“Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”



The Screwtape Letters has always been one of my favorites - who knows how many times I've read it over the years - but it is a difficult book to properly describe.

First of all, I should point out that it is very much a representation of C.S. Lewis' views on Christian theology. Second of all, it is a VERY deep book. In my opinion, this is not a book you would recommend to someone interested in learning more about Christianity, or even to a new Christian. Thirdly, this book is personally challenging and will likely make you feel uncomfortable - maybe even guilty. Lewis himself once said that the book was 'not fun' to write, but he wrote it anyways.

Clearly, the Screwtape Letters is nothing like Narnia, but it is a masterful piece of writing nonetheless. Lewis had an extraordinary sense of imagination and an incredibly thorough grasp of theology, which were both fully utilized in writing this book. The 'book' is actually composed of multiple letters written by Screwtape, a senior demon who acts as a mentor to his nephew, Wormwood. We only read Screwtape's letters, but can surmize Wormwood's communiques from his uncle's responses and suggestions.

This isn't like Dante's Inferno, as in a portrayal of the afterlife, but is instead a contemporary satire that reveals many of the temptations and myths that Christians fall prey to. This is represented through the techniques and tricks-of-the-trade that Screwtape suggests are ways that Wormwood can make his 'patient' (an Englishman living in the 1930s) turn away from the 'Enemy'. Lewis' use of this 'correspondence' style of writing is brilliant - it is like the readers are privy to the enemy's top-secret communications.

What struck me the most about Screwtape is how different he acts from the stereotypical 'devil' who tries to tempt you into committing extravagantly evil deeds. Instead, Screwtape suggests that a demon's primary goal is to befuddle and confuse the 'patient', making him apathetic and ignorant of the truth. In perhaps the most famous line of the entire book, he advises Wormwood that "the safest path to hell is the gradual one."

In the end, it is hard to do the book any justice by writing about it. It can almost be read as a devotional - it is honestly that deep and full of meaning! I highly recommend it as a challenging read that you will simply have to look at line-by-line.

"Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning." - C. S. Lewis