CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Class Three
A Real Case Study of Spiritual Warfare
From St. Athanasius “The Life of Antony”, Ch. 5.
But the devil, who hates and envies what is good, could not endure to see such a resolution in a youth, but endeavoured to carry out against him what he had been wont to effect against others. First of all he tried to lead him away from the discipline, whispering to him the remembrance of his wealth, care for his sister, claims of kindred, love of money, love of glory, the various pleasures of the table and the other relaxations of life, and at last the difficulty of virtue and the labour of it; he suggested also the infirmity of the body and the length of the time. In a word he raised in his mind a great dust of debate, wishing to debar him from his settled purpose. But when the enemy saw himself to be too weak for Antony’s determination, and that he rather was conquered by the other’s firmness, overthrown by his great faith and falling through his constant prayers, then at length putting his trust in the weapons which are ‘in the navel of his belly’ and boasting in them—for they are his first snare for the young—he attacked the young man, disturbing him by night and harassing him by day, so that even the onlookers saw the struggle which was going on between them. The one would suggest foul thoughts and the other counter them with prayers: the one fire him with lust, the other, as one who seemed to blush, fortify his body with faith, prayers, and fasting. And the devil, unhappy wight, one night even took upon him the shape of a woman and imitated all her acts simply to beguile Antony. But he, his mind filled with Christ and the nobility inspired by Him, and considering the spirituality of the soul, quenched the coal of the other’s deceit. Again the enemy suggested the ease of pleasure. But he like a man filled with rage and grief turned his thoughts to the threatened fire and the gnawing worm, and setting these in array against his adversary, passed through the temptation unscathed. All this was a source of shame to his foe. For he, deeming himself like God, was now mocked by a young man; and he who boasted himself against flesh and blood was being put to flight by a man in the flesh. For the Lord was working with Antony—the Lord who for our sake took flesh and gave the body victory over the devil, so that all who truly fight can say ‘not I but the grace of God which was with me.’
What are the enemy’s tactics? Why weren’t they effective against him? How much effort would he need to put into tempting most of us?
St. Anthony is a powerful intercessor against demonic attacks. So are out guardian angels. When temptation comes hard (or soft!) ask for their help. Christ is the ultimate victor and His name is, for those with faith, also powerful.
Screwtape Letters.
Chapter Five:
What are “terror pictures of the future”? “[S]elf-pitying glances at the happy past”? “[F]ine thrills in the pit of his stomach”?
What is the “real business” of demons? What is the wine that is “the reward of all our labors” [compare w/Mt 26:26-28]?
Why is self-indulgence a temptation for the demons?
Why is death in wartime different from the typical civilian death? Which one does Screwtape allows for the greatest temptations?
What is the lie (or lies) that are told in nursing homes that are not told on the battlefield? How are these lies helpful? Harmful? What is our attitude towards suffering?
What do you think of this quote, regarding selfless service to even worthless causes; “He often 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.” Can you think of any evidence for this?
Chapter Six:
Why does God want us to be more concerned about what we do (the cross we bear now) than what will happen to us (turning our anxiety into a cross when it is not)? Is this fair? Loving? [See Mt. 6: 25-34; Rm 8:31-39]
FDR was giving sound spiritual advice when he said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Screwtape wants the patient to concentrate on the specific temptation to evil (e.g. the actual insult) rather than the general sin it evokes (e.g. anger); but to move from the specific (e.g. the needy neighbor) to the general (e.g. feelings of charity) when it comes to virtue. Why is that effective?
Lewis seems to suggest that ignorant bigotry isn’t always as evil as it seems. What does he mean? Is he right?
A great tactic of tempters: “direct [his] malice to his immediate neighbors whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.” have you known people who cared for groups but couldn’t stand any single person who was actually from that group? Or who hated a specific group but loved all the group members that they actually knew?
Chapter Seven:
Screwtape laments the loss of magicians and direct terrorism; what does he mean? Compare this to producing “materialists and skeptics”.
How close is our culture to producing “the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits””?
Which one is more Christian, pacifism or patriotism? When and why?
Why is it so dangerous for the believer to engage in overtly political causes for religious reasons? What is the best alternative?
Chapter Eight:
The Law of Undulation. Why does God allow this undulation (even the troughs)?
Why doesn’t God make himself Irresistible and Indisputable? Woo and not ravish? Why does He often withdraw His obvious blessings?
Worth thinking about: “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.”
Next Week: Chapters 9-12
