The devils begin to fail....Letter 30

In this letter Screwtape worries that they are losing the patient. The first raid has occurred in his village. The patient was very frightened and considers himself a coward, but had no pride. Screwtape also mentions that although the patient is afraid, he has done all that is asked of him and more. This is the definition of courage~being able to persevere through difficult, dangerous or fearful times. The patient has become courageous, the pinnacle of all virtues.

Screwtape admonishes Wormwood for allowing this to happen, demanding him to bring back food or be food himself.

Some additional questions about this letter:
What can fatigue produce? (extreme gentleness, quiet of mind, and even something like vision).

How do men react to fatigue? How do women react? What kind of problems can this create in their relationship?

How does Screwtape suggest they use the horror of war to change the patient's perception of reality?

War in the Backyard...Letter 29

The Germans are coming to the patient's hometown. Screwtape knows this will force the patient to face his possible death. The devils of course do not want him to die with faith in God. They would like him to doubt. In this letter Screwtape discusses how they should accomplish this goal, either by cowardice or courage followed up by hatred of the Germans or pride.

Screwtape tells us how cowardice is a truly painful vice, "horrible to anticipate, horrible to feel, horrible to remember," and that hatred is actually pleasant to feel. (Screwtape Letters p 160). The more a man fears, the more he will hate. To make hatred acceptable to his Christian side, the patient can be made to hate the Germans on behalf of the women and children.

He goes on to discuss how courage is the high point of all virtues. In order to be completely honest, you must sometimes need to be courageous too.

From these two choices, it seems cowardice may be the best to use.

Here are some questions you may want to discuss:
1. Why can the devil produce no virtues?
2. How can hatred be pleasurable?
3. What does fear lead to? (self-knowledge or despair).

Heaven on Earth.....Letter 28

In this letter Screwtape is concerned as the war progresses. He fears that the patient could die, and if he did, at this time they would lose him.

What does Screwtape say prevents the young from becoming worldly? The beauty of creation and love cry out to God and keep them focused on the eternal.

How can the young become more worldly? By creating "Heaven on earth" through politics, science or psychology.

Why does a man become more worldly when he is middle aged? His prosperity is intricately attached to earth. All good things that happen to him are earthly things: good job, good pay, respect etc. or at the opposite end of the spectrum they can be made to see that their life is dull and drab, which wears them out.

Distracting prayer......Letter 27

In this letter, Screwtape is disturbed at the patient's obedience in prayer. It seems that the patient is becoming distracted by his love for his Christian girlfriend. This distraction happens during prayer time too of course, but the patient is also asking God for help in this area. Screwtape feels that his nephew Wormwood is failing in this area and quick diversion is needed to steer the patient away from obedience. This is what he suggests: convince the patient that petition in prayer is ineffective, that God already has determined our actions, that man has no free will, so prayer in this are is not needed. Instead he should pray to praise God only. Prayers that are answered can be explained by mere coincidence.

Screwtape then praises the modern education. He notes that in Europe they no longer have to worry about man reading the wisdom of the great books. That only the old, learned continue to read them and even they are not to be feared since they read from a Historical Point of View only. This view analyzes the book in the traditional way, but forgets to answer the question, "How can I apply this to life today?" I had to do the happy dance when I read this, as this is what I've learned to do through Adler's How to Read a Book, and a question we as a class answer each time we finish a book. If you perceive this book to be true, then how will you allow it to change your life?

Along the lines of "close reading," I came to a name in this letter that I did not recognize, Boethius. After looking it up, I found he was the author of Consolation of Philosophy. Here's what Wikipedia has to say regarding this book:
Consolation of Philosophy

"Consolation of Philosophy was written during Boethius' one year imprisonment while awaiting trial, and eventual horrific execution, for the crime of treason by Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great. Boethius was at the very heights of power in Rome and was brought down by treachery. This experience inspired the text, which reflects on how evil can exist in a world governed by God, and how happiness can be attainable amidst fickle fortune, while also considering the nature of happiness and God. It has been described as "by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen."[4]

Boethius writes the book as a conversation between himself and Lady Philosophy. She consoles Boethius by discussing the transitory nature of fame and wealth ("no man can ever truly be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune"), and the ultimate superiority of things of the mind, which she calls the "one true good". She contends that happiness comes from within, and that one's virtue is all that one truly has, because it is not imperiled by the vicissitudes of fortune.

Boethius engages questions such as the nature of predestination and free will, why evil men often prosper and good men fall into ruin, human nature, virtue, and justice. He speaks about the nature of free will versus determinism when he asks if God knows and sees all, or does man have free will. To quote V.E. Watts on Boethius, God is like a spectator at a chariot race; He watches the action the charioteers perform, but this does not cause them.[5] On human nature, Boethius says that humans are essentially good and only when they give in to “wickedness” do they “sink to the level of being an animal.” On justice, he says criminals are not to be abused, rather treated with sympathy and respect, using the analogy of doctor and patient to illustrate the ideal relationship between criminal and prosecutor.

Boethius sought to answer religious questions without reference to Christianity, relying solely on natural philosophy and the Classical Greek tradition. He believed in harmony between faith and reason. The truths found in Christianity would be no different from the truths found in philosophy. In the words of Henry Chadwick, "If the Consolation contains nothing distinctively Christian, it is also relevant that it contains nothing specifically pagan either...[it] is a work written by a Platonist who is also a Christian, but is not a Christian work." (wikipedia.org, Confessions of Philosophy).

Love to learn has some great discussion ?'s on this letter: http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/LitGuild/Screwtape/index.html

Selfless Love......Letter 26

In this letter, Screwtape explains how Wormwood can use the selfless acts of Love that man displays in early courtship to become a source of conflict in later yrs. This conflict originates from the different ways that men and women define unselfishness.

How does a woman define unselfishness? (Doing for others)

How does a man define unselfishness? (not giving others trouble).

How can these 2 definitions create conflict? (if a man does not do something for someone in a time of need, the woman will perceive it as his being selfish. If a woman does something for someone in need, the man will see it not as an act of charity but as being interfering).

How can doing an act of charity for someone cause bad feelings? (The one who receives the act will feel indebted to the person who helped them).

What is the Generous Conflict Illusion? (this often occurs in families. One person will state his desire. Another person will state that while he doesn't really want to do what the other person wants to do, he will do it out of unselfishness. This results in everyone refusing to do what was originally planned so that no one will have to be unselfish). This I've found is especially useful in vacation planning! Happens every yr at our house.

Change and novelty

In this letter Screwtape discusses how the desire for change can be misdirected into a craving for novelty and excitement. How relevant is this today? How often do we hear our children say "we're bored!" How often do we think we're being cheated if life isn't fun enough?

I learned a valuable lesson when I was first married. When my husband and I were dating we went out a lot. Then we got married, and the reality set in. He worked a lot and was tired. He wanted to be home and relax. I wondered where all the fun went. I'll never forget his telling me that we didn't need to go out all the time, that sometimes doing the same ol thing everyday was OK. Shocked, I slowly learned to love home and thrive on a routine. I've let go of the need for constant entertainment. I have peace.

Here are some questions from the reading.
What does God balance change with? (a love of permanence)

What type of change does God give us? (change of seasons, change of celebrations in the church calendar)

How has the devil twisted the pleasure of change? (He's made it a craving for novelty, the more novelty you have the more you want. Soon the novelty becomes less and less pleasurable. Kind of like a drug).

How does this letter tie into the letter written about fashion?

How can the desire for novelty distract us?

Letter 24....Spiritual pride

It turns out the patient's girlfriend has one small flaw. She tends to think that those who don't believe the same as her are stupid and silly. I think there are 4 good questions to discuss about this letter.

Where is the root of the girl's flaw? Can this happen to us today?

How can spiritual pride turn off non-Christians?

How can spiritual pride divide different religions or sects of Christians?

How should we treat non Christians?