The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis
Rivermont Presbyterian Church – Sunday School Class
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9
Letter # _XVllI – Summary Title: Complete Abstinence or Unmitigated Monogamy
I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another
woman commits adultery.
Mat. 19:3-9, Mk. 10:2-12
Flee from Sexual Immorality
1 Co. 6:12-20
Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-control,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness …
1 Tim. 3:2-16
Hebrews 13:4 (marriage should be honored by all)
I Corinthians 7 (on marriage) and: Ephesians 5: 22-33 (Imagery of marriage)
I Corinthians 13 ! (to be memorized by all)
When two people achieve lasting happiness, this is not solely because they are great lovers but because they
are also - I must put it crudely - good people; controlled, loyal, fair-minded, mutually adaptable people.
CSL
Strategy Matrix
Area of Life Devil’s Advice
Sexual
Temptation
Philosophy of
Hell
Explore the “being in love”
experience as the only respectable
ground for marriage; that
marriage can, and ought to, render
this excitement permanent; and
that a marriage which does not do
so is no longer binding.
In love - being the only reason for
marriage and so being any sexual
infatuation an excuse for him
marrying a heathen, a fool or a
wanton
The philosophy or Hell:
One thing is not another thing,
and, specially, the one self is not
another self. My good is my
good and your is yours. What
one gains another losses. Sucking
the weaker into the stronger.
God’s Way
Questions, Observations
and Strategies
God demands either complete
abstinence or unmitigated
monogamy.
What can be done to curb the
devil’s extraordinary success in
making so many marriages neither
happy nor holly?
Marry a believer
II Corinthians 6:14 (do not be joked
together with unbelievers)
I Samuel 16:7 ( man looks on the
outward appearance but the Lord
looks on the heart)
I Thessalonians 4:3-8
In fidelity, fertility and goodness
The good of one self is to be the
good of another = LOVE
Sexual Purity - Ephesians 4: 17-24
Love
Corinthians. 13
God = Three in One
Cooperation
Sex
To be means to be in competition.
Innocent way in which a stronger
self preyed upon the weaker
Joke
Being in love
Affection associated with sexual
desire.
Offspring dependent on the
parents and given the parents the
impulse to support it – thus
producing the Family.
“One flesh”, eternally enjoyed or
eternally endured
I Corinthians 7:27 (are you married?
Do not seek a divorce)
Genesis 2:24 (and they will become
one flesh)
Mark 10:9 (what God has joined
together let no man separate)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “ plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and future. Jeremiah 29:11
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7
Paulo&Adriana ©
Questions for Discussion
1 - Don’t we have a right to the pursuit of happiness?
2 - When do we start taking the steps to guarantee a lasting and happy married life?
3 - Why do people given up so easily to the pressures of sexual impulses?
4 - Why are women at double disadvantage in today's society?
5 - What does the Bible say about the proper sexual behavior?
6 - Can one date an unbeliever?
Topics for Debate
Sexual Happiness = Sexual Impulse?
Society Double Morality: Right and Wrong Way To Cheat (General Morality x Sexual Morality)
Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus (Be Aware Of It)
Happiness: A Right or Privilege?
Married Life: Heaven or Hell?
Morality Is Necessary, But Not Sufficient!
How do you find the Right Spouse (Envious of Jesus)?
The Christian Rule is:
Either Marriage with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence
The Christian Rule: Virtue of Chastity
Chastity should not be confused with social rule of modesty, propriety or decency
This rule is so contrary to our instincts, that obviously either Christianity is wrong or our sexual instinct has
gone wrong.
Sexual Appetite
Food strip-tease (sexual starvation or perversion)
Why are lies about sex so powerful?
Christianity has glorified marriage more than any other religion.
What is the view of the Film and TV industry on sexual morality?
Perfect Chastity - like perfect charity - will not be attained by any merely human efforts.
Marriage is for Life -Keeping Promises: A Basic Moral Principle
The important difference between:
Being in Love with someone or Loving someone
Love is an evolving process - ever improving and deepening
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone trough the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us
hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin. Let us
then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us
in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16