C.S. Lewis’
The Screwtape
Letters
Introductory Notes
1. The Irish-English writer
C.S. Lewis was born in
Belfast, Northern Ireland in
1898.
He was educated in
England, enlisted in the
army in 1917, saw front line
combat and
was wounded in the war.
He returned to his studies
at Oxford after the war, and
graduated in 1922. He
taught at Oxford and
Cambridge as a professor
of Medieval and
Renaissance literature.
2. In his
boyhood he
was an atheist,
but converted
to Christianity
in 1931.
His spiritual
pilgrimage
followed two
tracks, both
intellectual (i.e.
mind)
And emotionalintuitive (i.e
feeling).
3. Lewis was part
of the Oxford
literary circle
known as the
Inklings,
whose membership
included J.R.R.
Tolkien (author of
The Lord of the
Rings and The
Hobbit).
4. In 1957 he married Joy
Davidman Gresham, an
American with whom he
had corresponded for a
number of years. Joy had
been a “Jewish atheist”
and a communist.
She converted to
Christianity partly as a
result of reading Lewis’
books.
5. Joy was already suffering from bone cancer
at the time of their marriage and died in 1960.
Lewis died three years later on Nov. 22, 1963,
the same day JFK was assassinated in Dallas.
Their lives and love story are portrayed in the play
and movie “Shadowlands”.
The title of the movie alludes to Lewis’ belief that
our world is only a reflection of God’s
wonderful kingdom (“Now we see through a glass
darkly, but in the end, face to face....”).
6. The screenplay gives some people
the idea that Lewis lost his faith after
Joy died. This is not true.
In his autobiography, A Grief
Observed, he makes it clear that he
did go through a period of questioning
God’s goodness for a short time. At
one point he speculates whether
“God might be wicked.” This
statement is followed by the line “I
wrote that last night. It was a yell
rather than a thought.” It is interesting
to note that one of Lewis’ finest
Christian books is Letters to Malcolm:
Chiefly on Prayer, which was written
just before his death and some time
after Joy had died.
7. Lewis was a talented writer and debater. He
wrote in many genres: novels,poetry, children’s
literature, fantasy, science fiction, literary
criticism, and Christian apologetics.
8. While Lewis was an Anglican, what he cared most
about was what he called “Mere Christianity” that is, that
faith which has been at the center of the gospel and the
creeds of the church since the apostles announced it. It
was the gospel freed from the denominational
idiosyncrasies, the debris of history, and focuses on the
essential truth of the identity and mission of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth.
9. When writing the book Mere Christianity, he had
the text reviewed by Anglican, Roman Catholic,
Methodist and Presbyterian clergymen to avoid any
hint of denominational bias creeping in.
10. In a telling passage in Allegory of Love, he
recognizes the potential flaws in both Catholic and
Protestant paths:
When Catholicism goes bad it becomes a
world-old, world-wide *religio* of amulets and
holy places and priest craft;
Protestantism, in its corresponding decay,
becomes a [watered-down] vague mist of
ethical platitudes.
The authority of Christ and His teachings is what
counts for Lewis; not an occasionally revised doctrine
the church produces (that we are expected to accept in
advance of changes), or a watered-down/ “feel good”
doctrine.
The Screwtape Letters
1. Written in 1942, it is a series of letters from one devil to
another. Screwtape is the author of the letters. He is an
experienced devil and is writing to his nephew Wormwood, a
junior tempter on his first assignment. The letters deal with
the psychology of temptation, and will make most readers
laugh--and wince.
2. Some editions
contain the short
essay Screwtape
Proposes a Toast.
This is not
really a sequel to
the original, but is a
separate essay in
which Screwtape
gives a speech
praising recent
developments in
the English and
American education
system.
3. While reading the letters, our goal should be to gain
insight into the potential pitfalls that we face in trying to
lead a Christian life.
Literary Term:
epistolary essay; epistolary novel
An epistolary essay or novel is one in which the
entire work is presented in the
form of letters written by one or more
characters to communicate the theme or
plot/story line.