The Screwtape Letters An Exploration of Christianity Essay Example

The Screwtape Letters: An Exploration of Christianity Essay C.S. Lewis has written many books on Christianity but none of them compare to The Screwtape Letters, written 1942. He has a great advantage for writing these books on Christianity. Being a former atheist he has two views on Christianity; one as an outsider, and secondly as an insider, a Christian. The Screwtape Letters is not only a book exposing the view of devils on Christianity but in a way an indirect autobiography of C.S. Lewis. In his book, Lewis is not contemplating the existence of God, but the whole of Christianity. In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis claims to have found these letters, somewhere, somehow, he does not explain. Throughout the book, Screwtape is advising his nephew, Wormwood, on how to convert his patient over to the Devils side. There are many methods to doing this but that is not the most important point in The Screwtape Letters. What is truly important is that the novel explores the good and the bad of Christianity. The main issues addressed in The Screwtape Le tters are: the church as an institution; the question of love, and the theory of time. All these issues can be looked at as either optimistic or pessimistic. And indeed, in reality, they are both good and bad. Christianity is broken down into two main denominations; Catholicism and Protestantism. Both denominations are centered around churches. Churches can be seen in two lights, as evil or as virtuous. Lewis seems to have many different opinions on churches. In The Screwtape Letters he addresses the negative and positive elements of churches in general. Generally the visible church is a building, perhaps with a steeple or with a large altar at the front. But it is always a place where people congregate to listen to a priest, reverend, minister, or whoever the church leader may be, tell them about the Bible. It may seem innocent enough, but this is where the church falls apart. Churches, in this sense, are a contradiction to Christianity. Christianity is about unity and love. Dividing the Christian faith into denominations creates a sense of competition and distinction, maybe even a sort of prejudice from one church to another. Sure, not everybody believes in the same thing and there are many interpretations of the Bible but they still should have the base at which they can identify with one another. They all believe that a great man walked on this earth and changed the way we think. They all believe that this man was Jesus. All Christians should be able to connect on the basis of mere Christianity. We will write a custom essay sample on The Screwtape Letters: An Exploration of Christianity specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Screwtape Letters: An Exploration of Christianity specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Screwtape Letters: An Exploration of Christianity specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This is only one of the problems of the physical/visible church. The visible church also encourages the personification of God. Screwtape, in The Screwtape Letters, encourages his young nephew, Wormwood, to ensure that the patient directs his prayer towards some object or some vision of God. But whatever the nature of the composite object, you must keep him praying to it-the thing that he has made not to the Person who has made him. You may even encourage him to attach a great importance to the correction and improvement of his composite object (Lewis 24-25). This object may be a crucifix, or a picture of the white Jesus, maybe even an imagined man, or a church. Despite popular belief, God is not an old man with a long white beard sitting on a throne in the clouds. God is something that humans cannot put into a form of any sort. God has no characteristics that humans can paint or sculpt or materialize in any shape. When the patient is praying to an idol he was breaking on the command ments: You shall not make for yourself any carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above. God is omnipresent. One does not have to go to a church to pray to God, nor does he/she have to say his/her prayers in front of an object, and most certainly prayers should not be directed towards an imaginary man in the clouds. By having the patient direct his prayers towards an object or idea Wormwood would be taking the patients mind off of the real importance of prayer, communication with God. Praying in a church or to a crucifix not only personifies God but it also creates a sense of materialism. There seems to be an attachment to that particular item to which is prayed to. A sense of duty to keep it in a particular state develops and thus materialism also takes a form. The dangers of praying to something, somewhere, other than God are atrocious and Lewis identifies that in his book. Since the patient is an adult convert he already has one way set in his mind. When he goes to the church he will not see the concept behind it right away. Instead he will see the physical aspects of the church. The books are badly written, none of the services make sense, and the people look ridiculous. Provided that any of those neighbours 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 (Lewis 15). Screwtape later goes on to talk about disappointment and how the patient will be disappointed about the church physically. The Enemy (God) allows this disappointment to occur on the threshold of every human endeavorIn every department of life it marks the transition from dreaming aspirations to laborious doing (Lewis 16). There is no doubt that all beings have their fair share of up and downs. The theory of undulation proves this; that through ups downs are experienc ed and through downs ups are experienced. And though the patient is at first disappointed with the church visibly it proves a good thing later on. However, not everything about churches is bad. There are some very positive points about churches. When most outsiders look at the church they see the building, the steeple, and the people inside. What they dont see is the invisible church. Churches are not just places to congregate and listen to someone talk about the Bible. The church is a small community. It is a place where people can talk to their neighbour with the double-chin, the squeaky boots and the odd clothes about anything. The church leader can be a confidant for someone with a lot of problems. In this sense the invisible church provides a sense of unity. When people assemble together in unity at church they drop all their prejudices and class differences. The farmer gets along with the bank owner and the Montagues get along with the Capulets. They are all equal in Gods eyes. In the first place the parochial organization should always be attacked, because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of d ifferent classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy desires (Lewis 70-71). This unity is also seen in God. God is three but God is also one. God is the father, the son, and the holy-spirit, but God is also God. This unity is mirrored by the church. The church is the banker, the farmer, and the CEO, but the church is also the church. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. If they must be Christians let them at least be Christians with a difference (Lewis 106). Churches also provided a concrete ideal for people that may have trouble believing in something as abstract to humans as God. Churches are good places for born-again Christians to start off, as seen in The Screwtape Letters. The patient was an adult convert and the church helped his transition stay on track. It is in these ways that the invisible church is good. Religious duties are yet another issue addressed in The Screwtape Letters. Like churches these can be seen in both a positive and negative view. The negative parts of this are that after a while they get repetitive. After saying the Lords Prayer over and over again, even if one says it once a day, it loses its meaning. After a few times the prayer flows from memory and is no longer thought about. When prayers are part of a routine it gets even worse. In this state your patient will not omit, but he will decreasingly dislike his religious duties. He will think about them as little as he feels he decently can beforehand, and forget them as soon as possible when they are over (Lewis 55). It seems that in the present people just perform religious duties because it is a part of their routine. They no longer put any feelings into their duties. Genuflecting after communion, repeating the Lords Prayer, and going to church Sunday morning come naturally and are not thought about. These duties need to be thought about, thats why they were made, to give the lay people something extra to think about. Feelings are no longer experienced in duties they are done purely out of being used to them. They do not perform their religious duties because they feel it is spiritually right; they do it because it is what the others say they are supposed to do. Religious duties are also not all bad, granted after a while they do get repetitive. Religious duties such as praying, going to church, and reading the Bible provide a foot hold for Christians. Religious duties provide a constant reminder that they are Christian and not some other religion. Praying to God gives them some form of connection with God. Even though they do not think about it God still hears their prayer and sees that they are still Christians. It is best to think of Christianity as much as possible. It should always be in the front of ones brain and should reflect in all actions. However not all people do this. Religious duties allow these busy people to take five minutes away from their hectic schedule and busy social life to think about their faith and that is better than nothing. With a grain of faith, one can move mountains. A majority of messages within the New Testament contain the word love; God is love, love your neighbour, love, love, love. But what is this word love? What the New Testament is talking about is real love, Godly love; something Christians strive for. In todays world this real love is almost forgotten. In its place lust has taken over. Lust is a hindrance to Christians spiritual development. It distracts real love into a physical desire. It draws their attention from God on to people. The Christian religion professes love, but sometimes this is misinterpreted by humans and they take this love to be the love between a man and a woman. They do not realize that their love for one another is not enough. They need to love others and love God. They need to be charitable to one another and posses all other sorts of virtues. they will be on the road to discovering that love is not enough, that charity is needed and not yet achieved and that no external law can supply its place (Lewis 113). However sometimes lust for small pleasures can drive us closer to God. Humans find so much pleasure in small things. Listening to your favourite musician, a walk in the country, or a piece of chocolate may be enjoyable. To find joy in small things is to see the goodness in it. God is in humble things such as a fondness for county cricket or collecting stamps or drinking cocoa (Lewis 60), as mentioned in The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape wants Wormwood to keep his patient away from these simple pleasures because they are innocent and humble. Christian humility is strongly promoted and thus disputed by the devils in Lewis book. I would make it a rule to eradicate from my patient any strong personal taste, which is not actually a sinSuch things, I grant you, have nothing of virtue in them; but there is a sort of innocence and humility and self-forgetfulness about them which I distrust (Lewis 60). Small pleasures can lift the patient out of a state of misery and give him something good. G od is found in this goodness and the devils cant have that. There is one instance in the book where Screwtape finds out that Wormwood allowed his patient to experience two pleasures. The first pleasure was reading a book that he really enjoyed and for that reason alone. The second was a walk through the country to an Old Mill. The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality. Thus if you had been trying to damn your man by the Romantic methodyou would try to protect him at all costs from any real pain; because, of course, five minutes genuine toothache would reveal the romantic sorrows for the nonsense they were and unmask your whole stratagem (Lewis 59). Each human creates a reality of his/her own, and that is not at all reality. When feeling pain or pleasure, the patient was exposed to the reality of reality. Another type of love explored in The Screwtape Letter is that of Godly love. Being on the opposite side of God, the devils know a lot about God and his ways yet they do no know everything. One area they seem to be questionable in is the love that God has for his creations. Through most of the book, Screwtape reminds Wormwood over and over again that God truly loves the pathetic humans. One must face the fact that all the talk about His love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth (Lewis 39). In Christianity, one of the teachings is God is love and all are equally loved by God. But later on in the book Screwtape exclaims, The truth is I slipped by mere carelessness into saying that the Enemy really loves the humans. That, of course, is an impossibilityAll His talk about Love must be a disguise for something else (Lewis 83). Like the devils in The Screwtape Letters, humans will never know what Gods pur pose is for them. What is interesting to note at this part is that in the last letter Screwtape drops all his previous suppositions on the negative God-like love and professes his love for Wormwood. Rest assured, my love for you and your love for me are as like as two peas. I have always desired you, as you (pitiful fool) desired meLove you? Why, yes. As dainty a morsel as ever I grew fat on (Lewis 130). Another major issue addressed in C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters is that of time. Humans inhabit a society that lives off of time. There are twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week, three hundred and fifty six days in a year and so many years in a human life. Society tends to live in the future. People are always worrying about what they are going to do and not what they are doing. It is easiest to live in the future because it is easier to say then it is it act. All humans have goals and aspirations in their life and thus they look towards the future. This fact can be used by both God and devils. God wants humans to live in the present but to do so they must know what they have to do in the present. To figure this out they have to look in to the future. God only wants them to look into the future to plan the present day. The duty of planning the morrows work is todays duty (Lewis 67). The devils dont just want the patient to glance into the future. They want him to live in the future. The future is full of the unknown and is thus full of fear. The sin also lives in the future, while the pleasure lives in the present. The pleasure is Gods touch while the sin is the devils touch. When the present pleasure arrives, the sin is already overThe sin, which is our contribution, looked forward (Lewis 67). Another reason why the devils want us to look into the future is because it is taking us away from eternity which lies in the present. the Future is, of all things, the least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time-for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays (Lewis 67). Eternity is a big factor in Lewis book. He mentions the eternity and time on many occasions. He has this idea that eternity is in the present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity (Lewis 66). Humans should live in the present because they never know when or where they will die. They should not postpone the improvement of their religious lives to a latter date, but work on them constantly in the present. Humans are amphibians-half spirit and half animalAs spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time (Lewis 38). As animals their bodies are subject to time. They are constantly changing and will eventually return to the dust they theyre made of. However, their souls are eternal and will never be destroyed. By the end of the book, Wormwood allows the patient to slip through his fingers (Lewis 130). In this case the victory was Gods, not the devils. Of course Screwtape is very upset about this but he goes on to write about hope for the future. The Screwtape Letters addressed the good and the bad of the Christian faith but as Screwtape himself says, Leave them to discuss whether Love, or patriotism, or celibacy, or candles on altars, or teetotalism, or education, are good or bad. Cant you see theres no answer? (Lewis 84). Humans do not really know what is good and bad; all we can do is speculate. At present the Enemy says Mine of everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it. Our Father (Satan) hopes in the end to say Mine of all things on the more realistic ground of conquest (Lewis 93). According to Lewis, no one knows who will win in the end. The patient was Gods victory over one persons soul. There are still many souls out there that are vulnerable to damnation. Each person has to be careful of his or her soul. But in the end all they got to do is Believe this, not because it is true, but for some reason (Lewis 101).