place. A gentleman's knowledge of the
ancient authors is not that of a pedant: and I think you have misunderstood the place which
philosophy ought to hold in the reasonable life. We do not memorize systems. What system can
stand? What system does not leave us with the old refrain--que sais--je ? It is in her power to
remind us of the strangeness of things--in the brown charm of her secluded meditations--above all,
in her decorative function--that philosophy becomes instrumental to the good life. We go to the
Porch and the Academy to be spectators, not partisans. Drudge!!"
"Dinner is served, sir," said Drudge, appearing at the door.
Then I dreamed that they went into the dining-room and so to table.
Letter II
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Passion for
Truth
Letter III
Title: Relationships, Prayer, Faith and Action
Principles for Consistency in Prayer Life
In this chapter Lewis focuses on prayer and domestic living. In prayer, Lewis
here develops the distinction between “spiritual” prayer and “effective”. He
describes how prayer can be “rendered innocuous” to the point of “keep on
rubbing the wounds of the day a little sorer even while he is on his knees”. On
domestic living we see the development of evil habits such as mutual
annoyance, neglect of the obvious, and double standards, and Lewis shows how
a person can “turned at a moment's notice from impassioned prayer for a wife's
or son's "soul" to beating or insulting the real wife or son without a qualm and
beating or insulting a person without qualm.”
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter III
Analysis Matrix – Letter III
Relationships, Prayer, Faith and Action
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Changes of
conduct
Get in first
Keep in touch with other family
charges
Gradually from the centre to a
new standard
Prayer
a. Keep the patient from the intention
of prayer altogether
b. Render it innocuous (easy and
entertaining) Let him pray:
-Parrot like prayers, in devotional
mood (no will or intelligence);
thinking:
=feeling is important
=position makes no difference
-Pray spiritually with self
examination avoiding the obvious
c. When praying for people:
-Create an “imaginary person”
-let it never flow in treatment for the
real one
d. result
= “prayer to insult”
= rubbing the wounds … little sorer
a. Pray at all times, in the Spirit
b. Pray at all times, in all
situations, all kinds of prayers
with WILL, INTELECT, directly
to the Lord (Peter at the sea)
=faith, in obedience, no
repetition
=hidden, with bended knees
-practical, for real issues
(discern)
=in faith  peace (no
interference)
-Avoid looking at “self”
c. When praying for people:
-Take the plank out of your own
eye first, do not judge your
neighbor
-Turn the other cheek
- Leave wrath to God
d. God’s peace will result
Observations, References
a. James 5:13-16; Eph 6:18 (at all
times)
Romans 8:26 (The Spirit intercedes
with groans)
b. Lk 18:1-8 (parable of the persistent
widow); Mat 26:41 (Not fall into
temptation); Matthew 6:7 (no vain
repetition)
Is 62:6-7 “give yourselves no rest” Ro
12:12 “faithful in prayer” Luke 11:1-11
“the Lord’s prayer” Proverbs 30:8
“Keep falsehood and lies far”
c. Mt 7:1-5 “Do not judge”; Matthew
5:39 “right cheek, turn to him the
other”
Romans 12:19 “Do not take
revenge…God’s wrath”
d. Phil 4:4-7 (Gods peace )
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter III
Relationships, Prayer, Faith and Action
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations, References
Common
ground and
actions
-Dualistic approach: horror and
neglect of the obvious
-Keep his mind on “inner” life and
off the elementary duties
Use: voice tone and moment (keep
double standard)
-Integrated action
-Love your neighbor as yourself
Mt 22:39 “Love your neighbor as”; Dt
19:18 no “false testimony” against
your neighbor
Relationship
With Spouse,
Family
-Neglect of the obvious
-develop domestic hatred with
double standards (face value
innocence)-Good and settled habit of
mutual annoyance, “Daily pinpricks”
-Love and understanding
-be as little children
-Think of others more highly
than yourself
Ro 15:1-7 (accept one another);
Matthew 18:3
“unless you change and become like
little children”
Habits to
develop
-Mutual annoyance
-horror and neglect of the obvious
-prayer innocuous: spiritual,
reminding of sins (save her soul) for
a fictitious character.
-mind on “self examination”
-double standards
-jealousy
-Effective prayer
-No double standard
=no dishonesty
=sober judgment
=confess our sin
=we where called to peace
-Be thankful for all
Proverbs 11:1 “The LORD abhors
dishonest scales”; Romans 12:3
“think of yourself with sober
judgment” Colossians 3:15 “you were
called to peace. And be thankful”. I Jn
1:9 (confess our sins)
Questions for Discussion - Letter III
1. How can domestic irritations adversely affect the Christian life?
2. How in Lewis’ thinking how does God work to bring a young Christian “under
a new standard”?
3. How can domestic irritations adversely affect the Christian’s prayer and
living?
4. Why should we avoid concentrating our minds on the inner life?
5. How should we pray?
6. What would be the habits Screwtape wants Wormwood to develop in his
“patient”?
7. What would be the “neglect of the obvious”?
8. Develop the “double standards” of this chapter and try to apply them to your
relational world.
For Further Reading and Reflection
How does this chapter shows a light on how I relate to God and see my vocation?
Reading: TheWeight of Glory..
Letter III
I. Diligence
II. Patience
III. Honesty
IV. Courage
V. Charity
VIRTUES TO CULTIVATE
The Cardinal Virtues:
prudence, temperance, courage, justice
The Theological Virtues:
love, hope, faith
VI. Creativity
The Seven Contrary Virtues:
humility, kindness, abstinence, chastity, patience, liberality, diligence
VII. Empathy
humility against pride, kindness against envy, abstinence against
VIII. Humility
gluttony, chastity against lust, patience against anger, liberality against
greed, and diligence against sloth.
IX. Stewardship
X. Compassion
XI. Justice
XII. Faith
XIII. Hope
XIV. Wisdom
The Seven Heavenly Virtues:
faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give shelter to strangers,
clothe the naked, visit the sick, minister to prisoners, and bury the dead.
VIRTUES TO CULTIVATE
Diligence
Patience
Honesty
Charity
Humility
Courage
Compassion
Justice
Faith
Hope
Wisdom
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of
every virtue at the testing point.
C. S. Lewis
Letter III
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Letter IV
Title: Prayer: Why? And Does It Work?
The Fundamental Communication: The Link Betewen Incomplete
Individuals and the Utterly Concrete Person
In this chapter Lewis expands on the development of habits for prayer. He
describes the difference between a beginner, who still is developing out of the
“parrot like nature” of his childhood prayers and a patient whose “real nakedness
of a soul in prayer” shows him as “very far advanced in the Enemy’s service”
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter IV
Form
Position
Direction
Prayer
vaguely devotional mood
composed his spirit to love
a sense of supplication
prayer of silence
bodily position
subtler misdirection
away from Him towards themselves
trying to produce feelings
estimate the value of each prayer by their success in
producing the desired feeling
Wherever there is prayer, there is danger
He is cynically indifferent to the dignity of His position
ghastly luminosity, that stabbing and searing glare
you must keep him praying to it—to the thing that he has
made, not to the Person who has made him
subjective nature, and the man trusts himself to the
completely real, external, invisible Presence,
this real nakedness of the soul in prayer—you will be
helped by the fact that the humans themselves do not
desire it as much as they suppose.
Analysis Matrix – Letter IV
Prayer: Why? And Does It Work?
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Prayer:
Form
a. Keep the patient from the intention of
prayer altogether.
b. Or childlike parrot prayer, let it be:
Entirely spontaneous
Inward
Informal
Unregularised
c. Let him try: Producing a devotional
mood (no will or intelligence)
a. Pray at all times, in all situations
b. All kinds of prayers,
= in childlike Faith
= directly to the Lord
= in freedom and confidence
= confessing our sins
c. Mood is not important:
= Faith (believing) +
righteousness (forgiven sinner)
a. Ephesians 6:18 (at all times)
b. James 5:15 “prayer offered in
faith”;
Ephesians 3:12 “…approach God
with freedom and confidence”
c. Genesis 15:6 “believed
…credited …as righteousness”; I
Jn 1:9 (confess our sins) James
5:16 “confess your sins…The
prayer of a righteous man is
powerful and effective”
Position
Bodily position makes no difference
-Merely “composing ones spirit to
love”
-Indulging “a sense of supplication”
- For clever and lazy patients
“whatever their bodies do affects the
soul”
“Try to keep things OUT of their
minds”
On our knees - Persistently
1 Corinthians 1:27
“God chose the foolish things of
the world to shame the wise; God
chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong”
Fill your minds with the Holy
Spirit
1 Kings 18:42 “Elijah… put his
face between his knees”; Luke 5:8
(Peter) Mat 26:41 (Not fall into
temptation);Luke 18 (parable of
the persistent widow); Ephesians
5:18 “be filled with the Spirit”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter IV
Prayer: Why? And Does It Work?
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Attitude
Prevent them from attending to God
“turning the gaze from God to
themselves”
Produce their FEELINGS by the action
of their OWN WILL
Charity - charitable feelings
Courage – Feel brave
Forgiveness – Try to feel forgiven
Estimate the value by the feeling
*let them not understand this depends
on their health , tired etc
There is immediate action!
- It might take a while for an
answer
- God’s will might not be our will
“There's such a thing as getting
more than they bargained for!”
It is for our best
Daniel 9:23 “As soon as you
began to pray, an answer was
given”
I Jn 5:14 (ask anything according
to His will)
Jer 29:11 (For I know the plans I
have for you.. not to harm you”
;Romans 8:26 (The Spirit
intercedes with groans); Phil 4:47 (God’s peace will result)!
Mt 14:28-31 (why did you
doubt?)
Pray to “IT” not to the person who
made me
“They have never known that ghastly
luminosity, that stabbing and searing
glare which makes the background of
permanent pain to our lives”
Pray to the God your Creator
“ not what you think Thou art, but
what Thy knowest Thyself to be”
In the “nakedness of your soul”
Direction
The Holy Spirit will intercede for
us!
-No communication interference
-Peace
Lack of faith? Peter at sea
(Our Father who art in heaven)
Isaiah 62:6-7 “give yourselves no
rest”
Questions for Discussion - Letter IV
1. According to CS Lewis, what is the first reaction against the “parrot like
prayers of childhood?
2. What would be the main difference between a prayer of an “advanced in the
Enemy’s service” and the spontaneous prayer of the beginner?
3. Does the position of the body have any influence on prayer according to
Screwtape?
4. How do feelings affect my prayer life?
5. What is according to CS the danger of the “real nakedness of the soul” in
prayer?
6. What does “the Enemy” pours out in “quite shameless fashion on the praying
patient?
For Further Reading and Reflection
How does this chapter shows a light on how I relate to God and see my vocation?
Reading: Letters to Malcolm chiefly on prayer
“Prayer is either an illusion or a personal contact between embryonic, incomplete
person (ourselves) and the utterly concrete person. Prayer in the sense of
petition, asking for things, is a small part of it; confession and penitence are its
threshold, adoration its sanctuary, the presence and vision of God its bread and
wine.” CSL
Searching God’s Will to Our Vocation in Prayer
In searching for our vocation, the first and foremost challenge is, “How do
we communicate with God?”
Jesus is the best example for our prayer life. Especially before major
decisions or tasks, he spends nights in prayer and fasting. When Jesus
began his ministry, it was not less than 40 days! How are we dealing with
our decisions in life?
But before we can even start to pray, we might consider:
- total honesty with regard to the challenges and temptations which we face at
college and in the real world.
- total transparency in our dealings, business and relationship
- total acceptance of our limitations, etc.
- total surrender to the Lord now (it will happen sooner or later - hopefully in faith)
- total commitment and involvement with the tasks at hand
Only then, we will be able to maintain the focus on the Christian calling and
vocation road map, and facilitate corrections on the journey when we are
distracted on the way.
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prayer
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Letter V
Title:
War, Fear of Pain, Suffering, Death and Faith
Fundamental Principles For Facing Fear and Death
In this chapter Lewis describes the difference between death in wartime and in
peacetime. He describes the emotional problems of wartime, not many times in their
favor as “Men are killed in places where they knew they might be killed and to which
they go, if they are at all of the Enemy's party, prepared” as in wartime “not even a
human can believe that he is going to live forever”.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle
only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter V
Analysis Matrix – Letter V
War, Fear of Pain, Suffering, Death and Faith
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
Pain and
Suffering
Concentrate on the Future
“reward of all our labors—the
anguish and bewilderment of a
human soul”
-Terror-pictures of the future
-Self-pitying glances at the happy
past
-Thrills in the pit of his stomach
“finally secure his soul ‘a brim-full
living chalice of despair and horror
and astonishment’”
“do not allow any temporary
excitement to distract you from the
real business of undermining faith
and preventing the formation of
virtues”
Concentrate on the Present
-Rejoice in our sufferings
-Do not look back on past
-Perfect peace
-Encouraging faith
-Promote formation of virtue
-Ro. 5:3-5 “rejoice in our sufferings”
-2 Co. 1:5 “Christ our comfort overflows”
Ph. 3:10-11 “attain to the resurrection
from the dead”
-Luke 9:62 "No one who puts his hand to
the plow and looks back is fit for service
in the kingdom of God."
-Isaiah 26:3 “perfect peace him whose
mind is steadfast” John 14:27 “Do not let
your hearts be troubled and do not be
afraid”
-Col 3:12 “clothe yourselves…patience”
Acts 14:22 “Strengthening the disciples
and encouraging them to remain true to
the faith.” We must go through many
hardships to enter the kingdom of God,"
they said.”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter V
War, Fear of Pain, Suffering, Death and Faith
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
Reaction to
War
“fear and suffering of the humans is
a legitimate and pleasing
refreshment”
Make Extremists
-Extreme Patriotism
-Ardent Pacifism
Bringing souls to Our Father Below
Is it just?
Is it moral?
-Self control
“makes prizes of humans who
have given their lives for
causes He thinks bad on the
monstrously sophistical ground
that the humans thought them
good and were following the
best they knew”
-Do not be stiff-necked
-Be courageous and strong
-Avoid all extremes
Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man,
what is good. And what does the LORD
require of you? To act justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with your
God.”
-Pr 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his
anger, but a wise man keeps himself
under control” Dt 10:16 “Circumcise
your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiffnecked any longer”1 Co 16:13 “Be on
your guard; stand firm in the faith; be
men of courage; be strong”
Ecc 7:18 The man who fears God will
avoid all extremes
Wars
a. Great opportunity for attacks on
faith
-Immediate Fear
-Suffering
b. certain tendencies inherent: by no
means in our favor
-hope for a good deal of cruelty and
unchastity
“continual remembrance of death:
our best weapons, contented
worldliness, is rendered useless”
a. His blockade is admittedly
imposing
‘See thousands turning in this
tribulation. to the Enemy:
“nevertheless have their
attention diverted from
themselves to values and
causes which they believe to be
higher than the self””
b. Part of Redemption
c. Be Prepared
1 Co 10:13 “provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it” Jer 36:3
Ro. 5:3-5 “rejoice in our sufferings”
continues
Analysis Matrix – Letter V
War, Fear of Pain, Suffering, Death and Faith
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
Death
In wartime: undesirable deaths
“Men are killed in places where they
knew they might be killed and to
which they go, if they are at all of
the Enemy's party, prepared” “not
even a human can believe that he is
going to live forever”
In peacetime: true condition
unknown
“costly nursing homes amid doctors
who lie, nurses who lie, friends who
lie, as we have trained them,
promising life to the dying,
encouraging the belief that sickness
excuses every indulgence, and even,
if our workers know their job,
withholding all suggestion of a priest
lest it should betray to the sick man
his true condition”
- Him that suffering is an
essential part of what He calls
Redemption
-In Service
- In Faithfulness
“precise moment of terror,
bereavement, or physical pain,
you may catch your man when
his reason is temporarily
suspended” “post is nearly
always defended”
-
Heb. 10:25; 35-39 “But we are not of
those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but of those who believe and are saved”
-1 Pe 1:13-16 “prepare your minds for
action”
-Mat. 25:23 “'Well done, good and
faithful servant”;
Faith
“A faith which is destroyed by war
cannot really have been worth the
trouble of destroying.”
Faith Endures
Heb. 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see”
Questions for Discussion - Letter V
Letter V
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Letter VI
Title:
-
Fundamental Principles -
In this chapter Lewis describes “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle
only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter VI
Analysis Matrix – Letter VI
My - Not Thy - Will Be Done (Life's Tribulations)
Mind Activities - General Attitude to War
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
Life’s Tribulations
a. “our business is to keep them
thinking about what will happen
to them”
-maximum uncertainty
-mind filled with contradictory
pictures of the future
-arousing hope or fear
“There is nothing like suspense
and anxiety for barricading a
human's mind
against the Enemy”
b. Let him think “daily cross”
means:
-practice fortitude and patience
to a dozen different and
hypothetical fates
-“the Enemy does not greatly
assist those who are trying to
attain it”
a. “wants men to be concerned
with what they do”
-submitting with patience to
the Enemy's will
-accept with patience the
tribulation which has actually
been dealt out to him
b. for the daily task of bearing
(today’s fear and suffering) the
daily bread will be provided
-resignation to present and
actual suffering, even where
that suffering consists of fear
a. Mt. 6: 25, Revelation 2:10 do not worry
about your life
Deut. 31:6, Do not be afraid or terrified
b. Matthew 16:24 "If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me”
James 4:14 “Why, you do not even
know what will happen tomorrow. What
is your life?”
General Activities
of Mind
a. Concentrate on the Object
b. “If favorable to the Enemy
bend his mind back on itself”
- Fix Attention Inward
a. Concentrate on the Soul
b. Look upwards to God
- Be concerned with what
you do now
a. Psalm 130:6 “My soul waits for the
Lord more than watchmen…”
1 Peter 1:9 “for you are receiving the
goal of your faith, the salvation of your
souls”
b. Psalm 121
Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus”
Analysis Matrix – Letter VI
My - Not Thy - Will Be Done (Life's Tribulations)
Mind Activities - General Attitude to War
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
Spiritual Law
a. Weaken his prayers
-diverting his attention from
the Enemy Himself to his own
states of mind about the Enemy
b. Patient's mind is diverted
from the thing feared to the
fear itself
c. all activities of mind which
favor our cause, encourage the
patient to be un-self-conscious
and to concentrate on the
object
a. Strengthening prayers
-attention to Jesus
- attaining the Goal
a. Ephesians 6:18 “pray in the Spirit on
all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests”
Hebrews 12:2
b. Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward
the goal to win the prize”
c. Luke 6:37 "Do not judge, and you
will not be judged”
- Matthew 6:3 “But when you give to
the needy, do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing”
a. Vindictive feelings against
imaginary scapegoats
a. “Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
- to smooth out our rough
spots
- Live in peace with all
General Attitude
to War
b. Diverted from fear
c. Be self-conscious about
evil
- Watch your step
-be un-self-conscious about
yourself when doing good
a. Matthew 22:39 “Love your neighbor
as yourself”
Matthew 24:12 “increase of wickedness,
love...will grow cold”
Hebrews12:14 “Make every effort to
live in peace with all men and to be
holy”
Analysis Matrix – Letter VI
My - Not Thy - Will Be Done (Life's Tribulations)
Mind Activities - General Attitude to War
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Observations and Strategies
General Attitude
b. Malice to his immediate
neighbors.
c. Benevolence towards people
he does not know
b + c. Love – sign of the
church
- Under God’s Grace as the
integrating factor
c. John 13:35 “By this all men will
know that you are my disciples, if you
love one another."
1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other
deeply, because love covers over a
multitude of sins”
Characteristics of
Man
a. Man as concentric circles:
1. Intellect
2. Will
3. Fantasy
“Shoving all Virtues outwards
into the circle of fantasy and
all the desirable qualities
(malice) inwards into the Will”
a. Man as Integrated Entity a.
heart, soul
1. intellect (mind)
2. will (steadfastness,
strength)
3. Sentiments: Peace
4. fantasy: do not let it guide
you
The Man of God – See
attached[1]
a+b+c. Deuteronomy 6:5; Mt. 22:37
“Love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength”
1. Ps. 119:11 “I have hidden your word
in my heart that I might not sin against
you”
2 Psalm 119:34 “Give me
understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart”
3. Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect
peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you”
4. Proverbs 12:11 “he who chases
fantasies lacks judgment”
Questions for Discussion - Letter VI
1.
What, according to Screwtape is the best way to barricade a human’s mind
from God? Do you agree with that suggestion?
2.
Why is it so important for us to be concerned with what we do?
3.
How, according to paragraph two, should we see the Lord ’s Prayer as saying
“Thy will be done?
4.
According to CSLewis, what should be considered as our appointed cross?
5.
Discuss: “see that the patient never thinks of the present fear as his appointed
cross but only of the things he is afraid of”
6.
What should be considered the “spiritual law” involved with the notion of fear?
7.
Discuss: “all activities favorable to the Enemy bend his mind back on itself.”
8.
What difference would it make to fix my attention on the “state called anger”
versus the being insulted by somebody?
9.
What are the consequences of “But it is usually a sort of melodramatic or
mythical hatred directed against imaginary scapegoats”
10.
Discus the ways in which “the malice thus becomes wholly real and the
benevolence largely imaginary”.
Letter VI
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Letter VII
Title:
-
Fundamental Principles -
In this chapter Lewis describes “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle
only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter VII
Letter VII
Title:
Appearance, Reality and the Church
Fundamental Principles for Exercising Discernment
In this letter Lewis describes how the view on demons has changed over the ages;
sometimes concealed, at other times terrifying. Screwtape mentions also how all
extremes, “except devotion to the Enemy” should be encouraged. He describes how to
make “the patient” a conscientious objector and, in which cases it is worthwhile to
make him a pacifist or a patriot, as long as he uses “faith as a means and world as an
end.”
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little
difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes,
and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more "religious"
(on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here” Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Analysis Matrix – Letter VII
Appearance, Reality and the Church
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
The Devil’s
Existence
a. Conceal / Disbelief
Ignorance
Materialism
Skepticism
b. Reveal / Belief
Direct Terrorism
Demon Possession
c. Ideal
Emotionalism and
Mythology of Science
Belief in Life Force
Worship of Sex
Psychoanalysis
Worship of Forces
Denial of Spirits
Materialistic Magician
a-c. Knowledge
b. Spiritual Warfare
Resist, and do not Fear
I Peter 5:8-9 “your enemy the devil
prowls around”
James 4:7 “Resist the devil, and he
will flee from you”
1 John 3: 8 “the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the devil's work”
Church
Small / Closed Clique
Auto Admiration
Pride / Hate
Defensive / Self-righteous
Divided
Paul vs. Apollo
High vs. Low
Presbyterians vs. Baptists
Open and Outreaching
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 still infants
because: “there is jealousy and
quarreling among you”
Analysis Matrix – Letter VII
Appearance, Reality and the Church
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Attitude to War
(different ages)
Extreme Convictions
Patriotism / Pacifism
Complacency (sleep)
Prone to faction (inflame)
Moderation
Temperance
1Tim. 3:2 “must be…self-controlled”
Titus 2:2 “temperate, worthy of
respect, self-controlled”
Church and War
Partisan Spirit
World as an End: Faith as a Means
Convictions / causes part of
religion not the other way around;
then the most important part, and
then replacement for prayer, love
and sacraments
Faith as an End(Anchor for
the soul)
Temporal Affairs  Mater of
Obedience
Hebrews 6:9 “hope as an anchor for
the soul, firm and secure”
Deuteronomy 10:12 “what does the
LORD …ask of you but to fear the
LORD your God, to walk in all his
ways, to love him, to serve the LORD
your God with all your heart and with
all your soul”
Mic. 6:8 “act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly”
Questions for Discussion - Letter VII
1What has been the believe on the devil over the ages? What is the devil’s prevailing
strategy in the USA today? And in other parts of the world? And in our lives?
2What would be a “materialist Magician”? What do you think about the New Age religion?
3When and why in your point of view are extremes dangerous? How can we avoid/
cultivate these extremes in our lives? What should be our proper reaction?
4What are the problems of the “subordinate factions” in the church? Has CSLewis been
able to pinpoint it adequately? What can we do in our churches to avoid this problem?
5What is the problem with being a “conscientious objector”?
6Why is honesty so important to God? According to the Scriptures, can honesty be a
means to enter heaven?
7Pacifism or patriotism, what is the prevailing attitude today
8Why does it not really matter to the devil if you are a pacifist or an activist?
9What are the consequences to a Christian life to making “the world an end and faith a
means”?
1How is the church fighting evil? Is the church treating the symptoms or the cause of
problems?
Doubts
And our Vocations
In our calling we might have times at which we doubt. We question the reason for all, if it was really God
that called us to this position, if somebody else can do it better, if …
The Old Testament is full of doubters. The most well known doubter might be Abraham. In Egypt, he did
not trust God and told a lie (that Sarah was his sister and not his wife) later on he doubted that God would
give him a child and he took Hagar, Sarah’s maid as his wife, and Ishmael was born...
David, when fleeing Saul, He fled towards Gath and pretended to be a madman (1 Samuel 21:10-14).
Zachariah, the priest who couldn’t believe he would be a father at old age and became mute till the
promise was fulfilled …
Then we have Gideon, and his fleece. :
Testing the Lord? Do or do not?
Using god’s law
If we would remember that God is light – in him is no darkness
body needs sunshine production of Vit D, cabin fever and depression kick in if we do not get sunlight
enough. So it is with us spiritually. We need to be reading, meditating and praying.
Meanwhile, if you do get discouraged and doubt, no need to be sitting when you can be on the road. So
keep going, unless: you are doing something against His word: for that you need to know It! So study and
meditate on it.
Doubters
Abraham  In Egypt + with Ishmael
David  as a fugitive (acting as a madman in front of kings)
Zachariah  Mute till fulfilled promise (John the Baptist)
Gideon  Testing the Lord with “do not” and “do”
Using God’s law: when?
Lessons from the way of biology
sunshine
- picture of closed room curtain and sunlight outside
We all need at least X photons of sunshine to bask in His presence otherwise we become depressed
Sunglass onlyand hour of sunshine in Michigan winters
Letter VIII
Title:
The Natural Law of Undulation
Christian Literature and Parallel Lives
Fundamental Principles for Counter Acting Spiritual Oscillations
The most beautiful quote, in our understanding, comes from this chapter
when Lewis states: “He (God) wants them to learn to walk and must therefore
take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased
even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never
more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do
our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him
seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still
obeys.”
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter VIII
Analysis Matrix – Letter VIII
The Natural Law of Undulation
Christian Literature and Parallel Lives
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Human
Nature
a. Humans are amphibians
half spirit and half animal
Spirit = Eternal
Body is Animal = bound
b. Time Change closest
constancy = undulation
a. Man is the image of
God
Man has an eternal
nature
All things work
together…
b. God explores Troughs
(i.e. Job, Joseph, Daniel)
- to create steadfastness,
perseverance
- Faith, not feelings
a. Gen. 1:26-27 God created man in his own image
- Subject to frustration / fallen nature Rom 7:14,2125; 8:15-17 “I myself in my mind am a slave to God's
law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin”
Ecc. 3:4 “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to
mourn and a time to dance”
b. Rom. 5:3 “rejoice in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering”
James 1:2-3 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance”
Human
Freedom
a. Man is food to be
consumed “Cattle for food”
b. The devil is empty and
needs filling (Sucks In)
c. Man-absorbed by the
devil and extinct
a. Man is the image of
God
b. Man is a vase to be
freely filled with God’s
glory
(perfect freedom)
-God’s Love flows over
c. Servants who can
become sons, freely and
gladly (to conform to
Him)
-Man-one with God but
still distinct
a. Colossians3:10 new self-in the image of its Creator
b. Acts 4:31 be filled with the Holy Spirit Rom. 8:21
brought into the glorious freedom of the children of
God.
Jo 3:16 “God so loved the world”
c. Romans 8:23 “wait eagerly for our adoption as sons”
Pr 4:20-27 how to look for perfection
Psalm 119:9 guard your word in my heart
Analysis Matrix – Letter VIII
The Natural Law of Undulation
Christian Literature and Parallel Lives
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Human walk
Continuous interference
and temptation
God wants us to learn to
walk by ourselves…He
takes His hand away for
a while …and is pleased
even when we stumble
Proverbs 17:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “the Lord tests the
heart”
Matthew 14:27-32 Peter walks on the water: “you of
little faith”
Obedience
Our cause is in the greatest
danger, then when a human,
no longer desiring but still
intending to do our
Enemy’s will… and still
obeys
Obedience and faith in
God amidst hopeless
situations
Heb. 12:1 “let us run with perseverance”
James 1:2 consider joy, when facing trials
Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you
will not stand at all”
Questions for Discussion - Letter VIII
1
How much backsliding is needed to make us feel as if the troughs are permanent?
2. Do you agree with the Law of Undulation?
3. What is most damaging, peaks or troughs?
4. Do you agree with the idea of God’s periodical withdrawal from us?
5. Why should it be against God’ nature to over-ride human will?
6. How conciliate this idea with God’s sovereignty?
7. Do you think God expects us to obey when we feel forsaken?
Letter VIII
The Law of Undulation
Uncertainties and Fluctuations of Faith
Short
Peaks
Long
Peaks
Long
Troughs
Short
Troughs
Temporary Nature
WHY ARE WE SO UNSTABLE?
SOME THOUGHTS
We are human; as such, we have body, intellect + emotions (my Brain Power) and soul (God given to humans).
* Body: we are born, we grow, we die, can get cut, eat the wrong things, be poisoned, brake a bone, heal…
* Intellect and emotions: we feel good, bad, we love and hate, we learn and some people say we can “unlearn”. In
other words, we are emotionally up and down, left and right, and many times these are unconsciously related to how my
body is doing. If I have a stomach-ache I will have the tendency to “hate all” that’s how the term “biblious” came into being (a
person that has biliary problems can be very belligerent). If I feel good and the weather is right, even if I would be in a crash,
as long as I myself would not get hurt, I would be able to cope quite well. Add a few injuries, psychological and/or physical
and all feels and seems a disaster, even tough the same circumstances in other psychological conditions could be quite
harmless.
* Soul: It is where we can connect with the “outside” world, with God. It is not that easy to find and dissect. However,
the Bible says that the person that is “connected” to his Maker is able to endure even the most difficult situations. That is
how you can discern the “Fruits of the Spirit” such as love gentleness and self-control for example. When the “head” of the
body (the soul) is connected to the body, even the most un-equilibrated of bodies (i.e. a sick, and dying person) can find
peace and the ability to “love her neighbor” and “bless those who curse you” this can only be done with God’s help. A simple
example is your mother herself: I know I have constantly to ask forgiveness to you all - I have not been always a very good
example - and God is not finished with me yet! That just shows you what an angry person I am in temperament! Imagine
what I would be if I was NOT a Christian!
As such, you will see that God from my “I feel” perspective varies by the day if not hour! God is close when I feel good, and
far away when I feel bad. If you have based your religion on how you FEEL, I understand that as soon as you arrived in Haiti
and you got your first intestinal upset, you went downhill from there.
However, God is NOT an ‘I FEEL’ it is an ‘I KNOW’. We should base our faith on the:
* “rock” below: Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins, not once but over and over again. As we continue
sinning. We have to claim the blood of the Lamb on the doors of our hearts.
* God the Father in the heavens above; the anchor of faith in His promises behind the veil. Then no matter what our
emotions, we can say, “I believe”. God says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand at all” Isaiah 7:9.
* Holy Spirit: we need the heavenly consoler and teacher (the Holy Spirit) to teach us – we need to pray always to ask for
His help as to understand the Gospel (literally: good news). In this process, we fall (some say ‘we fall away’, others say we
‘sin’ and some say ‘you go to hell’) the truth is that God says, “leave the judging to me, I can see the hearts, you not”.
Letter VIII
The Law of Undulation
Uncertainties and Fluctuations of Faith
Intellectual Confidence versus Real Confidence
The Mechanism:
Worldly Anxieties
Physical Discomforts
Lascivious Fancies
Doubts
The Strategy for Recovery:
Pressing Steadily Through These Interruptions
Letting Grace Operate
Letter IX
Title:
Undulation, Moderation and Phases
Fundamental Principles for Exercising Discernment
Pleasures are God’s creation, not the devil’s. Screwtape mentions: ‘We distort
pleasures “An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the
formula”. In this chapter, we see more closely the effects of Undulation on these
pleasures and faith dependent on the character of the “patient”.
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter IX
Analysis Matrix – Letter IX
Undulation, Moderation and Phases
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Pleasure
a. “Our research has not enabled us to
produce one”
b. Try to work AWAY from natural
condition, at times, ways or degrees which
he has forbidden
-least natural
-least redolent of its maker
-least pleasurable
“Ever increasing craving for ever
diminishing pleasure”
a. He made all pleasures
b. enjoy in natural
condition in ways and
degrees healthy for
work, play and
innocuous merriment
a. Gen 1:31 “it was very good” Ps16:11
“you will fill me with joy in your presence”
Ps.84:11 “no good thing…withholds”
b. Pr. 25:28 “who lacks self-control”
1 Thessalonians 5:8 “let us be selfcontrolled”; 2 Timothy 3:3 “without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without selfcontrol, brutal, not lovers of the good”;
Titus 2:2 “be temperate, worthy of respect”
Undulation
Pleasure
Work away from the natural a. a.
condition of any pleasure:
-Evoke Distortions
-Exploit them in troughs
-Troughs
Sexual Temptations(man), desire of
things(woman)
Empty Inner Life
Avoid Peaks(more energy, but powers of
resistance are at their highest)
b.Use pleasure at times and ways
forbidden by Him (extremes)
-Away from the natural condition
(empty mind)
-Increasing craving and
Diminishing pleasure is the formula.
- Take all – give nothing
Pleasure is God’s
Invention a. a. ever
increasing pleasure IN
OBEDIENCE till
daylight
Do not deprive one
anotherI Cor 7:4-5,Exodus
20:17(You shall not
covet)
b. Use them at the right
time Moderation and
Obedience
-Everything is
permissible, not all is
good
God wants to fill us
a. Jas 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift is
from above”, “In His time he makes all
things beautiful” (Ecc 3:11) or: Pr 4:18 (Till
perfect day )
-Ro. 8:28 (Things work together)
Obs: It is difficult to pray and sin:
Obedience and prayer: Eph6:18 (Pray at all
times)
b. Wise heart will know the proper time
(Ecc8:5); Ecc. 7:18b “The man who fears
God will avoid all extremes”; I Cor 6:12
“Everything permissible…but I will not be
mastered by anything”
“My Father will honor he who serves me”
John 12:27
Eph 3:16
Analysis Matrix – Letter IX
Undulation, Moderation and Phases
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Knowledge
of right and
wrong
a. Explore the thought of troughs
- Keep knowledge out of his mind
a. Seek Wisdom
Learn from each other as
not be as infants “tossed
back and forth”
a. Proverbs 4:7-9
Eph 4:14 “by every wind of teaching”
Religion
“Consider Jargon, not reason”
Attack on faith:
a. If Despairing Type:
-Keep out of the way of Christians
-Direct attention to appropriate passages
-Desperate design to recover feelings
-Sheer will power:
2. If Hopeful type:
-acquiesce (content) to low Temperatures
(not so low after all)
-1st days excessive
-Moderation in all things (religion is good
upto a point),
-moderated religion is as good as none
-Trough is Permanent
Faith is a Phase(avoid the true / false
question)
Losing Interest - This is False
-Hazy Ideas (fashionable ideas)
Progress and development
Historical Point of View
Modern Biographies
(always emerging from Phases)
- Blessed word: Adolescent
Whatever you do, do it
for the glory of God.
“Life is religion” i.e. All
of life.
a. Despair = lack of faith
- Do not be anxious …
- Peace that surpasses
understanding
b. do not be Lukewarm Rev. 3:16 (obs: Laodicea
was the wealthiest
church in Phrygia)
Make EVERY thought
captive to Christ (2Cor
10:5)
Decide what is right or
wrong, let your yes be
yes and your no be no.
(there are no gray areas).
Be strong in the faith!
Philippians 3:8 (consider everything a loss),
I Co. 10: 31 (do it all …glory of God) ;
a. 1Pe.5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him”;
Ph. 4:6-7 “the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding”
Romans 3:3 (What if some did not have
faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's
faithfulness?) Philippians 2:13 (for it is God
who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose), Isaiah 61:3
(a garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair)
Romans 6:15 (sonship, not fear), 1Cor 9-2427(run a race)
See next page:
Pilgrim’s Regress: Mr. Sensible
Eph6:10-18 (Armor of God)
Letter X
Title: Flirting with the World
Friends, Acquaintances and Attitudes
Fundamental Principles for Exercising Discernment
IN THIS CHAPTER, CS LEWIS MASTERFULLY DESCRIBES A RELATIONSHIP OF A CHRISTIAN TO HIS
NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDS. SCREWTAPE SUGGESTS HOW A WRONG CHOICE OF FRIENDS CAN LEAD
TO A DOUBLE LIFE WHERE, “WHILE BEING PERMANENTLY TREACHEROUS TO AT LEAST TWO SETS
OF PEOPLE, HE WILL FEEL, INSTEAD OF SHAME, A CONTINUAL UNDERCURRENT OF SELFSATISFACTION.” SCREWTAPE DESCRIBES THE SUBTLE WAYS OF “LOOKS, TONES AND LAUGHS”
WHERE “HE WILL BE SILENT WHEN HE OUGHT TO SPEAK AND LAUGH WHEN HE OUGHT TO BE
SILENT” IN MANNER AND WORDS, REMINDING WORMWOOD THAT “ALL MORTALS TEND TO TURN
INTO THE THING THEY ARE PRETENDING TO BE”.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little
difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes,
and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more "religious"
(on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here” Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter X
Analysis Matrix – Letter X
Flirting with the World
Friends, Acquaintances and Attitudes
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Friends and
Acquaintances
Rich
Middle-aged
Smart
Superficially Intellectual
Brightly Skeptical about all
Contemptuous
Belittles anything
Fashionable
Vain (sexual, social and
intellectual)
Pacifist (vaguely)
“All mortals tend to turn into the
thing they are pretending to be.”
Poor, Lonely
People of all ages
Widows, Orphans, Sick
Simple
Wise
Faithful
Christian Friends
(Is any pleasure on earth as
great as a circle of Christian
friends by a fire? CSL)
Ah, look at all the lonely people…
Where do they all come from?
Where do they all belong? (Beatles)
I was a strange, I was sick. and you
came to visit me …
Mt. 25:31-46/ Jas. 2:14-17
There are no ordinary people. You
have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations these are mortal. But it is immortals
who we joke with, work with, marry,
snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or
everlasting splendors. C.S.L.
Attitudes
Mannerisms – Subtle Play of
-Looks
-Laughs
“Faith in direct opposition to
assumptions of the conversations”
-Postpone open acknowledgment
with the aid of shame, pride,
modesty and vanity.
-Silent when he ought to speak
-Laugh when he ought to be silent
Delay realization that this pleasure
is a temptation
Your word should be …
Yes, Yes, No., No.
Walk with
competence and
responsibility
Act with Justice and Mercy
Speak
Silent
Attitude of humble in love
Mat. 5: 37 (Yes-No)
Salt and light – Luke14: 33-34
Luke 16:13(Do not serve two masters)
Mic.6:8(Justice and mercy)
Open my lips …Ps 51:15
II Cor. 10:2-6(we do not wage war as)
1 Timothy 1:15-16( I, the worst of)
Analysis Matrix – Letter X
Flirting with the World
Friends, Acquaintances and Attitudes
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Christian
Literature
Avoid
Issues:
Mammon
Worldly Vanities
Choice of Friends
Value of Time, Temperance
Speak Up
Issues:
Moral
Virtues, Justice, Mercy
Puritanism
Live in Chastity
Sobriety of Life
John 17:16,IICor10:3 (They are not of
the world)
Galatians 5:22 (Fruit of the Spirit)
Zachariah 7:9, Matthew 23:23 (Love
justice/ mercy)
Romans 12:3 (think of yourself with
sober judgment)
Parallel Lives
-Enjoy kneeling besides the grocer
because … He remembers that the
grocer could not possibly
understand the mocking world.
-Enjoy blasphemy over coffee
because … He is aware of a
“deeper” spiritual world …
-Drinking with them and laughing
at their jokes because it would be
priggish, intolerant, and
puritanical not do so.
-Aggravate domestic tension
Consistency in behavior
Integral life
Life is Religion
1 Peter 3:15-17 (clear conscience
...good behavior in Christ)
Proverbs 8:13 ( to hate evil);(say no to
ungodly passions)Titus2:12, 1John2:15
(do not love anything of)
Romans 7:14(slave to sin)
II Peter 2:17-22 (promise freedom,
while slaves of depravity)
James 3: 13-18 (two kinds of wisdom)
James 2:22 (faith complete by …did)
Letter XI
Title:
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper,
and Flippancy
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very
little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies,
movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and
the more "religious" (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here”
Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XI
Analysis Matrix – Letter XI
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Joy
Avoid Joy by all means:
“a meaningless acceleration in
the rhythm of celestial
experience”
“disgusting and direct insult to
the realism, dignity and austerity
of Hell”
Encourage jokes and witticisms
b. Good Music – Detestable
Rejoice Always
a. Rejoice in the Lord, always. I
will say it again: Rejoice …even
when suffering!
“Joy is the serious business of
heaven”
b. Good Music – A Glimpse of
Heaven
c. Praise brings liberty and victory
over evil
a. Phillipians4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord
always”
1 Peter 1:8 “you believe in him and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy”
1 Peter 4:13 “rejoice…sufferings”
b. Nehemiah 8:10 “Our mouths were filled
with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy”
Hebrews 10:34 “Joyfully…better and
lasting possessions”
c. 2 Chronicles 20:22 “As they began to sing
and praise, the LORD set ambushes against
…they were defeated”
enjoyment
Very Little Use
Can be used to divert
It has wholly undesirable
tendencies
EnjoymentJoy Contentment
a. “Closely related to Joy – a sort
of emotional froth arising from the
play instinct”
“It promotes charity, courage
contentment and other virtues”
b. Godliness + contentment
c. Pleasure in evil conductfool
a. 1 Timothy 6:17 “Who richly provides us …
for our enjoyment”
Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good
medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the
bones.
Ecclesiastes 2:25 “Without Him, who can
eat or find enjoyment?”
b. 1 Timothy 6:6 “godliness with contentment
is great gain”
c. Proverbs 10:23 “A fool finds pleasure in
evil conduct, but a man of understanding
delights in wisdom”
Are we having fun yet?
Analysis Matrix – Letter XI
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
The Joke Proper
(Sudden
perception of
incongruity)
A promising field.
a. Use jokes and humor (British dry
sense of humor)
b. Humor is invaluable as a means
of destroying shame.
“If a man simply lets others pay for
him, he is “mean”; if he boasts of it
in a jocular manner, he is comical”
c “Mere cowardice is shameful;
cowardice boasted of with
humorous exaggerations and
grotesque gestures can be passed
off as funny”
d. Cruelty is shameful – “unless the
cruel man can represent it as a
practical joke”
“A thousand blasphemous jokes do
not help towards a man’s
damnation so much as his
discovery that almost anything he
wants to do can be done, not only
without the disapproval but with
the admiration of his fellows.”
A dangerous field
a. Speak the truth
b. Shame is a Godly gift and
leads to seeking God’s
forgiveness
- Be just/ do not joke about it
c. Fear the Lord, all else “Do
not fear!
d. Cruelty – practical joke
(winks his eyed)
a. Proverbs 16:13 “Kings take pleasure
in honest lips; they value a man who
speaks the truth”
Ephesians 6:14 (belt of truth)
b. Psalm 83:16 “Cover their faces with
shame so that men will seek your name”
c. Isaiah 8:12;1 Peter 3:14 "do not fear
what they fear”
Isaiah 35:4 ‘say to those with fearful
hearts, "Be strong, do not fear”
d. Proverbs 10:10 “winks maliciously
causes grief, and a chattering fool
comes to ruin”
Isaiah 57:4 “Whom are you mocking?
At whom do you sneer and stick out
your tongue? Are you not a brood of
rebels, the offspring of liars?
Proverbs 11:17 “A kind man benefits
himself, but a cruel man brings trouble
on himself”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XI
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Flippancy
(frivolous,
disrespectful,
saucy,
impertinent)
The best of all.
a. Builds up around a man the
finest armor plating against the
Enemy.
b. The opposite of Joy.
“It deadens, instead of
sharpening the intellect; and it
excites no affection between
those who practice it.”
“Only a clever human can make
a real Joke about virtue”
“Among flippant people the
Joke is always assumed to have
been made”
“every subject is discussed in a
manner which implies that they
have already found a ridiculous
side of it”
Deadly
a. best armor “think others better
than self”, ‘respect?
b. the foolishness of the world
- crackling torn under pot
- cursed
- ruins a man
- hate knowledge
c. God foolishness is wiser than
man’s wisdom
-to shame the wise
“But our merriment must be of
another kind (and it is, in fact the
merriest kind) which exists between
people who have, from the outset,
taken each other seriously – no
flippancy, no superiority, no
presumption” (Weight of Glory)
a. Philippians 2:3 “in humility
consider others better than
yourselves”
b. Ecclesiastes 7:6 “Like the crackling
of thorns under the pot, so is the
laughter of fools.” Ex: Nabal:1
Samuel 25:25;
Proverbs 17:12 “Better to meet a
bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in
his folly”
Job4:3 “I have seen a fool taking
root, but suddenly his house was
cursed”
Proverbs 10:23 “a chattering fool
comes to ruin”
Proverbs 1:22 “How long will
mockers delight in mockery and fools
hate knowledge?”
c. 1 Corinthians 1:25 “foolishness of
God is wiser than man's wisdom”
1 Corinthians 1:27 God chose the
foolish things of the world to shame
the wise”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XI
1. How is joy characterized among friends and lovers reunited on the eve of a
holiday?
2. How can we experience real Joy? Is the “Joy of the Lord” your strength? If
not, what is missing?
3. What is the real danger of Fun according to Screwtape?
4. Describe the type 1 (to whom no passion is as serious as lust and for whom
an indecent story ceases to produce lasciviousness as it becomes funny),
and type 2 (to whom laughter and lust are excited at the same moment and
by the same things) as depicted by Lewis. Try to compare what they would
look in your own circle of friends. How can we help ourselves not to become
as one of these characters?
5. If “joy is the serious business of heaven, what is missing in my life and our
church life so we can more fully enjoy the God given joy? How can we
develop joy in our lives? What is God’s warning in (Because you did not
serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity),
Deuteronomy 28:46-48 and how do I compare it to Hebrews 10:34?
6. Does God have a sense of humor?
7. How can we avoid the temptation of flippancy? Is it really as dangerous as
Lewis mentions?
8. Can there be joy outside God’s will?
Letter XI
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Passion for
Truth
www.blogging.your.experience.com
Letter XII
Title:
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper,
and Flippancy
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very
little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies,
movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and
the more "religious" (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here”
Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XII
Analysis Matrix – Letter XII
Lukewarm Behavior
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Habits
a. Do not attempt to hurry … you
awaken him to a sense of his real
position
b. a change of direction in his course
… make him
imagine…choices…trivial and
revocable
c. Slowly …into the cold and dark of
utmost space”
a. Awake! Take the plumb line
of righteousness and measure
your “real position”
b. no choice is trivial
c. Walk, in the right path, until
total day
- you must not turn to them
a. Isaiah 28:17 “righteousness the plumb
line”
b. Joshua 24:15 “choose for yourselves
…whom …serve ...we will serve the
LORD."
c. Proverbs 4:18 “The path of the
righteous” till - full - day
Jeremiah 15:19 “Let this people turn to
you, but you must not turn to them”
Church
Going
a. Maintain external habits
“Better so than “that he should realize
the break it has made with the first
months of his Christian life”
a. Rejoice! rejoice with those
who said…
a. Psalm 122:1 “I rejoiced … who said to
me, ‘Let us go to the house of the
LORD.’"
Spiritual
Condition
a. SIN: make him think he has
adopted
- few new friends
- amusements
- spiritual state unchanged
b. no need for repentance of sin
c. keep vague, uneasy feeling of not
been doing very well …increases
reluctance
- to think about the Enemy
- dislike of religious duties
d. Begging distractions and
benumbing of heart
a. The Holy Spirit convinces us
of sin
- do not be stiff-necked!
b. Repentance: turn away from
evil so that times of
refreshment may abound
c. do not rely on feelings (but
the Holy Spirit may use it!John16:8) but “be filled with
the Spirit”
d. Meditate on His law by day
and night
a. John 16:7-8 “the Counselor will not
come to you…He will convict …in regard
to sin “
Acts 7:51 "stiff-necked people resist the
Holy Spirit”
b. Jeremiah 5:19-20 “repent… restore you
… times of refreshing …may come”
c. Job 24:23 “He may let them rest in a
feeling of security, but His eyes are on
their ways”
Ephesians 5:18 “do not get drunk
…filled with the Spirit”
d. Psalm 119:97 “how I love your law! I
meditate all day long” Ps. 23:6b; Ps.
119:11
Analysis Matrix – Letter XII
Lukewarm Behavior
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Prayer Life
a. Unreal, distracted
b. Avoid Contact with God
a. Practical
b. Pray continually…
-Keep watch…
a. Philippians 4:6 “in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God”
b. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually”
Luke 18:1 “always pray and not give up”
Mt. 25:13 “Therefore keep watch”
Pleasures
Decisions
Activities
a. habit renders …less pleasant and
harder to forgo
- waste his time/boredom
- do nothing/staring
a. seek the Lord
-develop spiritual habits
diligently
-all is permissible
-Be pure
- use time wisely
- sharing your faith
b. "without whom nothing is
strong".(Book of Common
Prayer; The Lessons Appointed
for Use on the Sunday closest
to July 27, Year B)[1]
-be faithful unto death
a. Hosea 10:12 “it is time to seek the
LORD”
1 Corinthians 7:29 “time is short” Phil.
1:6 Confidently
I Co. 6:12 “Everything is permissible for
me” Ph. 4:8 be pure!
Proverbs 12:24 “Diligent hands will rule,
but laziness”
1 Timothy 4:15 “Be diligent”
b. Psalm 114 “Tremble, O earth, at the
presence of the Lord”
Mark 6:45-52 (Jesus walking on the seat)
“They were utterly astounded”
Rev. 2:10 “Be faithful, even to the point of
death”
b. avoid healthy/outgoing … give
nothing in return
"I now see that I spent most of my life
in doing neither what I ought nor
what I liked"
- Nothing is very strong
Questions for Discussion - Letter XII
1Discuss “do not attempt to hurry … you awaken him to a sense of his real
position” Can you see this happening in your own lives?
2What is this “dim uneasiness”? and the “without whom Nothing is strong”
3What would be some good examples for the “trivial and revocable” changes
that make us change direction in our Spiritual life and how can we avoid this from
happening?
4How much is this “Maintain external habits” occurring in our churches? How
much of it is perceived and how reality? If so, how can we distinguish between
them? How do I feel about church going?
5 What, in your personal experience where the changes that occurred for us to
“realize the break it has made with the first months of our Christian life”
6How is my prayer life?
7In lieu of the description for a devilish choice of friends, how should we choose
our friends and amusements? Describe the steps from “choice of friends” (a
apparently small unimportant decision) to the “cold dark and utmost place”
8Have you ever felt that “increased reluctance to think about the Enemy, dislike
religious duties, begging distractions and benumbing of heart”? Could we use
Letter XIII
Title:
Human Laughter: Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper,
and Flippancy
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very
little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies,
movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and
the more "religious" (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here”
Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XIII
Analysis Matrix – Letter XIII
The Asphyxiating Cloud – Divine Grace Personality, Faith in Action
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Repentance
And
Renewal
a. defeat of the 1st order
a. 1st step toward victory
- Grace (protection against evil)
- Repentance = Revival and
Renewal
Ro. 3:23-24 “are justified freely by His grace”
2Co.12:7-10 “My grace is sufficient”
Isaiah 30:15 “repentance and rest is your
salvation”
Holy Spirit
Asphyxiating Cloud
-All encompassing comforting
presence
Acts 2:28 “you will fill me with joy in your
presence”
Pains
(reading a good
book, walk to
the park, tea at
the lawn, etc.)
a. Avoid Real Pain
b. Damn the patient by the
world (vanity, irony
expensive tedium)
a. Touchstone of reality
b. Salvation trough faith
- forgiveness /eternal life
- peace / thankfulness
Psalm 23:4 “your rod and your staff, they
comfort me”
2 Timothy 3:15 “salvation through faith” Luke
1:77
“forgiveness of their sins”
Colossians 3:15
“Peace … rule…be thankful”
Luke 12:15 “man's life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions”
Ps. 32:7 “You are my hiding place”
Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the LORD and
he will sustain you”
- no need for abundance of
possessions
- enjoy his work
- God, a hiding place
Pleasure
a. Avoid simple pleasures
b. Avoid strong personal
taste that is not sinful
b. Avoid sinful pleasures
Eternal pleasures Develops
innocence, humility an selfforgetfulness
-enjoy and share
b. do not put hope in wealth
- all is given for enjoyment
-Joy of God’s presence
a. Ecclesiastes 3:22 “enjoy work”
1 Tim. 6:17-19 “ do not put their hope in
wealth” “God… everything for our enjoyment
Nehemiah 8:10 “enjoy send some to those who
have nothing prepared… joy of the LORD is
your strength."
b. Psalm 16:11 “fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XIII
The Asphyxiating Cloud – Divine Grace Personality, Faith in Action
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and Strategies
Personality
a. Detach man from
himself
b. Detach man from God
“Eradicate any strong
personal taste that is not a
sin”
c. Give nothing back
d. Choose
Best People -Bright
People
Right Foods - Important
Books
a. Distinctness of every one
b. Abandon the clamor of selfwill and look to God
c. He gives eternal life
d. Choose
Wisest - Bravest
Good - Enjoyable
a. Psalm 139:14 “I am fearfully and wonderfully
made”
b + c. Mt. 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose
it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it”
c. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 “They will be shut out
from the presence of the Lord”
d. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test everything. Hold
on to the good” Titus 3:9 (avoid foolish
controversies) 2 Timothy 2:16 “Avoid godless
chatter”
Psalm 119:63 “friend to all who fear you”
James 4:4 “friendship with the world is hatred
toward God”
Ideas vs.
Actions
a. Avoid converting ideas
into action.
b. Passive acts are
weakened by passivity
“Write a book about it
excellent way to
sterilizing God’s
influence.
a. Faith without action is dead…
b. Chasing fantasies lead to
poverty
Active acts are strengthened by
repetition
a. James 2:17 “faith … is not accompanied by
action, is dead”
b. Pr. 28:19 “He who works his land will have
abundant food, …chases fantasies…poverty”
1 Corinthians 9:25 “strict training”
Titus 2:12 “live self-controlled, upright and
godly lives”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XIII
1. Discuss “A repentance and renewal of what the other side call "grace" on the scale which you
describe is a defeat of the first order. It amounts to a second conversion—and probably on a
deeper level than the first.”
2. What would you consider the “asphyxiating cloud” and how can we live as to become
“permanently surrounded by it” as to become inaccessible to the devil?
3. Why would something really enjoyable be so deadly to the devils attacks?
4.How in our lives can we be in touch with these unmistakably real situations? Could this change
our attitudes toward especially painful situations in our lives? You might want to read the story
below as a vivid example of God’s grace .
5. Do you agree that the “palming off vanity, bustle, irony, and expensive tedium as pleasures” and
the trying to protect us at all costs from any real pain or pleasure is a good way to keep us from
God? Why or why not?
6. What would it mean: as a “preliminary to detaching him from the Enemy, you wanted to detach
him from himself”?
7. How and why does God wants to detach men from themselves? Why is it necessary for us first
abandon the clamour of self-will?In your experience is this true?
8. Do you agree with the “deepest likings and impulses of any man are the raw material, the
starting-point, with which the Enemy has furnished him”?
9. Why would a “strong personal taste which is not actually a sin” be so helpful in the process of
loosing our self-will?
10. Discuss the meaning of “No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we
can keep it out of his will” How can we avoid being prevented from taking action?
Letter XIV
Title:
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very
little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies,
movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and
the more "religious" (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here”
Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XIV
Analysis Matrix – Letter XIV
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Armor of God
a. “Find the chink in her armor”
- “unobtrusive little vices in one”
- become the great error in the
next” by example
a. Put on the full armor of God
- Do not compare yourself to
the person beside you.
a. Ephesians 6:13-18 “the full armor of
God”
2 Corinthians 10: 12 “compare
themselves … they are not wise”
Color of our
Faith
a. Convince that:
- “assumption that outsiders who do
not share this belief are really too
stupid and ridiculous”
b. “Not faith but mere colors of
surroundings”
a. “Do not think to highly of
yourself”
- Imitate Jesus Christ, not
neighbor
b. Be imitators of God
a. 2 Corinthians 10:17-18 “Let him who
boasts boast in the Lord”
b. Ephesians 5:1 “Be imitators of God”
Pride
a. The novice exaggerates
- Pride brings arrogance.
b. Beware of Eros love
- it can blind the truth
c. Let them imitate defects…
d. Spiritual Pride
- strongest and most beautiful of
vices
- Best conditions:
“Accepted in new circle, illusion to
his own position in it. Under the
influence of “love”, i.e. blind him of
the real situation. Make him feel he
is finding his own level”
a. No novice in leadership
- he might become conceited
b. Agape: covers
c. Imitate that which is good
d. Pride comes before the fall
- We are all sinners and deserve
the wrath of God
- Be willing to associate with
people of low position
a. 1 Timothy 3:6 “might become
conceited and fall under the same
judgment as the devil”
b. 1 Peter 4:8 “Love covers a multitude
of sin” c. 3 John 1:11 “do not imitate
what is evil but what is good”
Ephesians 5:1 “Be imitators of God”
d. Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before
destruction”
Gal 2:17 “we ourselves are sinners”
Ro. 12:16 “be willing to associate
with people of low position”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XIV
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Area of Life
Inner Circles
Devil’s Advice
a. Teach him…mistake contrast
God’s Way
a. Search
- for truth (all are sinners)
- circle that delights
- circle that bores
“for the contrasts between believers
and unbelievers”
Christianity
a. “Success depends here on
confusing him. “
“keep a sly self congratulation”
b. Being secretive
c. Amusement at unbelievers
- Hope in society/ inner rings.
d. “No interest in true or false but in
mystery, in which he is one of the
initiates”
- the family of God (by their
fruits)
“God is not a God of confusion”
a. Humble yourself and he will
exalt you
b. Is not secretive
c. Religion for the simple and
children
- Hope in Christ
d. He died for us, once and for all
Questions, Observations
a. Romans 5:11-13 “because all sinned”
Mt. 7:16 “by their fruit you will
recognize them”
1 Corinthians 14:33 “God is not the
author of confusion, but of peace”
(KJV)
a. Mt 23 :12 “Whoever humbles
himself will be exalted”
b. 2 Peter 2:1 “They will secretly
introduce”
Revelation 2:24 “have not learned
Satan's so-called deep secrets”
c. Matthew 11:25 “revealed them to
little children”
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 “hope in
Christ”
d. 1 Peter 3:18 “Christ died for sins once
for all”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XIV
Letter XV
Title:
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very
little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies,
movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and
the more "religious" (on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here”
Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XV
Analysis Matrix – Letter XV
Time and Eternity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Actions
And Emotions
Look Ahead
a. Future (if at all possible)
-Tortured fear (hag ridden)
-Stupid confidence
b. Present
- Avarice
- Lust
- Ambition
- Complacency
- Living in pleasurable sin
Live in the Present
a. Future
-Meditating on eternal union
b. Bearing the present cross
- Obeying the voice of
conscience
- Receiving grace
- Pleasure (in present)
- Honesty
- Kindness
- Happiness
Matthew 6:25 “Cast all your
anxieties on Him”
Every day has its own worries
Seek ye first
“We live in time, but God has
destined us for eternity”
Time
a.Get them away from the eternal
and the present (concentrate on the
past and future)
b.It is far better to have them live
in the future and the past
a. Attend to eternity or present
Meditating or bearing his cross
b. future: Hope
Past: do not look back
Is the Lord’s
For God all days II Pe 3:8
Give thanks in all circumstances Php
4:11
Past
Frozen, no longer flows
- Dangerous
- Limited value
Look to the past in gratitude
I thank God
Analysis Matrix – Letter XV
Time and Eternity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Present
a. Point at which time touches
eternity
b. Complacency, no happiness
c. Think of unrealities
a. lit up with eternal rays
-“Meditate on eternal union or
separation”
b. Be honest kind and happy NOW
“Obeying the present voice of
conscience, bearing the present cross,
receiving the present grace, giving
thanks for the present pleasure.”
c. Duty: Plan for tomorrow
When times are good, be happy; but
when times are bad consider:
b.Ecclesiastes 7:14 “God has made
the one as well as the other. Therefore
a man cannot discover anything about
the future”
c. Proverbs 19:2 “many are the plans”
Eternity
Get them away from the
eternal
We are made for it
1 Timothy 6:12 “Take hold of the
eternal life”
Future
a. Nearly all vices are rooted in
the future
- Desire the future
- Inflames hopes and fears
b. Least like eternity
- Make them think unrealities
“Bring him to perpetual pursuit
of rainbows end offering up the
present, piling up
disappointment and impatience”
a. Plan the future
- Is in His hand
- Do not fear
“do not give it your heart, do not place
your
treasure in it”
a. Future: Commit to the Lord
Past Psalm 40:5
Many are the plans of man…
b. I, Pe 5:7 Anxiety: cast on Him
Hope: In Him Ti 4:10; Rom12:12
“He who builds a tower”
2 Thimothy 2:16 “Who loved us and
by His grace give us eternal
encouragement and good hope”
Letter XVI
Title: Church Shopping - Diversity and Unity for
Eternity
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little
difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes,
and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more "religious"
(on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here” Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVI
Church Shopping - Diversity and Unity for Eternity
Area of Life
Church
Shopping.
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
a. Cured of churchgoing
b. Fidelity to church out of indifference
c. Looking for the church that "suits"
d. Attack local church
-make it a club, coterie or faction
d.Criticise the church
a. Attend church (communion of the
saints) fidelity to the parish church
because God has called you
b-Unity of local church
“unity of place and not of
likings”
- #classes/psychology “together in
the kind of unity the Enemy
desires.”
-be a pupil (disciple)
d. Reject what is false or unhelpful
(no waste of time) and be open and
non-critical of any nourishment
available
-I rejoice with those who said to
me: Let us go to the house of the
Lord. Ps 121:1
-John 17:21 “that all of them
may be one”
Ephesians 4:3 “Make every
effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit”
I will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever. Ps 23:6
For the zeal of your house
consumes me. Ps. 69:9
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVI
Church Shopping - Diversity and Unity for Eternity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
How to find a
church
-watered down to unbelief
-let go of tradition
-repetitiveness
avoid new truths
Personal faults in preachers: such as
hatred, dishonesty but: “I must warn
you that he has one fatal defect: he
really believes. And this may yet mar
all”
c-be violently attached to some party
within the church.
d-lukewarm about doctrinal issues
e-“working up hatred between those
who say "mass" and those who say
"holy communion"” when neither party
could possibly state the difference”
Teaching: nourishing building up the
faith
-hold on to what is good
-Search scripture
Openness to the whole word of God
-Believing preacher (he does not
need to be perfect!)
Do not choose sides about
indifferent issues
Concentrate on essentials Follow
sound doctrine
“human without scruples should
always give in to the human with
scruples”
e. Be mindful of your weaker
brother
“variety of usage within the Church
of England might have become a
positive hotbed of charity and
humility”
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Ephesians 4:12-13 “built up…
reach unity In Him”
Ephesians 2:19-22 “building is
joined together”
1Corinthians1:10, 3:1-14 “no
divisions …united”
Revelation 3:16 “lukewarm…
spit you out of my mouth.”
Romans14:13 “stop passing
judgment…not to put any
stumbling block”
1 Corinthians 8:11 “weak
brother …is destroyed by your
knowledge”
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XVI
Letter XVII
Title: Gluttony (of Delicacy), Eating Disorders and
Chastity
Fundamental
In this letter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little
difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes,
and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more "religious"
(on those terms) the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here” Screwtape letter VII.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XVII
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVII
Gluttony (of Delicacy), Eating Disorders and Chastity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Gluttony
(of Delicacy)
a. Gluttony as a means of
catching souls
- Deaden the human conscience
on the subject.
- No sermon is preached on it
b. Use “a human belly and palate
to produce querulousness,
impatience, uncharitableness, and
self-concern”
- “All I want” state of mind:
Insatiable demand for the exact
c. make believe the practice of
temperance instead of indulging
of the appetite
a. God provides for his people
- Keep a clear conscience
- be able to discern right from
evil
-Be thankful for all
b. Think of others first before self
c. Recognize meaning of
temperance in the broad sense
-be easily pleased
a. Psalm 111:5, Job 36:31 “provides
food in abundance”
Acts 24:16 “strive to keep my
conscience clear”
Hebrews 5:14 “trained to
distinguish good from evil”
1 Corinthians 10:29-31 “So
whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God”
Ecclesiastes 9:7 “Go, eat your food
with gladness”
b. Romans12:9 -10 “Hate what is
evil; Honor one another above
yourselves”
c. 1 Timothy 3:2 “be temperate,
self-controlled”
Ephesians 5:3 “Among you must
not be even a hint of greed”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVII
Gluttony (of Delicacy), Eating Disorders and Chastity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Gluttony of
excess
a. Mere excess in food is much less
valuable than delicacy.
“Its chief use is as a kind of artillery
preparation for attacks on chastity”
b. Keep your man in a condition of false
spirituality
c. Never let him notice the medical
aspect. Keep
him wondering what pride or lack of
faith has delivered him into your hands”
d. Males are best turned into gluttons
with the help of their vanity
- think …very knowing about food
- begins as vanity can then be gradually
turned into habit
-bring him into the state in which the
denial of any one indulgence “puts him
out”
- His charity, justice, and obedience are
all at your mercy.
a. Delicacies are deceptive
b. Do not practice falsehood
a. Proverbs 23:2, 6 “Do not crave his
delicacies, for food is deceptive”
Matthew 4:3, Deut. 8:3 ‘The
tempter came to Him ( and use
Bread, Fame, Riches)
Luke 16:19-31 (the rich man and
Lazarus)
1 Corinthians 11:20 “Eating at the
Lord’s Supper”
If he must think of the medical side of
chastity, feed him the grand lie which we
have made the English humans believe,
that physical exercise in excess and
consequent fatigue are specially
favorable to this virtue.
How can a young man keep
his way pure?
Ps. 119:9 “By living according to
Your Word”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether you
eat or drink or whatever you do” …
Deuteronomy 8:3 “For men does
not live by bread alone”
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XVIII
Chastity
Fidelity
Love
Abstinence
Monogamy
Being in Love
Marriage
Excitement
Freedom
Competition
Affection
Sexual Desire
Love
Flesh
Fidelity
Fertility
Chastity
Infatuation
Freedom
Letter XVIII
Title: Complete Abstinence or Unmitigated Monogamy
Fundamental Rules for Achieving Ultimate Pleasure From Sex
In this letter CSL covers one of the greatest driving forces of human life – a cause of
great pleasure and most sadness in human history.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your
castle only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVIII
Complete Abstinence or Unmitigated Monogamy
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Sexual
Temptation
-“being in love” experience as the only
respectable ground for marriage;
Excitement permanent
No longer binding if not in love
In love - being the only reason for marriage
and so being any sexual infatuation an excuse
for him marrying a heathen, a fool or a wanton
-God demands either
complete abstinence or
unmitigated monogamy.
-Marry a believer
In fidelity, fertility and
goodness
With intention of loyalty,
mutual help, chastity,
transmission of life
1 Tim. 3:2-16 “husband of but one
wife”
-II Corinthians 6:14 “not joked
together with unbeliever”
-I Samuel 16:7 ( man looks on the
outward appearance but the Lord
looks on the heart)
-Hellish axion:
One thing is not another
one self is not another
“My good is my good
and your is yours”
I gain you loose
“Sucking the weaker into the stronger; To be
means to be in competition”
-Heavenly axion:
Love
“The good of one self is to
be the good of another”
-God = Three in One
Cooperation
Sexual Purity - Ephesians 4: 17-24
Corinthians. 13
Philosophy of
Hell
Analysis Matrix – Letter XVIII
Complete Abstinence or Unmitigated Monogamy
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Sex
-Merely one more way
In which a “stronger self preyed
upon the weaker”
-Sexual intercourse = “being in
love”
Sexual infatuation=love
Joke
Being in love blend of affection,
fear, and desire
-Sexual desire + Affection
offspring dependent
parents impulse to support
Family
“like the organism, only worse; for
the members are more distinct, yet
also united in a more conscious and
responsible way”
Marriage:
“One flesh”, eternally enjoyed or
eternally endured
I Corinthians 7:27 (are you married?
Do not seek a divorce)
Hebrews 13:4 “marriage should be
honored by all”
I Corinthians 7 (on marriage)
Ephesians 5: 22-33 (Imagery of
marriage)
Genesis 2:24 (and they will become
one flesh)
Mark 10:9 (what God has joined
together let no man separate)
Questions for Discussion - Letter XVIII
1. What can be done to curb the devil’s extraordinary success in making so many marriages
neither happy nor holly?
2. Do you agree that “The Enemy's demand on humans takes the form of a dilemma; either
complete abstinence or unmitigated monogamy”? What are the problems with this statement?
3. Is the concept "being in love" the only respectable ground for marriage”?
4. Is in your view this permanent excitement the binding condition of marriage?
5. In your view are the marriages in our churches a good example of godly marriage?
6. Discuss the axiom of hell: “My good is my good and your good is yours. What one gains
another loses.” And, "to be" means "to be in competition".
7. Discuss the godly definition of love: “The good of one self is to be the good of another.”
8. How would this apply to our daily living, and to marriage?
9. How would we live up to our Godly destiny of co-operation?
10. How does Screwtape’s idea of sex differentiate form the “Enemy's”?
11. What in Screwtape’s eyes did God add to sexual desire? And what are the main aims of that
union?
12. What in this letter is the definition for a family? Would you tend to agree or disagree?
13. Discuss: “ The truth is that wherever a man lies with a woman, there, whether they like it or
not, a transcendental relation is set up between them which must be eternally enjoyed or eternally
endured.”
14. How would, in Screwtape’s eyes, our decision to marry look like? Where does “being in love”
fit into the picture?
For Further Reading and Reflection
How does this chapter shows a light on how I relate to God and see my vocation?
Reading: TheWeight of Glory..
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Developing Virtue
Faithfulness
www.blogging.your.experience.com
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XIX
Letter XIX
Title: Fundamental -
In this letter CSL covers one of the greatest driving forces of human life – a cause of
great pleasure and most sadness in human history.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your
castle only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Letter XX
Title: The Devil's Agenda: Sexual Insanity, Promiscuity
and Pervasion Chastity
Fundamental -
In this letter CSL covers one of the greatest driving forces of human life – a cause of
great pleasure and most sadness in human history.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your
castle only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XX
Analysis Matrix – Letter XX
The Devil's Agenda: Sexual Insanity, Promiscuity and
Pervasion Chastity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
and Strategies
Temptation
-Our best weapon: the belief of ignorant humans
that there is no hope getting rid of us except by
yielding.
Truth that these attacks don’t last
forever
You will not be tempted
beyond..
Chastity
-Have you persuaded him that unchastity is
unhealthy?
-Stimulate fornication, solitary vice
-promotion of “desirable marriage”
-Flee from Sexual Immorality
1 Co. 6:12-20
Sexuality and
Marriage
If you can’t use his sexuality to make him unchaste
we must try to use it for the promotion of a
“desirable marriage.”
“Make him marry the infernal Venus = you may
fail as far as fornication, but there are other and
more indirect methods of using man’s sexuality to
do his undoing”
Ideal Woman Physical Type (hellish Venus) if
falling in love as the best we can manage
-It is not good for the man to be
alone
-He who finds a wife …
-A faithful man who can find
-The faithful have vanished –
-The virtuous woman …
Gen. 2:18
Prov. 18:23
Prov. 20:6
Ps. 12: 1-2
Prov. 31
Analysis Matrix – Letter XX
The Devil's Agenda: Sexual Insanity, Promiscuity and
Pervasion Chastity
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions,
Observations and
Strategies
Sexual
Taste
-Misdirection: “Work this through a small circle of popular
artists, dressmakers, actress, and advertisers who determine
the fashionable type”
-Guide each sex away from those members of the other with
whom spiritually helpful, happy, and fertile marriages are
most likely.
-Female taste = dislike to beards, etc
-Male taste = aristocratic, arrogant,
Exaggeratedly feminine, Bodies like boys
-Nudity
-Direct desires to what does not exist
-make the role of the eye in sexuality more important
-the demands more impossible
: Terrestrial/ Infernal Venus
-Godly fashion: Develop Fruits
of the Spirit
-Moderation, Decency
-Avoid outward adornment
Natural and inward beauty
????External attraction only
(possession)?????
Keeping our way pure
Wisdom that comes from above
How to live then …
Keep yourself holy
1 Co. 5:9-11
1 Tim. 2:9
(woman)
1 Tim 2:8 (man)
1 Pe. 3:3 (woman)
1 Pe. 3:7 (man)
Ps. 119:9
James 3:17
1 Pe. 2:1-2
Lev. 20:7-8
Imaginary
Women/
developed
desires
Infernal
Desires brutally
Wants the felt evil “that tang”
Like of animality, sulkiness, craft, cruelty
Ugliness, “by our art made o play on the raw nerve of
private obsession
Becomes prostitute or mistress
Draws away from marriage or when married: treated like
slave, idol or accomplice unhappiness of a very lasting
and exquisite kind
Terrestrial
Readily mixed with charity
Obedient to marriage
Golden light of reverence
Naturalness
beauty
May call to evil, but only
accidentaly
Marriage leads to lasting
happiness, a copy of Christ and
the church
Letter XXI
Title: Our False Sense of Ownership All Belongs to Him
Fundamental Principles for Understanding God’s Lorship
Time and possessions are the primordial claims of this letter. Man, in Screwtapes’
mind, should consider all his possessions his own, so that he will regard them as
“being stolen” from him. Whilst all the time the expression “Mine” as expressed by a
human “sounds equally funny in Heaven and in Hell” as in the end: “Our Father or
the Enemy will say "Mine" of each thing that exists”.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your
castle only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXI
Our False Sense of Ownership All Belongs to Him
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Bible References
Intellect
a. Moral assault by darkening his intellect
b. Attack patient’s peevishness (irritability)
a. Seek Wisdom, intellect a
God given to use
b. Be patient
a. Proverbs 4:7 “Wisdom is
supreme … get
understanding”
b. Proverbs 16:32
“Better a patient man than a
warrior”
Claims on Life
a. Encourage patient to feel injured when
claims are denied
a. You belong to God
Ezekiel 18:4 “For every
living soul belongs to me”
1 Corinthians 6:19 “You are
not your own; you were
bought at a price”
Time
a. Make him claim: “My time is my own”
“wrap a darkness about it”
b. Let him have the feeling that he starts each
day as the lawful possessor of 24 hours
- feels that it is being stolen
- a grievous tax …to employers
- generous donation … religious duties
a. Time is a gift from God
b. Man can neither make, nor
retain one moment of time; it
all comes to him by pure gift.
a. Ecclesiastes
b. time a gift
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXI
Our False Sense of Ownership All Belongs to Him
Area of Life
Ownership
“sound equally
Funny
in Heaven and
in Hell”
“Our Father or
the Enemy will
say "Mine"
of each thing
that exists”
Bodies
Possession
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Bible References
a. The sense of ownership in general is
always to be encouraged
b. Much of modern resistance to chastity
comes from men’s belief that they “own”
their bodies.
c. Produce sense of ownership not only by
pride but by confusion.
- "my Teddy-bear" = "the bear I can pull to
pieces if I like"
- "My God" = "The God on whom I have a
claim for my distinguished services and
whom I exploit from the pulpit—the God I
have done a corner in"
a. My times are in your hands.
a. 1 Co 10:25 “The earth is the
Lord’s and everything in it”
.
b. 1 Co.6:19 “You are not your
own; you were bought at a
price”
c. Psalm 31:15 My times are
in your hands
Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to
number our days aright”
“those vast and perilous estates, pulsating
with the energy that made the worlds”
a. The Devil claims possession
- let his sense of ownership-in-Time lie
silent, uninspected, and operative
I conquered
b. “The earth is the Lord’s and
everything in it” and I “a royal
child …love's sake, in titular …
real rule of wise counselors”
c. ownership as
- “my Teddy-bear" = recipient
of affection …special relation
- “My God” = my Creator
God made you, and He did it
marvelously!
Psalm 139:13-14 “You created
my inmost being; you knit me
together in my mother's
womb... I am fearfully and
wonderfully made”
a. All belongs to God (now and
forever)
- “A man plans his course but
the Lord determines his steps”
I made all and own all
Rev. 4:11 “for you created all
things”
Proverbs 16:9 “plans his
course, but the LORD
determines his steps”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXI
1Discuss; peevishness (irritability). “Men are not angered by mere misfortune but
by misfortune conceived as injury” Do you agree with this statement?
2Why is “the way” for it “prepared for your moral assault by darkening his
intellect”? Is it really so clear that we do not belong to ourselves?
3Discuss “Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful
possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this
property which he has to make over to his employers and as a generous donation
that further portion which he allows to religious duties.”
4Discuss “man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to
him by pure gift; he might as well regard the sun and moon his chattels (property)
5Are you committed to a total service God? How should this chapter affect our
daily living? What do you need to change? What are some examples of situations
like “one day involved nothing harder than listening to the conversation of a
foolish woman”?
6Discuss “Wrap darkness about it, and in the centre of that darkness let his sense
of ownership-in-Time lie silent, un-inspected, and operative”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXI
7 How can we discourage the “sense of ownership”?
8 Discuss “claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell”
9 Have you ever consciously realized that your body is that “ vast and perilous
estates, pulsating with the energy that made the worlds, in which they find
themselves without their consent and from which they are ejected at the pleasure
of Another!” will this change some of your views on yourself?
10 Discuss “as if a royal child whom his father has placed, for love's sake, in
titular command of some great province, under the real rule of wise counselors,
should come to fancy he really owns the cities, the forests, and the corn, in the
same way as he owns the bricks on the nursery floor.
11 Do you agree with the definition of the finely graded differences that run from
"my boots" through "my God"?
12 Does the expression "The God on whom I have a claim for my distinguished
services and whom I exploit from the pulpit—the God I have done a corner in"
ring true in our worship?
13 On “that final day”, will the Lord say to you: “you are mine?”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXI
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXII
Beatific and Miserific Visions
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Love
- Your man is “in love” —and in the
worst kind he could possibly have
fallen into—
- he found the right woman
- if He's so moonstruck by
virginity—instead of looking on
there, grinning?
Proverbs 20:6 “a faithful man
who can find”
Proverbs 31:10 “a wife of noble
character who can find”
Character
Traces
“a vile, sneaking, simpering, demure,
monosyllabic, mouse-like, watery,
insignificant, virginal, bread-andbutter miss. The little brute. She
makes me vomit. She stinks and
scalds through the very pages of the
dossier”
-“Lord, who may dwell in your
sanctuary? ... He who does these
things will never be shaken”
-Blessed are you when…
-Be filled with the Holy Spirit
-Be faithful to the point of death
Psalm 15
Galatians 5:22 “fruit of the Spirit
is…”
Matthew 5:1-16
(The beatitudes)
Revelation 2:10 “Do not be
afraid … Be faithful, even to the
point of death”
Pleasures
- Everything has to be twisted before
it's any use to us.
- God filled the world with pleasures
“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”
Psalm 16:11 “you will fill me
with joy in your presence, with
eternal pleasures at your right
hand”
1 Corinthians 10:23,31 “all for
the glory of God”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Be
joyful always”
- Fragrance of Love
Eph. 5:2, 1 John 3:23
“live a life of love …fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God”
1 Timothy 6:6 “godliness with
contentment is great gain”
Witness
- Deadly Odor
“Even guests, after a weekend visit,
carry some of the smell away with
him. The dog and the cat are tainted
with it. And a house full of the
impenetrable mystery”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXII
Beatific and Miserific Visions
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Music and
Silence
a. “Noise, the grand dynamism, the
audible expression of all that is
exultant, ruthless, and virile - Noise
which alone defends us from silly
qualms, despairing scruples, and
impossible desires. We will make
the whole universe a noise in the
end”
b + c. Music and silence—how I
detest them both
a. Noise: A clanging cymbal
b. Music
c. Silence
a. 1 Co. 13:1 “Only a clanging
cymbal”
b. Psalm 150 “Praise the Lord
with music”
c. Ecclesiastes 3:7 “A time to
be silent”
Habakkuk 2:20 “Let all the
earth be silent before Him”
The Devil
Centipede - In my present form I
feel even more anxious to see you,
to unite you to myself in an
indissoluble embrace.
That snake!
Gen. 3:1 “serpent was more
crafty than…”
Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20
“he will crush your head, and
you will strike his heel"
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXII
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXIV
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Armor of
God
a. “Find the chink in her armor”
- “unobtrusive little vices in one”
- become the great error in the next”
by example
a. Put on the full armor of God
- Do not compare yourself to the
person beside you.
a. Ephesians 6:13-18 “the full armor
of God”
2 Corinthians 10: 12 “compare
themselves … they are not wise”
Color of our
Faith
a. Convince that:
- “assumption that outsiders who do
not share this belief are really too
stupid and ridiculous”
b. “Not faith but mere colors of
surroundings”
a. “Do not think to highly of
yourself”
- Imitate Jesus Christ, not neighbor
b. Be imitators of God
a. 2 Corinthians 10:17-18 “Let him
who boasts boast in the Lord”
b. Ephesians 5:1 “Be imitators of
God”
Pride
a. The novice exaggerates
- Pride brings arrogance.
b. Beware of Eros love
- it can blind the truth
c. Let them imitate defects…
d. Spiritual Pride
- strongest and most beautiful of
vices
- Best conditions:
“Accepted in new circle, illusion to his
own position in it. Under the influence
of “love”, i.e. blind him of the real
situation. Make him feel he is finding
his own level”
a. No novice in leadership
- he might become conceited
b. Agape: covers
c. Imitate that which is good
d. Pride comes before the fall
- We are all sinners and deserve the
wrath of God
- Be willing to associate with
people of low position
a. 1 Timothy 3:6 “might become
conceited and fall under the same
judgment as the devil”
b. 1 Peter 4:8 “Love covers a
multitude of sin” c. 3 John 1:11 “do
not imitate what is evil but what is
good”
Ephesians 5:1 “Be imitators of
God”
d. Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before
destruction”
Gal 2:17 “we ourselves are
sinners”
Ro. 12:16 “be willing to associate
with people of low position”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXIV
Spiritual Pride and Inner Circles
Area of
Life
Inner
Circles
Devil’s Advice
a. Teach him…mistake contrast
God’s Way
a. Search
- for truth (all are sinners)
- circle that delights
- circle that bores
“for the contrasts between
believers and unbelievers”
Christianity
a. “Success depends here on
confusing him. “
“keep a sly self congratulation”
b. Being secretive
c. Amusement at unbelievers
- Hope in society/ inner rings.
d. “No interest in true or false but
in mystery, in which he is one of
the initiates”
- the family of God (by their
fruits)
“God is not a God of confusion”
a. Humble yourself and he will
exalt you
b. Is not secretive
c. Religion for the simple and
children
- Hope in Christ
d. He died for us, once and for all
Questions, Observations
a. Romans 5:11-13 “because all
sinned”
Mt. 7:16 “by their fruit you will
recognize them”
1 Corinthians 14:33 “God is not
the author of confusion, but of
peace” (KJV)
a. Mt 23 :12 “Whoever humbles
himself will be exalted”
b. 2 Peter 2:1 “They will secretly
introduce”
Revelation 2:24 “have not
learned Satan's so-called deep
secrets”
c. Matthew 11:25 “revealed them
to little children”
1 Corinthians 15:19-20 “hope in
Christ”
d. 1 Peter 3:18 “Christ died for
sins once for all”
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXIV
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Developing Virtue
Use of time
and Money
www.blogging.your.experience.com
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXV
The Horror of the Same Old Thing
Replacing Mere Christianity by Fashion
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Fashions
a. Christianity AND ( with a difference )
- The crisis
- Faith healing
- Psychical research
- Vegetarianism
- The New Order
a. Mere Christianity
- Salvation through faith
Jesus
- simple platitudes
a. Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by
grace you have been saved,
through faith…the gift of God”
James 1:27 “Religion that God
Our father accept is this”
Feelings
a. Horror of the same old thing,
“an endless source of heresies”
- Folly in counsel
- Infidelity in marriage
- Inconsistency in friendship
a. Thankfulness and
simplicity
- Hold on to the faith
- Wisdom / Faithfulness
- Consistency / Endurance
- as children
a. James 3:13 “Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let
him show it by his good life, by
deeds done in the humility that
comes from wisdom”
Experience of
reality in time
a. Use change as an END
- Exaggerate the pleasures
-demand for absolute novelty
b. It “diminishes pleasure for increasing
desire” and spells for:
- avarice
- unhappiness or both
a. God made change
pleasurable: Rhythm
b. Be thankful under all
circumstances
a. Ecclesiastes 3 “all beautiful in
His time!”
b. Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace
of Christ rule in your hearts…
And be thankful”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXV
The Horror of the Same Old Thing
Replacing Mere Christianity by Fashion
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Emotional
Changes
a. Fix the approval of fashion on the virtue
nearest to the vice which we are trying to
make endemic
- Cruel ages: Sentimentality
- Feckless + Idle: Respectability
- Lecherous: Puritanism
- Liberalism: Slaves or Tyrants
a. Modesty
- Christ the same
a. Hebrews 13:8 “Christ is the
same yesterday and today and
forever”
Galatians 5:22 “the fruits of the
Spirit are”
Ephesians 4:14 “blown here and
there by every wind of teaching”
Intellect
a. Nonsense in the intellect
- reinforce corruption in the will
b. Ask unanswerable questions
- in accordance with the general
movement of our time
- is it progressive or reactionary?”
a. Enemy loves platitudes
- reinforce stability
- do all you can do
b. ask simple questions
- Is it possible?
- Prudent?
- Righteous?
a. Ecclesiastes 9:10 “whatever your
hand finds to do”
b????? Ecclesiastes 7:10 "Why
were the old days better than
these?" For it is not wise to ask
such questions.??????
The Future
a. Think that the future is the promised
land which favored heroes attain…
b. Substitute descriptive adjective:
“unchanged” for the emotional “stagnant”
c. Decide the future by making
unanswerable questions
a. “We reach at 60 min an
hour, whatever he does,
whoever he is and is in God’s
hand”
b. Fear God and keep His
commandments
c. “future will be depends very
largely on just those choices”
a. Ecclesiastes 7:14 “times … God
has made the one as well as the
other”
Jeremiah 29:11 “ plans to give you
hope and a future”
b. Ecclesiastes 7:13 “Fear God and
keep His commandments”
-Yielding fruits of the spirit
- Do not be tossed along by
any wind of teaching
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXV
1 Discuss “if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call ‘Christianity And’". Do
you agree with the statement?
2 do you think the statement “Work on their horror of the Same Old Thing” is still a valid one for our
generation?
3 Do you agree it is as pervasive as Screwtape states it? “an endless source of heresies in religion, folly in
counsel, infidelity in marriage, and inconstancy in friendship”
4 Discuss: “The humans live in time, and experience reality successively. To experience much of it, therefore,
they must experience many different things; in other words, they must experience change.”
5 How can we avoid making change an end in itself?
6 Do you agree with the statement “He has made, by that union of change and permanence which we call
Rhythm. He gives them the seasons, each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always
felt as a novelty yet always as the recurrence of an immemorial theme. He gives them in His Church a
spiritual ear; they change from a fast to a feast, but it is the same feast as before.”
7 How can we avoid the “demand for infinite, or un-rhythmical”?
8 Do you agree that avarice and unhappiness are largely a consequence of this insatiable demand for
change?
9 Discuss the horror of the same old thing in the Arts and Fashions
11 How can we ask the simple questions “is it righteous? is it prudent? Is it possible?” to understand how to
live as Christians?
12Discuss “The game is to have them running about with fire extinguishers whenever there is a flood, and all
crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under” What would be the dangers of our
age?
13 What would be our greatest defense against the error of this insatiable change?
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVI
Love, Unselfishness: Charity and Conflict
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Relationships
a. Courtship (future spouse)
- Sow seed for domestic hatred
b. Love
- Keep definition ambiguous
- Postpone resolution of problems
a. Serve one another in love
- In your anger do not sin
b. Love is the essence of living
- solve problems NOW
- do not give the devil a foothold
a. 1John G1 John 3:18 “Love one
another with actions and truth”
b. Ephesians 4:26-27 “do not let
the sun go down while you are
still angry”
Courtship
-Time to sow the domestic seeds of hatred
-enchantment of unsatisfied desire
-waived or postpone problems
- foment the problems in secret and
render them chronic
-Time to sow eternal values
-time to learn charity
-Solve present problems, in Love
-be open about all (hidden sin eat up
the bones)
Galatians 5:13 “serve one another
in love”
Gal. 5:23 “Kindness, Goodness,
faithfulness and self-control”
Psalm 32:3 “when I kept silent”
Unselfishness/
charity
"If people knew
how much illfeeling
Unselfishness
occasions, it
would not be so
often
recommended
from the pulpit"
a. Develop negative “Unselfishness”
- surrender benefits “unselfish in
forgoing “
- male& female: divergence of view
- regard other as radically selfish
Woman = taking trouble for others,
make a nuisance of herself
Man = not giving trouble to others will
not undertake anything to please others
b. More confusion:
- erotic enchantment = mutual
complaisance
- Mutual self-sacrifice = sprouting
natural
c. double blindness:
“Mistaking sexual excitement for charity”
“Excitement will last”
a. Develop positive “Charity”
- surrender benefits “that others may
be happy in having them”
- male& female “divergence for
happiness and completion”
- regarding each other better than self
b. Commands:
- mutual complaisance = charity
- mutual self-sacrifice = sprouting out
of obedience
- serve in submission to one another
c. Double vision
- Human perspective
- Godly perspective “there is no one
perfect”
- live in sacrifice not conforming to
the world
a. The Apostle of Love: I , II John
b. 1 Corinthians 13 “Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered it
keep no record of wrongs”
Ephesians 5:21 “submit to one
another”
c. Song of Songs 6:9 “my perfect
one”
Romans 3:11 “there is no one
righteous”
Romans 12:1 “offer your bodies
as living sacrifices”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVI
Love, Unselfishness: Charity and Conflict
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Generous
Conflict of
Illusion
a. Reversed contention
- Establish a rule of official, legal, or
nominal Unselfishness
- emotional resources - died away
- spiritual resources - not yet grown
“It is often impossible to find out either
party's real wishes; with luck, they end
by doing something that neither wants,
while each feels a glow of selfrighteousness and harbors a secret claim
to preferential treatment”
b. Generous Conflict Illusion
“bitterness which really flows from
thwarted self-righteousness and
obstinacy and the accumulated grudges
of the last ten years is concealed”
c. Be dishonest
“each manages to feel blameless and illused itself, with no more dishonesty than
comes natural to a human”
a. Frank contention
“Each side frankly contending for its
own real wish, they would all have
kept within the bounds of reason and
courtesy”
-Do not think of yourself more highly
than you ought
-There is not one righteous
-Do not harbor grudges
-Do not let the left hand know what
the right hand did
-confess your sins
b. No illusions but truth in love
c. be honest
- God hates a lying tongue
a. Romans 12:3 “do not think of
yourself more highly than you
ought”
Ephesians 4:23 “Take on a new
attitude”
///// Do not allow for bitter root
of resentment
Matthew 6:3 “do not let your
left hand know what your right”
James 5:16 “confess your sins
to one another”
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our
sins He is faithful and just …
b. Ephesians 4:15 “say the truth
in love”
c. Proverbs 12:17 “a truthful
witness gives honest testimony”
Proverbs 6:17; 12:22 God hates
“a lying tongue”
Mrs. Fidget
"She's the sort of woman who lives for
others—you can always tell the others
by their hunted expression"
“they will be on the road to
discovering that "love" is not enough,
that charity is needed and not yet
achieved”
1 Corinthians 13 & Matthew
5:44 “love your enemies and
pray for them”
Love for a spouse?
Charity for a beggar?
Or should it be both?
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXVI
1How does the sense of enchantment in courtship affect later relationship between spouses and how
does Screwtape suggest in using them?
2What does God gives us to defend ourselves from these problems.
3What effect does the change from positive charity (love) to the negative unselfishness have on our
lives? How in our daily life will these outlooks affect our actions and reactions toward others? Try to
come up with real life examples in both camps. What is easier? Being unselfish or charitable?
4In what manner will the difference of the sexes in their specific outlook of “doing good offices” of the
woman and the man’s “respecting other people's rights” work itself out in a daily fashion? Come up
with examples, maybe a play?
5How can erotic enchantment be confused with charity?
6How can we avoid that mutual complaisance dies down over a lifetime?
7How does Screwtape suggest bringing double blindness on wormwoods patient? Does this sound
true for our dating?
8How in lewis’ mind conflict arises when he tries to discourse on “Reversed contention” do you think
this happens often? Have you seen this work itself out in college or family life?
9Can I look back at some roots of bitter resentment in my life and find the cause in simple actions as
the ones described? Could you have a “belly laughter” with the people involved, or at least try to solve
these.
1What do you think of the comment “dishonesty than comes natural to a human”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVII
Prayer, Love, and Truth
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Prayer
-Distraction and wandering of the mind
Thrust it away by sheer will power
Try to continue the normal prayer
-accepts the distraction as his present
problem
lays that before the Enemy
make it the main theme of his prayers
-Pray continually
-Don’t be anxious
-1Thessalonians 5:17 pray
continually
-Phil. 4:6 not be anxious
present your requests to
God.
Love and
Petitionary
Prayer
-Raise intellectual difficulties about
prayer
-Encourage false spirituality
“Praise and communion with God are
the true prayer.”
-Interpret the prayer for the daily bread in
a “spiritual sense”
-haunting suspicion that the practice
is absurd
no objective result
-Petitionary prayer
Pray for your daily bread
-In Obedience
God answers Prayer
-Pray in Spirit
on all occasions
all kind of prayers
-Pray that our eyes will be open
-Mat. 6:9-13 “our father”
-Eph. 6:18 Praying always
…perseverance and
supplication
Proverbs 15:29 He hears
the prayer of the
righteous[1].
-Ephesians 6:18 pray in
the Spirit
-II Kings 6:16-17 open his
eyes, that he may see
“a granted prayer becomes just as good a
proof as a denied one that prayers are
ineffective”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVII
Prayer, Love, and Truth
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
Time, Prayer
and
Predestination
-Let him think that the Enemy perceives
reality from a spatial/ temporal,
sequential (human) mode of perception.
-Don’t let him see that the Enemy
harmonizes the prayers of today with the
weather of tomorrow. And if so, he could
not pray freely, but were predestined to
do so.
-Why that creative act leaves room for
their free will is the problem of problems
-If your are in trouble, pray
-God who knows everything …
-A day is like a thousand years
Examples:
-Elijah (prayed for fire and rain -James
5:17, I Kings 18)
-Disciples (Peter’s Miraculous escape
from prison - Acts 12:1)
[ Peter's Miraculous Escape From
Prison)
Find others!
“men's prayers today are one of the
innumerable coordinates with whicMth
the Enemy harmonises the weather of
tomorrow”
“the enemy does not foresee the humans
making their free contributions in a
future, but sees them doing so in His
unbounded Now.’
-James 5:13(prayer of
faith)
-2Pe 3:8 “day is like a
thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a
day”
-I Kings 18
-Acts 12:1-18
On prayer:
-Mt 21:22 “you ask for in
prayer"
-Mk 9:29 "This kind can
come out only by prayer”
-Romans 12:12 “Be
faithful in prayer”
-1 Peter 3:12 “his ears are
attentive to their prayer”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVII
Prayer, Love, and Truth
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
The Historical
Point of View
-Create good “Intellectual climate”
“Only the learned read old books”
“Men the least likely to acquire
wisdom”(2 Tim.3:7“always learning but
never able to acknowledge the truth”)
-influence their thoughts
-Let them ask:
who influenced the ancient writer
is the statement consistent
what phase in writer's development
general history of thought
how it affected later writers
has been misunderstood
general course of criticism
"present state of the question
-Cut every generation off from all others
“Great scholars are now as little
nourished by the past as the most ignorant
mechanic who holds that "history is
bunk"
-When reading ask:
whether it is true
possible source of knowledge
be prepared to correct thoughts and
behavior
do not reject as “simple-minded”
-Look for ancient paths and walk in them
-Wormwood cannot deceive the whole
human race all the time
-Free commerce between the ages
-characteristic errors of one may be
corrected by the characteristic truths of
another.
Philippians 4:8 “excellent
or praiseworthy—think
about such things”
-Acts 17:11 “examined the
Scriptures every day to
see if what Paul said was
true”
-1 Corinthians 1:27
“foolish things of the
world to shame the wise”
-Jeremiah 6:16 “look; ask
for the ancient paths, ask
where the good way is,
and walk in it, and you
will find rest for your
souls.”.
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXVII
1. Why does God want us to pray?
2. How should we pray?
3.Why do we need to seek wisdom with the older generations? What can we learn from Lewis’s
description on distractions in prayer?
2.Discuss the: “thrust it away by sheer will power and to try to continue the normal prayer as if nothing
had happened”
3.What do you think would happen to us if we would “accept the distraction as my present problem
and lay that before the Enemy and makes it the main theme of my prayers and endeavors?
4.When Lewis talk about love what does the “new idea of earthly happiness” imply?
5.Discuss the terms “petitionary prayers” to “pray for their daily bread and the recovery of their sick”
and “false spirituality” and “praise and communion with God is the true prayer"
6.Why is the habit of obedience so important, especially in prayer?
7.What are the common proofs for us that our prayers don't work? How can we defend ourselves
against these ideas?
8.What Is the main difference between God and our view on prayer? Does taking time as the “ultimate
reality make a difference in prayer?
9.Discuss: “ men's prayers today are one of the innumerable coordinates with which the Enemy
harmonises the weather of tomorrow”
10.Discuss: Why that creative act leaves room for their free will is the problem of problems
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVIII
Time, Aging, and Perseverance
Devil’s Advice
(during war time bombing)
God’s Way
References
Life and Death,
Body and Soul,
Time and
Eternity
a. Do not rejoice in deaths
- your patient would go to
heaven now
- he is more spiritual
- loves Christian girl
- helps others
b. keep your patient alive
a. Do not be afraid...
b. Stand firm, in the faith
a. Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those
who kill the body … but of the one who can
destroy both soul and body in hell”
b. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Stand firm. Let
nothing move you… know that your labor
in the Lord is not in vain”
Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your
faith, you will not stand at all.'”
YOUTH
longing
optimism
a. young more willing to die than
older
b. they have deep seated appetite
for heaven and
feel the Enemy in religion,
fantasy, music, poetry
c. make them believe that earth
can be turned into heaven by
politics, etc
[cf liberation theology]
a. Remember your Creator in
the days of your youth
a. Ecclesiastes 12:1; 9:9 “Remember your
Creator in the days of your youth”
Ecclesiastes 8:15 “I commend the
enjoyment of life”
Proverbs 18:22/ Proverbs 20:6
Genesis 12:2 “you will be a blessing”
b. 1Corinthians 15:58 “Stand firm. Let
nothing move you”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “he will not let you be
tempted beyond what you can bear”
Psalm 119:9, 11 “How can a young man
keep his way pure?” “I have hidden…”
c. Isaiah 41:10 “do not fear, for I am with
you… strengthen you and help you”
Revelation 22:20 “Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus”
Area of Life
-Enjoy life
-Be a blessing
b. Stand firm, on His
promises
-Grace according to
temptation
- Hide God’s Word in your
heart
c. Hope in restoration
“Maranatha!”
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXVIII
Time, Aging, and Perseverance
Devil’s Advice
(during war time bombing)
God’s Way
References
MIDDLE AGE
Adversity
prosperity
worldliness
a. Middle age will help us
- *use adversity (decay of love
and hope; growth of drabness and
despair)
- prosperity (man finds his place
in world = the world in him... by
work, friends, wealth)
a. Stand firm, by His
strength:
a. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “stand firm” 1
Corinthians 16:13 “be strong”
- Ephesians 6:17 “sword of the Spirit”
- Mark 14:38 “Watch and pray so that you
will not fall”
- Psalm 143:10 God’s will: “lead me on
level ground”
Deuteronomy 11:13 “faithfully obey the
commands”
OLD AGE
pride,
experience,
death
a. "real worldliness is a work of
time assisted by pride"
b. teach them to describe creeping
death
-good sense
a. Stand firm, in His peace:
be humble
b. My times are in Your hand,
- Good sense is “Open your
hand” (let go).
- maturity means “declare
God’s power” “persevere”
Area of Life
- maturity
- Use sword of the Spirit.
- Careful, watch and pray
- God’s Commands are a
blessing
(Calvin: cane of obedience)
(Die before you die)
- experience
- Experiencing “He is
faithful” (find consolation His
presence; grow up, then He is
bigger)
- Hold on to what you have
Is 26:3 “perfect peace… whose mind is
steadfast”
b. Psalm 31:15 “My times are in Your
hands”
- 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on Him”
- Psalm 71:18 “Even when I am old and
gray, till I declare your power to the next
generation” Hebrews 10:36
- 1 Thessalonians 5:23,24 “The one who
calls you is faithful and he will do it”
- Revelation 2:25 “Only hold on to
what you have”
Habakkuk 3:17-19; Psalm 4:8
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXVIII
1Why do time and prosperity lead us from God?
2How can we grow old gracefully and wisely?
3Why is Security our greatest enemy?
4What in Lewis’s opinion does age has on a person’s attitude towards death? Do you think this is true?
5Did you ever think of the possibility that your prayers for safety might be endorsed by the devil? And, if this
should be true, how should this affect my lifestyle?
6Is there a difference between recklessness and the knowledge that God is in control? Would this have any
effect on my life?
7Discuss: “the Enemy, having oddly destined these mere animals to life in His own eternal world, has
guarded them pretty effectively from the danger of feeling at home anywhere else”
8 Discuss “How valuable time is to us may be gauged by the fact that the Enemy allows us so little of it.”
9In your experience, does peace-time move to a younger age the idea of “dull monotonous years of middleaged prosperity or middle-aged adversity” and how can we prepare for those experiences as to grow
spiritually?.
1Do you agree with the statements: "finding his place in it" (the world), while really it is finding its place in
him? How does the world find its place in me?
1How does this chapter affect my decision about my professional life and the “finding his place in it" (the
world)?
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXIX
Virtues and Vices
Fear, Cowardice, Courage and Despair
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
Questions, Observations and
Strategies
Hatred
a. Cannot produce any virtue
- use as supplied by the enemy
b. Tension: guide them in the
right direction and muddle
conscience
-Feel hate, defending weaker
party
-Fear compensated by hatred
“Hatred is a great
anodyne for shame”
c. Defeat courage
- “Cowardice is still shameful,
makes a man know too much
about himself”
d. Promote hatred and injustice
- leads to war
- leads to cowardice
“Pilate was merciful till
it became risky”
e. If conscience resists “muddle
him”
a. All virtues are a gift from
above
- learn to control them for God’s
glory
b. Tension: Can provoke violent
emotions
- controlled by peace
-Forgive again and again
-Fear thrown out for love
c. Fear not! Take courage!
- confessed cowardice leads to
self knowledge and repentance
- discover the whole moral world
- love casts out fear
d. Promote charity and justice
- leads to courage
- leads to peace
e. Fulfill duty in good conscience
a. Psalm 139:14 “You created me”
Romans 8:6 “controlled by the
Spirit” James 1:17 “Every good and
perfect gift is from above”
b. Philippians 4:7 “and the peace of
God, which transcends all
understanding”
Luke 17:4 “seven times …
forgive him"
Matthew 6:15 “perfect love
drives out fear”
c. Deuteronomy 31:23 “Be strong
and courageous”
- Revelation 21:8 “the cowardly…
all liars…This is the second death."
- 1 John 4:18 “The one who fears
is not made perfect in love”
d. Deuteronomy 20:8 “Is any man
afraid or fainthearted? Let him go
home so that his brothers will not
become disheartened too.”
- Zachariah 7:9 “Love justice and
mercy” leads to Isaiah 32:16
e. Acts 23:1 “fulfilled my duty to
God in all good conscience”
Despair
a. Great triumph: sin for which
a. Have faith, praise God
a. Isaiah 61:3 “garment of praise
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXIX
1What are the biggest dangers in the subjective feeling of cowardice, shame,
hatred or courage?
2What are the consequences of wartime on our senses and our morality?
3Do you agree with the suggestion that courage is every virtue at testing point?
4What do you think about the suggestion of Attila (one of the most feared and
ferocious of the Hun warriors) and Shylock (Shakespearean character, merciless
moneylender, a cruel miser) as having misdirected virtues?
5What do you think about the difference of wartime and peace, and these
aspects on the morality the people living in those days?
6Do you agree with CSLewis development from cowardice to hatred?
7 Could you develop at the difference that faith could have on despair? Can
these two feelings survive together in the same heart?
8Discuss “This moral awakening ‘is probably one of the Enemy’s motives for
creating a dangerous world.’”
Letter XXX
Title: Fear, Fatigue, Emotions, and “Reality”
Fundamental Principles For Dealing With Normal Life Pressures
In this letter the consequences of fatigue, emotions and evil are explored. It also talks
about the best diabolical result of “attacks on patience, chastity, and fortitude (the fun
is to make the man yield just when (had he but known it) relief was almost in sight.”
Finally Lewis tries us to come to grip with some definitions of reality. ”Your patient,
properly handled, will have no difficulty in regarding his emotion at the sight of human
entrails as a revelation of Reality and his emotion at the sight of happy children or fair
weather as mere sentiment”.
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
I Peter 5:8-9
“Like a good chess player he (Satan) is always trying to maneuver you into a position where you can save your castle
only by losing your bishop.” CSL
Vocabulary
Key Words
Letter XXX
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXX
Fear, Fatigue, Emotions, and “Reality”
Area of Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
References
Justice
a. Purely realistic: concerned only with
results
b. Bring us back food, or be food
yourself
a. Take in account opportunities
and intentions
b. All to God’s Glory
a. 2 Corinthians 4:15 “All this is for
your benefit”
b. 2 Corinthians 4:15 “may cause
thanksgiving to overflow to the glory
of God”
Self
Knowledge
a. Distort virtues
b. Inflate abilities
c. Avoid duties
a. God knows that we are dust
b. Know limitations, be humble
c. Fear … “but has done
everything his duties demanded”
a. Psalm 103:14 “For he knows how
we are formed”
b. Psalm 149:4 “He crowns the
humble with salvation”
c. Daniel 3:16 “the God we serve is
able to save us from it”
a. Aspire
- Peace that surpasses all
understanding
- self - control
b. Expect demands
- Accept them as from above
- Be a servant
- Hope of eternal life
c. God give us true hope
- Endure and Persevere
“inner resolution to bear
whatever comes to him”
d. When attacked:
- Stand firm till the end
- emotions controlled by the
Holy Spirit
a. Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of
God, which transcends all”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:8 “let us be selfcontrolled”
b. Philippians 1:27 “Whatever
happens, conduct yourselves in a
manner worthy of the gospel”
- 1 Timothy 6:11 “pursue …
endurance, gentleness”
- 1 Peter 2:16 “live as servants of
God”
c. 1 Corinthians 10: 13 “No
temptation is beyond what you can
bear”
d. Hebrews 3:6 “Hold fast in…
confidence …hope firm … the end.”
Emotions
Fatigue
a. Provoke
- a burst of ill temper, malice and
impatience
- Excessive cigarette smoking
- Forgetting prayers
b. Moderate fatigue is a better soil for
peevishness than absolute exhaustion
- unexpected demands on a man
already tired
c. Feed him with false hopes
- inner resolution: bear it for a
reasonable period
d. Attacks on
- patience, chastity, and fortitude
- emotions
“the fun is to make the man yield
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXX
1. Are emotions / feelings unholy expressions?
2.Why should we not live by emotions?
3.How can we control and use our emotions to the glory of God?
4.How can we resist the devil to use our emotions to distract us from doing God’s will
5.How can fatigue influence or reactions to varied situations?
6.What should be our best training to prepare ourselves to similar situations?
7.In what sense can recognition of ones limitations help us in our spiritual warfare?
8.What is ironic about Wormwood’s desire to excuse himself about the “opportunities and
intentions to be taken into account”?
9.What is the Biblical idea of justice?
10.Why is moderate fatigue a better soil for peevishness than absolute exhaustion?
11.What is the problem with “exaggerating weariness”, and the reminder that it will soon be
over? Have you ever been caught in such a circumstance?
12.What in CS Lewis is the difference between a tired woman/ man? Can this knowledge be of
any help for us in trying to be faithful in our trials?
13.Is the “general rule” for emotional experiences being “real” or not according to CSL
applicable to our day and age? What should then, be the correct way of dealing with our
emotional experiences?
14.How does CS Lewis elaborate on the subjective and realistic ideas of physical and spiritual
facts?
For Further Reading and Reflection
Characters From The Great Divorce, The
Pilgrim’s Regress, etc.
Further Reading / References
Letter XXX
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
Blogging Your Experience
Resistance Strategy
Virtue and Stock Responses to Cultivate
www.blogging.your.experience.com
Analysis Matrix – Letter XXXI
Death: Is that The End?
Eternal Life: Everlasting Glory or Eternal Damnation
Area of Life
Death
New Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
References
All is lost ...
a. “You have let a soul slip through your
fingers ...”
b. a scab had fallen from an old sore
c. Gradual misgivings/Sheer,
instantaneous liberation
d. Bottleneck till... must be crushed
The end
To die is a gain ...
a. The new beginning
b. A sudden clearing in his eyes
c. “This final striping, this complete
cleansing”
d. Behold! All was suddenly well
a. Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to
live is Christ and to die is gain”
b. 1 John 3:2 “for we shall see
him as he is” I Corinthians 15:52
“in the blinking of an eye”
c. Zechariah 13:1 “cleanse them
from sin and impurity”
d. Rev. 21:5 "Behold, I make all
things new."
a. Wormwood: a defeated, outmaneuvered fool, reeling back, dizzy and
blinded
b. Doubts of that “earthborn vermin”:
Not, “Who are you? but ...
c. The earth born vermin entered the new
life
a. Naturally, as if he'd been born for
it…
b. “So, it was you all the time.”
c. You die and die and then you are
beyond death
d. “You have let a soul slip through
your fingers. The howl of sharpened
famine for that loss re-echoes at this
moment through all the levels of the
Kingdom of Noise down to the very
Throne itself”
d. the failure of our Intelligence
Department
New Life
a. Rev. 14:13 “Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord”
John 16:33 “take heart! I have
overcome the world.")
b. Job 19:26 “after my skin has
been destroyed, yet in my flesh I
will see God”
1 Corinthians 13:12 “then we
shall see face to face…then I
shall know fully”
c. Revelation 20:6 “have part in
the first resurrection. The second
death has no power over them”
John 11:25 “He who believes in
me will live, even though he
dies” Romans 6:5
“united with him…in his death,
Questions for Discussion - Letter XXXI
1Discuss how we can avoid the fear and temptations of death?
2Discuss the “gradual misgivings versus the sheer, instantaneous liberation”
3What are the differences between the devil and the patient’s experiences of death?
4In Screwtape’s eyes, how does this thing of earth and slime react to God’s presence?
5What in Lewis’ eyes will be our eternal perspective on dying?
6How does Screwtape describe eternal life in comparison to marriage?
7If spiritually, we follow the same pattern of death to sin (Romans 6:2) and resurrection in
righteousness in obedience (Romans 6:16), what should this mean to our daily living?
(Galatians 3:11 “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The
righteous will live by faith.”; Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God”. Proverbs 29:6 “An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a
righteous one can sing and be glad.”) We need to die daily to our old self, to be filled with
the holy spirit
8How do our images of images of heaven / eternal life compare to Lewis’ descriptions
and Biblical reality? How should this affect my daily living?
9How can we overcome the evil one?
Steps for Restoring The Vocation Path / Road Map
- Total honesty with regard to the challenges and temptations
which we face at Calvin and in the real world.
- Total transparency in our dealings, business and relationship
- Total acceptance of our limitations, etc.
- Total surrender to the Lord now (it will happen sooner or later
- hopefully in faith)
- Total commitment and involvement with the tasks at hand
Only then, we will be able to maintain the focus on the
Christian calling and vocation road map, and facilitate
corrections on the journey when we are distracted on the way.
Appendices
References
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Screwtape
The Great Divorce
Callings
Scripture (NIV)
Letters to Malcolm
Mere Christianity
The Pilgrim’s Regress
DRAFT
CS Lewis’s Religious Topics
1
Joy (as a rationale for heaven)
1
The Validity of Reason (as a participation in the divine Logos)
1
The Objectivity of the Natural Law
1
The reliability (epistemological) of the Imagination (as metaphor, symbolism and myth
to establish meaning, the antecedent of truth)
1
The Solidity of the Supernatural world and its Imminence
1
The Law of Inattention
1
The Quiddity of Things
1
Chronological Snobbery
1
Authority, Hierarchy, and Ceremony are prominent features of the supernatural
landscape
1
Membership in the Body of Christ
1
Transposition
1
Sacramentalism
CS Lewis’s Religious Topics
1
Signs
1
Look both At and Along (both Contemplation and Enjoyment)
1
Obedience (main job), No Right to Happiness (our human destine)
1
Bulverism (argument is not refuted simply by attributing motive to the persoen who
has made it)
1
The Law of Undulation
1
The Inner Ring Syndrome
1
Ordinatenss
1
Need for Perspective and Context
1
Personhood
1
Progress is not Necessary Moving Forward
1
Verbicide