Screwtape Letters Analysis

Julia Hackett

S.J. Mark Massa

17 April 2018

Exercise #4

Much like in any religion where you practice it is very important. Throughout C.S. Lewis’s work The Screwtape Letters he discusses and illustrates his opinions on the Christian churches.  In the second letter Screwtape claims that: “one of our [hell’s] great allies at present is the Church itself”(3).  Screwtape continues to explain that the devil can bring people into church and make him concentrate on distractions instead of becoming closer with God.   These distractions also cause church to be undesirable for the church goers: “Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous” (3).  Furthermore, in the 16th letter Screwtape continues to depict the impurities and issues with the Christian priests.  He criticizes them by saying that some priests have very watered down faith and they have personal failings that keep them from being convincing to the congregation (32).  Even with these impurities Screwtape does recognize that priests can aid the churchgoers draw nearer to God, just as long as the churchgoer truly believes in God and the teachings (32).  

Another area of religion that is brought up is prayer.   One of C.s. Lewis’s biggest issues with prayer is that it causes the individual to focus on him or herself, rather than on God (7).  This is the biggest difference from prayer and genuine prayer.  It is also through this sort of thinking that Screwtape encourage Wormwood to: “turn their gaze away from Him [God] towards themselves” (8).   Screwtape continues to discuss the weaknesses in human nature.  Humans do not know the full power of the devil and so they are easily tricked into thinking about and worshipping only images (7-8).  It is hear that C.S. Lewis gives a warning to the reader about the importance of avoiding idolatry in religion.  He uses this fourth letter to show how simple it is to swap God with an object, like a crucifix, to epitomize Him (8).      

Moving on, C.S. Lewis highlights many attributes that get in the way of humans practicing true Christianity.  First, Lewis talks about how people often mistake the absence of God’s presence as the absence of God’s existence. Lewis argues that it is when we do not feel God’s presence; it is at this very moment that God is most around us (15).  “If once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore harder to tempt” (4).  It is here that Screwtape is explaining how emotions can get in the way of having pure belief in God and the Christian faith.  Furthermore, Lewis discusses the importance of free will and its effect on individual’s beliefs.  In the eighth letter Screwtape says that God cannot force anyone to believe: “He cannot ravish.  He can only woo” (16).  As humans we have free will to follow, or not follow, in God’s advice.  Lewis believes that God will help you along the way, but our yes has to be of free will because then we are filled with God, but still remain ourselves (16).