By C. S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation – and triumph over it – ever written. C.S. Lewis’s sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below”. Wormwood, a demon apprentice, must secure the damnation…
For this study we will use The Screwtape Letters Study Guide & Commentary – Understanding the Classic Book by C.S. Lewis by Mondo Gonzales. Xulon Press. Maitland, FL. Copyright: 2021. On page v, the author grants the following: “Note about copyright: Permission is granted for the purchaser to make copies of the handouts only for…
Letter 1 Themes: Complacent and smug thinking; evaluation of truth, reality, and materialism; temptations when draw the patient away from universal (eternal) issues. Letter 2 Themes: Reality verses expectations; disappointment & disillusionment with church; genuine humility. Letter 3 Themes: Sanctification; relationships as a Christian; humility, judgmental attitudes; personal blind spots; danger of speech; the focus…
Letter 4 Themes: The subtle attacks against prayer life; the implications of not seeing God directly in prayer. Letter 5 Themes: Fear, anguish, despair; war, suffering; contented worldliness; growth through suffering; faith. Letter 6 Themes: Fear, anxiety worry, suspense about the future; faith trust; prayer; revenge, anger; apathy.
Letter 7 Themes: Materialism (evolutionary thinking), skepticism, belief in demons; factions and cliques; spiritual distraction through social causes, movements, or policies. Letter 8 Themes: Ups and downs of spiritual life; growing during the dry times; the walk of faith and obedience. Letter 9 Themes: Spiritually dry times; sensual temptations during these times; the enticements and…
Letter 10 Themes: Spiritual significance of friendships and acquaintances; social, sexual, and intellectual vanity; pride; friendship and love of the world; avoiding being two-faced or duplicitous; hypocrisy. Letter 11 Themes: Understanding human laughter and the risk fo sinning through joking; danger of flippancy. Letter 12 Themes: Backsliding; dry times; loss of enthusiasm for spiritual things;…
Letter 13 Themes: Genuine repentance; pains and pleasures; individualism; increased apathy towards goodness. Letter 14 Themes: Genuine humility; pride; false modesty; self-forgetfulness; anguishing too much over sin. Letter 15 Themes: Anxiety about the future; living in the “real” present with eternity in mind; exaggerated optimism.
Letter 16 Themes: Church shopping and criticism; being teachable; humility and love on secondary doctrinal issues. Letter 17 Themes: Different facets of gluttony; greed related to sensuality (sins of the senses); selfishness; fasting. Letter 18 Themes: Nature and the role of love; physical intimacy and oneness in marriage; feelings of being “in love”.
Letter 19 Themes: God’s love, competition, being in love, marriage, exploitation of anything for sinister purposes. Letter 20 Themes: Attacks on chastity; unequally yoked marriages; sexual “tastes” of males and females; idealism. Letter 21 Themes: Irritability (peevishness); sense of entitlement; value of time; ownership verses stewardship.
Letter 22 Themes: Spiritual dossiers; hedonism; pleasures of God; power of Christian influence; music and silence. Letter 23 Themes: Value of intelligent Christian community; corrupted spirituality; “historical Jesus;” social justice. Letter 24 Themes: Spiritual ignorance and pride; need for social validation; humility; arrogance; the inner ring.
