In the first of Screwtape's letters, he instructs Wormwood not to attempt to win the patient's soul through argument, but rather by fixing his attention on "the stream of immediate sense experiences" (p. 2). Why is immersion in the particulars of "real life" fertile ground for temptation? Why is argument a risky strategy for devils to employ? Where else do you find this opposition between the particular and the universal-between materialism and spiritual faith-in The Screwtape Letters?
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Why is Screwtape so pleased when the patient becomes friends with a group of people who are "rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly skeptical about everything in the world"? (p. 37). What influence does Screwtape hope they will have on him? Why should their "flippancy" build up an "armor-plating" against God? In what ways does Lewis merge theology and social satire in this and other passages throughout The Screwtape Letters?
(Questions from HarperCollins)
“If prolonged, the habit of Flippancy builds up around a man the finest armour-plating against the Enemy that I know…” (11)
ReplyDeleteScrewtape here is describing the habit of flippancy—or the attitude of levity—to be one of his best tools to turn a man away from God. We can understand how much importance this has because that attitude of flippancy causes the man to be almost completely detached from the seriousness of Christianity. At early levels, this attitude simply manifests itself as being “joking” and “fun.” However, when it becomes a habit, the man will be unable to properly discern things that can and things that can’t be joked about. The enormity of having no discernment for things that are serious and things that are trivial becomes very difficult to combat. Lewis clearly describes a case of ignorant complacency of individuals who simply “do not care.” Screwtape’s ambition for men to become flippant is obvious because once a man reaches that point, there needs to be no more work done; the character of the man has reached a point where his actions naturally go towards the direction that Screwtape intends. This is quite a scary thought to ponder upon. This “armour-plating” is simply man refusing—on his own accord—the approach of God.
Jeremiah Lee
“All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.” (Pg. 50 The Screwtape Letters)
ReplyDeleteScrewtape is pleased to hear that the patient has become friends with a specific type of people are not explicitly hatful towards God but rather “flippant.” The patient may feel that is inappropriate to speak of Christ because he may come across as ‘Priggish’. Eventually leading to a sort of double-life that is self-justified. The Patient may think himself “spiritual” deeper inwardly than his worldly friends all the while outwardly acting like them to fit in. Screwtape wishes the Patient to compartmentalize his Christianity in such a way as to keep Christ only within the Church on Sunday. Screwtape would love for the Patient to feel satisfied with such a state, creating a mindset within the Christian that he is somehow living a “balanced life.” The Lord wants sincere Christians who are giving their whole life up for Christ. Flippancy takes the serious subjects on life and irreverently twists them into fleeting matters that, over time, will harden one’s heart toward God’s word. The worst part is it presents itself as happiness. Laughter feels good and companionship is healthy but with the wrong friends, flippancy deadens one’s response towards matters that are most important to the Christian, eventually brings dullness to life instead of sharpness that we all desire.
"You see the idea? Keep his mind off the plain antithesis between True and False. Nice shadowy expressions -- 'It was a phase' -- 'I've been through all that' -- and don't forget the blessed word 'Adolescent'" (211).
ReplyDeleteBy focusing on the "stream of immediate sense experiences" (2), Wormwood keeps the patient in a haze about his faith. A particular technique that Screwtape suggests for many occasions is reliance on "nice shadowy expressions" (211). The use of jargon serves as a "fertile ground for temption" because as language is vague and overused, so is thinking. When the patient names his trough in his relationship with God just a "phase," he avoids thinking about his sin. He thus would not repent and probably continue to fall away as he believes it is just a "phase." Screwtape advises Wormwood on this issue "It is jargon, not reason, you must rely on. The mere word phase will very likely do the trick" (211). Similarly Wormwood is to obscure the truth by bringing the categorical word "Puritanical" to the patient's mind. Then the patient could easily dismiss a holy lifestyle as too uptight or old-fashioned; he is blinded from the reason behind avoiding unwholesome friends. To cease to "[drink] their cocktails and [laugh] at their jokes [...] would be 'priggish', 'intolerant', and (of course) 'Puritanical'" (214).
The devils stick to hazy ideas rather than reason, because argument would most likely lead to the truth. Instead, they draw the patient to himself. Paying attention to his immediate sensations rather than the universal issues (186) would better stumble him. The patient would not think of True or False, right and wrong, but instead a list of important-sounding but meaningless words-- "academic," "practical," "outworn," "conventional," "ruthless," "strong," "stark," courageous (185)....
I. Start with video adaptation of SL
ReplyDeleteII. In Letter 12, Screwtape writes, “but he must be made to imagine that all the choices which have effected this change of course are trivial and revocable. He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space.”
• I want to especially focus on the last part of this passage where Screwtape tells Wormwood to keep his patient on a path that will lead him away from the sun and on a direct path to the “cold and dark of utmost space.” I found in reading the Screwtape Letters that Screwtape constantly makes references towards darkness or the absence of light. What do you make of this void?
• At the end of the letter Screwtape says, “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turning, without milestones, without signposts.” Suggesting that one does not turn onto the path of damnation with a quick right turn. Suggesting that there are no signs to point the patient in the right or wrong direction. It is in the best interest of the Devil to keep humans, once again, in the dark; to make sure they do not know where they are heading, because if they knew the eternal path they were they would be quick to change such path.
III. Letter 15 where Screwtape introduces the Future to Wormwood. The future is a scary thought, and it is something that humans have no control over, and I think that is the scariest part of the future. But Screwtape suggests that by making humans think of the future they are actually thinking of unrealities. He says, “Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead… To be sure, the Enemy wants men to think of the Future too-just so much as is necessary for now planning the acts of justice or charity which will probably be their duty tomorrow. The duty of the planning the morrow’s work is today’s duty…”
• What is Screwtape saying about the Future here? He says that in the future lies fear, avarice, lust, and ambition. He also says that God wants men to think of the Future, only in so much as it is productive for the time being. He does not want us dwelling on things outside of our control; he wants us to recognize that such things are in his domain.
• Says, “It is better for your patient to be filled with anxiety or hope (it doesn’t much matter which) about this war than for him to be living in the present.” Why does Screwtape equate two seemingly opposite things-anxiety and hope? He does this to suggest that both hope and anxiety fill a person up with unrealistic expectations. With either of these terms the patient is still disconnected from God during a time when he should need him the most: War.
• “Your man may be untroubled about the Future, not because he is concerned with the Present, but because he had persuaded himself that the Future is going to be agreeable. As long as that is the real cause of his tranquility, his tranquility will do us good, because it is only piling up more disappointment, and therefore more impatience, for him when his false hopes are dashed.”
• What does this suggest about the Future? Do you agree with what Lewis is saying, that thinking about the Future can put us in a position to be disappointed? Is this idea of the Future different for believers versus non-believers?
Sarah Vaughan
In reference to the first question:
ReplyDeleteReal life is quite possibly the most subjective article for a human to describe. People can find their "real life" in pretty much area they choose. This is why Screwtape advocates immersing patients into whatever their heart desires; given, of course, that this does not include God or Christianity. This is a much better strategy than argument for demons. Even though Screwtape says that this is because humans are unpredictable in terms of logic and reason, his statement has an undertone of realizing that God is, ultimately, the only answer for an argument concerning the true nature of humanity.
Everywhere you look, you can find places to be tempted. Does this mean that you will be tempted by all of them? No, of course not. However, it does mean that you must always be aware of instances where trouble can arise. It is in those instances when the devil can encourage you to neglect God, or simply focus on something that seems more important at the time.
Now, it is important to think of how much truth Screwtape is using in his letters to Wormwood. I believe that he can manipulate Wormwood to get the correct result out of him, but I'm sure that he is not always directly truthful. It will be interesting to see if this will play out more as the book carries on.
*Note: I wrote this response before the questions were posted, so I tried to shape it a bit to answer the question about flippancy.
ReplyDeleteThe Screwtape Letters are focused on how the pressures of society can affect a person's behavior and beliefs. So, when Wormwood's patient becomes involved with a "flippant" group of individuals, who are "brightly skeptical" about everything, it helps Wormwood's cause becuase this group probably consists of Agnostics and Atheists who do not commit to a religion, thereby being "flippant," and this anti-religious behavior pressures Wormwood's patient to turn his back on religion as well.
Also in the Screwtape Letters, there seems to be a sense of social structure among the demons too, further demonstrating how social pressures are an instrument of the agent of the devil. His relationship with Wormwood does seem to demonstrate order in a sense. Because Screwtape is Wormwood's uncle and holds a higher rank than Wormwood, he expects a sense of respect from him. This is especially demonstrated in the earlier letters when Screwtape chides Wormwood and says that he might have "spared the comment" the his advice "proved singularly unfortunate (133)." However, in the letters we read for this week, there is a similar respectful yet didactic tone. For example, Screwtape questions wormwood "May I ask what you are about? ...Do you realise that unless it is due to indifference it is a very bad thing? Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood." Screwtape's first question begins with "may," which indicates a sense of courtesy, but at the same time, Screwtape's line of questioning still has a didactic tone as if he intend to teach Wormwood. This tone is more pronounced when Screwtape follows up his line of questioning with "Surely you know," indicating a sense of not only superiority to Wormwood, but highlighting his intent to teach Wormwood about the proper method for stopping people from becoming Christian.
Ginger
Presentation on Monday (I have a powerpoint, and a video)
ReplyDeleteI was just going to try and give a quick overview of each of the chapters and the kind of advice Screwtape gives about how humans should be manipulated away from God. Through this I hope that some of the common themes throughout the letters will become clearer.
1. Map out Chapters
chap 09- using trough periods of undulation
chap 10- using the pressures of "the world"
chap 11- using laughter
chap 12- helping them lose their sense of self
chap 13- dealing with pleasures/pains
chap 14- twisting Humility
chap 15- Looking to the future
chap 16- attitude to instill towards church?
2. conclude: common themes throughout chapters? What does Screwtape emphasize in his advice?
3. End with video of song: "In the Words of Satan" by the Arrows- song is from the point of view of the Devil who explains how he/she manipulates humankind away from God.
In the Screwtape letters 9 through 16, Screwtape is delighted that the patient is going through a period of undulation, as this is for him and Wormwood a perfect opportunity to trick the patient into trying all the human temptations that will give him pleasure and satisfy him superficially. Screwtape advices to persuade the patient to succumb to the desires of the flesh, to drink excessively in times of despair, to make friends with superficial, rich, intellectual, and skeptical people, to be afraid of ‘lack of humor’ and therefore use ample of it in any situation, to be socially ambitious and ‘righteous,’ to feel vainglory about himself, to concentrate on future ambitions, fears, lust, and greed for material gain. All these temptations that are almost unavoidable to a human being when living in the ‘real life,’ will steer the person away from God and closer to evil. He points out the patient should not only try to satisfy all these desires but do it in an excessive manner, in times when it is not appropriate, and in ways that are not meant to be, for, although the pleasures are the Enemy’s territory, it is when all these human pleasures are misused that the patient looses touch with the Enemy.
ReplyDeleteIn class you said we could use the question as a guide, but it was not mandatory, so this time I’ve chosen to instead focus on a passage I found very insightful, which was Chapter 9 of the Screwtape Letters. Chapter 9 focuses on the idea that humans are highly vulnerable to sensual temptations during the times of the “law of undulation.” Lewis states that one reason why humans are so prone to this is their desire to feel fulfillment and happiness. The act of being sensual produces a feeling of love and happiness. Screwtape encourages Woormwood that “all we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.” This brings up such an interesting point to me. I find it incredibly ironic that one of the most powerful things in the world, sex, can be both a great thing that God encourages, and a bad thing that at the same time is discouraged. To keep up with one’s faith, God asks humans to wait to have sex until marriage, whereas the devil encourages doing it before. Therefore, humans get almost confused. I think this can be related to so many topics outside of sex, such as alcohol. Having such an abundant amount and open access to all of these things makes it difficult for humans to know which way to go. Screwtape understands this and understands that humans can be very, very weak in this aspect. Reading this chapter made me really think about how I think of such potentially powerful things, such as sex and alcohol and how they can start at being one thing, such as a powerful showing of love between two people to a drunken mishap between two strangers. I guess this is just another test of who we are and how we will use these things. Clearly, God gave us such open access to this temptation because he did not want it to be easy for us.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 9, I like how it says that God made all the pleasures. This is a reminder that pleasure in itself is not bad, however it is the misuse of these pleasures that is wrong.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when Screwtape asks if the patient commited himself to his new friends, I couldn't help but wonder if I am ever described by this. Do I quietly go along with things that I don't approve of for the sake of being nice/friendly.
In Chapter 11, he talks about jokes. This chapter probably hit me the most. The Joke Proper in my mind also can continue off of Lewis's earlier point of not agreeing with something but just going along with it. It hit me how often I have heard an indecent joke but not said anything in protest, but instead just kept quiet.
This thought process of mine ends in a quote from Chapter 10 "All mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be".
The only solution then seems to be to pretend no more.
Josef John
“Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and the least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.” (Page 143)
ReplyDeleteI chose this passage because I feel that this is something that can be readily seen in today’s society. For example, God has created pleasures such as sex to be good. However, whenever taken out of its proper context of marriage it is sinful. We also see that individuals are always striving for something, people always want to be happy, fulfilled. Whenever these desires are directed at the wrong thing you will only be left craving for more and continually be left empty. This resonates with what Wormwood says about “an ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure.” This is what sin does, it promises pleasure, it promises something tangible, something now. However, sin only leaves you empty because each time you have to have more and more sin to get the initial pleasure you got from sin.
In response to the second question you posted, Screwtape is so pleased to see that the patient has become friends with worldly people because one's perspective on the world is what will lead one toward or away from God. Screwtape loves these worldly people because they place the world and the things in the world as the most important things in their lives rather than God. Screwtape is hoping that this ideology and view that the patient's worldly friends share will rub off on the patient and cause him to love the world more than he loves God. He knows that love of the world and money will cause him to shun God and in a sense "build up an armor plating" against God. This idea is seen very clearly in the Bible. It says in Matthew chapter 6 ," No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Screwtape knows this and hopes to distort this idea to manipulate the patient and lead him away from God. This issue is very real in the lives of Christians today, as many are led astray by the thoughts of worldly success.
ReplyDelete“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…” - C.S. Lewis
ReplyDeleteThis is yet another powerful quote by the Clive-man himself. He explains here that this is how the devil lures you into his trap, and yet we still think nothing is happening. What happens to your arm over a long period of time when you’re sleeping on it? It becomes numb and you cant feel any pain or sense anything else if anything else were to happen to it. The same goes with our spirits and how the devil traps us. He lulls our spiritual awareness to sleeps so we can no longer recognize what is of the devil and how it is truly affecting us. This is why as believers in Christ, that we must always keep our spiritual awareness up and active by studying the Word of God and having a disciplined and effective prayer life. The devil is sly and tricky, but if we build our spirits up so much that there are no weaknesses and no cracks the devil can creep into, the less effective the devil will have upon our lives and spirits.
In chapter 9, what really caught my attention was when screwtape is discussing how wormwood should seek to draw the patient into “perversions” and other pleasures. He brings up a great truth stating how “[God] made the pleasure...all we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which [God] has forbidden” (p. 44). The devil seeks to get humans caught up in the passing pleasures of this world, when God has created us to taste of his “eternal pleasures” (Psalm 16:11). The Lord has placed a desire for pleasure in each of us, but it is up to us which pleasures we will partake of. The devil knowing this fact will tempt us to taste of the “diminishing pleasures” to grab ahold of one’s soul and leave them with nothing. While the pursuit of the pleasures forevermore found in God leads us on a journey with the most joy,peace,etc. Many people have given their soul to just keep partaking in inferior pleasures. What is to gain the whole world, to have all of the money,power,prestige,sex,drugs,alcohol yet in the end you have lost your soul. This is what the devil seeks to get people caught up and distracted from the real source of a satisfying pleasure.
ReplyDelete“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours…All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its maker, and least pleasurable.” (p.143)
ReplyDeleteIn many of the chapters, Screwtape encourages Wormwood to exploit human emotion and weaknesses. While he knows that God is responsible for creating ‘pleasures,’ Screwtape wants to use them to cause the patient to sin, and he obviously knows human nature very well. Even with human laughter, Screwtape states that there are different categories of laughter and that Flippancy can become habitual and eventually harmful to those that use it often. And when patients become ‘uneasy’ due to lack of progress in their Christian walks, the uneasiness can be used to turn them away from God. The tricky part of all this is that often, the line between God-given pleasures and sin can become very blurred, and due to weaknesses inherent in all humans, it is easy to cross that line. And once sin has occurred, the ‘half-conscious guilt’ that humans feel prevents them from turning to God and repenting. Reading these letters has made reminded me that I need to be aware of these things: the Devil knows human nature well, and the only way to counter his attacks is to know one’s own nature and weaknesses first. That way, we can be more careful and attentive to the things we say and do, so that we do not cross that blurred line.
“We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, not kind, nor happy now, but always a mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present…It is better for your patient to be filled with anxiety or hope (it doesn’t matter which) about this war than for him to be living in the present.”
ReplyDeleteBeing a Senior, this quote naturally spoke to me. I think that Screwtape is playing on the fact that humans are scared of the future because it is unknown, and this in turn can go one of two ways: to feeling anxious or hopeful, or a little of both. In the first parts of “The Screwtape Letters”, Wormwood is instructed to win the patients soul by fixing his attention on “the stream of immediate sense experiences”. When humans become scared or uncertain of the future, they might try to find a way to fill this void with worldly pleasures that produce immediate happy results. Humans will focus on materialism, eroticism, or fake things, rather than a spiritual relationship with God. With this quote, Screwtape is saying that anxiety is a worry of the future, of bad things that could happen. If the patient simply puts his trust in God, then these worries will cease, because he will know what his eternal life will be like. If the patient does not, then he will have a constant worry of how his life will end up, including if he’s going to be successful, filled with joy, or have loving family and friends.
Screwtape recognizes that humans are capable of choice … that is the basis for his advice to Wormwood. He know that if Wormwood were to argue with his "patient" it would be a lose-lose situation. If the patient bested him in the argument, he has lost him. However, even if he does not - even if Wormwood "guides" his patient according to how he wants - then he has still helped to awaken the potential for argument and logical thinking in the human. This is detrimental to Wormwood, as having a human who is able to look beyond temptation, to overcome his earthly temptation (such as overcoming his desire for lunch in order to philosophize) means that he is quite capable of thinking for himself.
ReplyDeleteA key aspect of Wormwood winning over the patient is to present him with the “real world” in order to confuse him. In the text, Screwtape reminds Wormwood that in the past humans have relied on a sort of black-and-white fact system, but that our world is so fraught with competing ideologies that choosing one cannot be a matter or right or wrong, but rather of “strong, or stark, or courageous” - a philosophy instead of right from wrong.
Jazzy Fatemi