Escaping the Wiles of the Devil the Antidote to Screwtape’s Snares

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By Jerry Root on October 3, 2010 , , , , ,

Escaping the Wiles of the Devil the Antidote to Screwtape’s Snares

Letter 30

1. The devils are interested in actions and results, not feelings. How might this insight affect the way you think about your own growth in virtue?
2. From a demonic perspective, what are the “benefits of fatigue,” and how do demons twist it against us?
3. Wormwood learns about ways to use “reality” to raise doubts about his patient’s faith. In what two contrasting ways have the devils twisted our thoughts of reality to their advantage?
4. How does the devilish twisting of our understanding of reality hinder our growth in faith and the development of virtue?

Letter 31

1. Wormwood’s patient completely escaped demonic harassment by dying. What is the first thing the patient sees on the other side of death?
2. How does Screwtape help us to grasp what death really means and why death is even beneficial?
3. According to Screwtape, what sort of insights do people have as they experience the process of dying?
4. What do you think Screwtape means when he laments that the patient will see “Them” and “Him”?
5. How does the sight of Christ on the other side of death affect Wormwood’s patient?

This resource is part of a series on The Screwtape Letters. Click here to listen to the full series

Jerry Root

Professor, Christopher W. Mitchell Senior Fellow for C.S. Lewis Studies Jerry Root is the Christopher W. Mitchell Senior Fellow for C.S. Lewis Studies at the C.S. Lewis Institute; Emeritus Professor of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois and a visiting Professor at Biola University. He received his Ph.D. from the Open University through the Oxford Centre for Missions Studies. Jerry has nine published books, as well as numerous articles and publications about C. S. Lewis and evangelism in other books, journals, and periodicals, as well as read numerous academic papers at various academic venues. Recently, he published, Splendour in the Dark, a book about C. S. Lewis’s narrative poem Dymer (the book also includes Lewis’s 100-page poem). Jerry has lectured on Lewis topics at 79 Universities in 19 different countries.  

COPYRIGHT: This publication is published by C.S. Lewis Institute; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 301; Springfield, VA 22151. Portions of the publication may be reproduced for noncommercial, local church or ministry use without prior permission. Electronic copies of the PDF files may be duplicated and transmitted via e-mail for personal and church use. Articles may not be modified without prior written permission of the Institute. For questions, contact the Institute: 703.914.5602 or email us.

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