The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis

 Admired Virtues  “Dangerous virtues”  Appointed cross Letter VI  Uncertainty  Imaginary My - Not Thy - Will Be Done (Life's benevolence  Mythical Tribulations) melodramatic hatred Mind Activities - General Attitude to War

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” Deuteronomy 6:5, Mt. 22:37 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” Luke 9:23 ““If War is ever lawful, peace can be sometimes sinful. But there is no question of death or life for any of us, only a question of this death or of that – machine gun bullet now or a cancer forty years later. War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.” Life has never been normal.” CSL I

N this letter Screwtape advises Wormwood to focus the patient’s attention on anxiety and fear. He instructs Wormwood how to effectively twist the patients  Elderly: adversity or ideas on “taking up his appointed daily cross” how to direct the attention of the prosperity client “inward” (towards himself) and “outward” depending if the feelings are malice, hatred or love. He describes man as being a series of “concentric circles” -  prosperity willintellect fantasy - and how virtues are produced.

Questions for Discussion 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”. 11. Try to depict the “Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy” as well as integrate the Godly way of action versus the devil’s way. 12. When are the cultivated virtues “really fatal” to Screwtape and Wormwood?

The For Further Reading and Reflection Development Recommended E) of Virtues Area of Life Devil’s Advice God’s Way Observations and Strategies

Life’s a. “our business is to keep them a. “wants men to be concerned a. Mt. 6: 25, Revelation 2:10 do not Tribulations thinking about what will with what they do” worry about your life happen to them” -submitting with patience to Deut. 31:6, Do not be afraid or terrified -maximum uncertainty the Enemy's will -mind filled with contradictory -accept with patience the pictures of the future tribulation which has actually -arousing hope or fear been dealt out to him “There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a b. for the daily task of bearing b. Matthew 16:24 "If anyone would human's mind (today’s fear and suffering) come after me, he must deny himself and against the Enemy” the daily bread will be take up his cross and follow me” b. Let him think “daily cross” provided James 4:14 “Why, you do not even means: -resignation to present and know what will happen tomorrow. What -practice fortitude and patience actual suffering, even where is your life?” to a dozen different and that suffering consists of fear hypothetical fates -“the Enemy does not greatly assist those who are trying to attain it” General a. Concentrate on the Object a. Concentrate on the Soul a. Psalm 130:6 “My soul waits for the Activities of Lord more than watchmen…” 1 Peter 1:9 “for you are receiving the Mind b. “If favorable to the Enemy b. Look upwards to God goal of your faith, the salvation of your bend his mind back on itself” - Be concerned with what souls” you do now b. Psalm 121 - Fix Attention Inward Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” Spiritual Law a. Weaken his prayers a. Strengthening prayers a. Ephesians 6:18 “pray in the Spirit on -diverting his attention from -attention to Jesus all occasions with all kinds of prayers the Enemy Himself to his own - attaining the Goal and requests” states of mind about the Enemy Hebrews 12:2 b. Patient's mind is diverted b. Diverted from fear b. Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward from the thing feared to the fear the goal to win the prize” itself c. all activities of mind which c. Be self-conscious about c. Luke 6:37 "Do not judge, and you will favor our cause, encourage the evil not be judged” patient to be un-self-conscious - Watch your step - Matthew 6:3 “But when you give to and to concentrate on the object -be un-self-conscious about the needy, do not let your left hand know yourself when doing good what your right hand is doing” General a. Vindictive feelings against a. “Love your neighbor as a. Matthew 22:39 “Love your neighbor Attitude to War imaginary scapegoats yourself.” as yourself” - to smooth out our rough Matthew 24:12 “increase of wickedness, spots love...will grow cold” - Live in peace with all Hebrews12: 14 “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy” b. Malice to his immediate b + c. Love – sign of the c. John 13:35 “By this all men will know General neighbors. church that you are my disciples, if you love - Under God’s Grace as the one another." Attitude c. Benevolence towards people integrating factor 1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other he does not know deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” Characteristics a. Man as concentric circles: a. Man as Integrated Entity a. a+b+c. Deuteronomy 6:5; Mt. 22:37 of heart, soul “Love the LORD your God with all your 1. Intellect 1. intellect (mind) heart and with all your soul and with all Man 2. Will 2. will (steadfastness, your strength” 3. Fantasy strength) 1. Ps. 119:11 “I have hidden your word 3. Sentiments: Peace in my heart that I might not sin against 4. fantasy: do not let it guide you” “Shoving all Virtues outwards you 2 Psalm 119:34 “Give me into the circle of fantasy and all understanding, and I will keep your law the desirable qualities (malice) and obey it with all my heart” inwards into the Will” The Man of God – See 3. Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect attached1 peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you” 4. Proverbs 12:11 “he who chases fantasies lacks judgment”

1 Originally by Rev. F.L.Schalkwijk in the election Year of …. In Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil BACKBONE OF VOCATIONAL CALLING: THE MAN OF GOD If we would study some systemic anatomy, i.e. skeletal system, muscular system, digestive system, nervous system and the like, we would come to realize that if it were not for the skeletal system (my bones) we would not look as we do now. We would look like a flabby blob of jello, not able to stand, sit or walk we would not be able to stand “upright”. In God’s Word, the word “upright” is used continually. Here an example: “The generation of the ‘upright’ will be blessed” (Psalm 112:2) and Job is considered one of these “upright” (Job 2:3). An upright man is a man/woman that can “stand” blameless in God’s sight. Uprightness can only happen if we have a backbone, a strong backbone for that matter. A spiritual uprightness is a backbone built up in God’s Word. During our lifetime, our vocations might change but our calling remains: be strong and courageous, be upright! Finally, if I am standing upright, now I can walk.

The Bible gives us different examples of vocation - traveler, potter, builder, prophet, king, counselor, mother, father, judge…In all the situations tough, the calling remains the same: “Walk upright in God’s presence”. Allow me to take the example of the vocation of king (as we can read their annals in 1-2nd Chronicles and 1st-2nd Kings) in the Old Testament (1 Kings 11:33, 2 Chronicles 21:13, 2 Kings 22:2). The kings of Judah and Israel or “walked as Ahab did” alternatively, walked in all the ways of their father David. These where given as examples. In all, God’s calling resounded: “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left”(Joshua 23:6).

Where should we walk as Christians? The answer follows immediately: ‘Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet”, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed’ (Hebrews 12:12-13) and “Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm” (Jeremiah 6:16).

Finally, how can I know that I am standing and walking on level ground? ‘This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’” (Proverbs 4:26). I, Adriana, am a missionary kid. In the seventies, during an election campaign my family lived in the city of Recife (where I met Paulo). On such occasions, any large wall-like surface was considered a billboard of some sorts. In those days, we lived in a house surrounded by a large, quite high, brick wall, as all houses in the neighborhood, and of course this one was not taken as an exception. Pictures of all different candidates ended up plastered on our brick “fence”. My father, as a pastor, did not want to become involved in any party campaign, but he decided he was a campaigner for his Master. As such, he paid someone to clean and repaint the wall and then asked an artist to stylize Micha 6:8 (“what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. It looked somewhat like this:

Opa’s Picture

Letter VI

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

I am delighted to hear that your patient's age and profession make it possible, but by no means certain, that he will be called up for military service. We want him to be in the maximum uncertainty, so that his mind will be filled with contradictory pictures of the future, every one of which arouses hope or fear. There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human's mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.

Your patient will, of course, have picked up the notion that he must submit with patience to the Enemy's will. What the Enemy means by this is primarily that he should accept with patience the tribulation which has actually been dealt out to him—the present anxiety and suspense. It is about this that he is to say "Thy will be done", and for the daily task of bearing this that the daily bread will be provided. It is your business to see that the patient never thinks of the present fear as his appointed cross but only of the things he is afraid of.

Let him regard them as his crosses: let him forget that, since they are incompatible, they cannot all happen to him, and let him try to practice fortitude and patience to them all in advance. For real resignation, at the same moment, to a dozen different and hypothetical fates, is almost impossible, and the Enemy does not greatly assist those who are trying to attain it: resignation to present and actual suffering, even where that suffering consists of fear, is far easier and is usually helped by this direct action.

An important spiritual law is here involved. I have explained that you can weaken his prayers by diverting his attention from the Enemy Himself to his own states of mind about the Enemy. On the other hand fear becomes easier to master when the patient's mind is diverted from the thing feared to the fear itself, considered as a present and undesirable state of his own mind; and when he regards the fear as his appointed cross he will inevitably think of it as a state of mind. One can therefore formulate the general rule; in all activities of mind which favor our cause, encourage the patient to be un-selfconscious and to concentrate on the object, but in all activities favourable to the Enemy bend his mind back on itself. Let an insult or a woman's body so fix his attention outward that he does not reflect "I am now entering into the state called Anger—or the state called Lust". Contrariwise let the reflection "My feelings are now growing more devout, or more charitable" so fix his attention inward that he no longer looks beyond himself to see our Enemy or his own neighbours.

As regards his more general attitude to the war, you must not rely too much on those feelings of hatred which the humans are so fond of discussing in Christian, or anti-Christian, periodicals. In his anguish, the patient can, of course, be encouraged to revenge himself by some vindictive feelings directed towards the German leaders, and that is good so far as it goes. But it is usually a sort of melodramatic or mythical hatred directed against imaginary scapegoats. He has never met these people in real life—they are lay figures modelled on what he gets from newspapers. The results of such fanciful hatred are often most disappointing, and of all humans the English are in this respect the most deplorable milksops. They are creatures of that miserable sort who loudly proclaim that torture is too good for their enemies and then give tea and cigarettes to the first wounded German pilot who turns up at the back door.

Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient's soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours 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. There is no good at all in inflaming his hatred of Germans if, at the same time, a pernicious habit of charity is growing up between him and his mother, his employer, and the man he meets in the train. Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy. You can hardly hope, at once, to exclude from all the circles everything that smells of the Enemy: but you must keep on shoving all the virtues outward till they are finally located in the circle of fantasy, and all the desirable qualities inward into the Will. It is only in so far as they reach the will and are there embodied in habits that the virtues are really fatal to us. (I don't, of course, mean what the patient mistakes for his will, the conscious fume and fret of resolutions and clenched teeth, but the real centre, what the Enemy calls the Heart.) All sorts of virtues painted in the fantasy or approved by the intellect or even, in some measure, loved and admired, will not keep a man from our Father's house: indeed they may make him more amusing when he gets there,

Your affectionate uncle SCREWTAPE