Letter XXXI



Death
Eternal life
Death: Is that The End?
Eternal Life: Everlasting Glory or Eternal
Damnation
The last enemy to be destroyed is death”
I Corinthians 15:26
“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised
imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
I Corinthians 15: 42-43
““They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every
tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
Revelation 21:3-5
“At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness
and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the
splendors we see. But all leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not
always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.
Weight of Glory
“Do not think that you can escape me; do not think you can call me Nothing. To you I am not
Nothing; I am the being blindfolded, the losing all power of self defense, the surrender, not because
any terms are offered, but because resistance is gone: the step into the dark: the defeat of all
precautions: utter helplessness turned out to utter risk: the final loss of liberty. The Landlord's Son,
who feared nothing, feared me.” (is he talking about the devil???)
Pilgrim’s Regress
“Die before you die, there is no chance after”
Till We Have Faces - CSL
IN
This last letter Lewis describes Wormwood loosing his “patient” to the
“Enemy”, a description of death from the devil’s perspective. “You
reeled back dizzy and blinded, more hurt by them than he had ever
been by bombs. The degradation of it!—that this thing of earth and slime could
stand upright and converse with spirits before whom you, a spirit, could only
cower… But when he saw them he knew that he had always known them …so that
now he could say to them, one by one, not "Who are you?" but "So it was you all
the time". What a consolation!
Questions for Discussion
1.
2.
3.
Discuss how we can avoid the fear and temptations of death?
Discuss the “gradual misgivings versus the sheer, instantaneous liberation”
What are the differences between the devil and the patient’s experiences of death?
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
In Screwtape’s eyes, how does this thing of earth and slime react to God’s
presence?
What in Lewis’ eyes will be our eternal perspective on dying?
How does Screwtape describe eternal life in comparison to marriage?
If spiritually, we follow the same pattern of death to sin (Romans 6:2) and
esurrection in righteousness in obedience (Romans 6:16), what should this mean
to our daily living? (Galatians 3:11 “Clearly no one is justified before God by the
law, because, "The righteous will live by faith.”; Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we
have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we
now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”. Proverbs 29:6 “An evil
man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad.”) We need
to die daily to our old self, to be filled with the holy spirit
How do our images of images of heaven / eternal life compare to Lewis’
descriptions and Biblical reality? How should this affect my daily living?
How can we overcome the evil one?
a. John 16:33 ("I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world.")
b. John 19:30 (Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and
gave up his spirit.)
c. 1 John 5:5 (Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that
Jesus is the Son of God. )
In our Vocation, calling as Christians Jesus says in John 13:16: “I tell you the
truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the
one who sent him.” How, trough the perspective of Jesus’ death should we than
live out our calling?
For Further Reading and Reflection
Recommended
Last Thoughts:
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not
in vain. I Co 15:56.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Rev. 2:10
There was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly. Your father and mother and all of you are – as you
used to call it in the Shawdowlands – dead. The term is over: the holidays have began: The dream is
ended: this is morning.. The Last Battle.
Area of
Life
Devil’s Advice
God’s Way
References
Death
All is lost ...
a. “You have let a soul slip through
your fingers ...”
b. a scab had fallen from an old sore
To die is a gain ...
a. The new beginning
c. Gradual misgivings/Sheer,
instantaneous liberation
c. “This final striping, this
complete cleansing”
d. Bottleneck till... must be crushed
The end
d. Behold! All was suddenly well
New Life
a. Philippians 1:21 “For to me,
to live is Christ and to die is
gain”
b. 1 John 3:2 “for we shall see
him as he is” I Corinthians
15:52 “in the blinking of an
eye”
c. Zechariah 13:1 “cleanse them
from sin and impurity”
d. Rev. 21:5 "Behold, I make
all things new."
b. A sudden clearing in his eyes
New Life
a. Wormwood: a defeated, outmaneuvered fool, reeling back, dizzy
and blinded
a. Naturally, as if he'd been born
for it…
b. Doubts of that “earthborn vermin”:
Not, “Who are you? but ...
b. “So, it was you all the time.”
c. The earth born vermin entered the
new life
c. You die and die and then you are
beyond death
d. the failure of our Intelligence
Department
In God’s
Presence
a. “He saw Them”
God: The suffocating fire to you is …
- all our arithmetic is dismayed
b. wormwood: only cower
c. the half nauseous attractions of a
raddled harlot
d. “You have let a soul slip through
your fingers. The howl of
sharpened famine for that loss reechoes at this moment through all
the levels of the Kingdom of Noise
down to the very Throne itself”
a.…The angels, Him, the Presence
… cool light to him, is clarity
itself, and wears the form of a
Man.
b. pain and pleasure take on
transfinite values
c. this thing of earth and slime can
stand upright … true beloved,
believed to be dead is alive and
even now at his door
a. Rev. 14:13 “Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord”
John 16:33 “take heart! I have
overcome the world.")
b. Job 19:26 “after my skin has
been destroyed, yet in my flesh
I will see God”
1 Corinthians 13:12 “then we
shall see face to face…then I
shall know fully”
c. Revelation 20:6 “have part in
the first resurrection. The
second death has no power over
them” John 11:25 “He who
believes in me will live, even
though he dies” Romans 6:5
“united with him…in his death,
we will certainly also be united
with him in his resurrection”
d. Romans 8:38 “…neither
death … nor demons,…will be
able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord”
a. 1 John 3:2 “shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is”
Mat. 25:21 'Well done, good
and faithful servant… Enter
into the joy of your lord.'
b. Revelation 21:4 “no
mourning or crying or pain”
c. Philippians 3:21 “transform
our lowly bodies…like His”
- Psalm 17:15 “In righteousness
… I will see your face; when I
awake, I will be satisfied with
seeing your likeness”
- Isaiah 26:19 “dwell in the
dust, wake up and shout for
joy”
A Godly Calling:
You
Jesus’ last words to His disciples where: “Go into the world and make disciples”
 Why?  So that all will call on the name of the Lord to be saved
 Our first calling and vocation  Go and make disciples.
 How?  Going “How beautiful are the feet who bring good news” Romans 10:14
o People  need to hear + see = understand
o People  preached to, by word + action = living
o People  can only be preached to if we live (words and action), so they can see and
understand (do not give anybody the chance to call you a hypocrite!). Wherever God
sends us (sometimes we can choose, other times not, but the calling remains!),
independent of circumstances.
The question is the same for us as in Jeremiah’s time: Whom am I going to send? Who is sent in
the NT? We, the church; God calls us to live a righteous life so that we can be “Christ’s aroma” (2
Corinthians 2:15a), a letter from Christ (2 Corinthians 3:3a), His disciples. How we do this, really depends
on our gifts.
Few of us in the world, we, the privileged ones, have a choice in our vocation. Most do not have
this choice. However, all of us have this in common: “righteous living” a living worthy of the gospel of
Christ. Furthermore, I, we who do have the choice, should ask, “What is my gift?” God’s answer will be “I
made you” (Psalm 139).
I made you, you, specifically you. I have intertwined your brain and body as to be capable for
doing the specific things I want you to use in this life. I will guide you - if you let me do so. I have set you
in the family that is going to help you with that. I gave you the father and mother, siblings and friends,
circumstances, schooling; I gave and took away - all to prepare you for what I have you to do. So, for now,
choose what you like most to do and are best at (humble or prestigious!), what your parents guide you,
school setting gives you possibilities for... This probably will be what all say to you are good at. You might
not perceive yourself that you are as talented in that specific area and, you are right: you can always do
better! However, others - your family and friends, if sincere – can see how much better if you are, how
much better equipped your mind and body are for that specific line of work than the average person! That
tells you also that, if it is a gift from God, you can be thankful, but not proud, for that present received;
never forgetting that God can call you home tomorrow. Therefore, TODAY is your vocation, your calling,
your occupation, not some profession ten years along the road of life.
God wants us to be His disciples. The biggest challenge then should not lie in “what” you will be
responsible for in this life but “how” you are living out that responsibility. In what manner you will live out
your discipleship. Yes! You will be teaching others. This is God’s calling for being a disciple in your
work. Honor your God by living a “righteous life”, a life of training and self-imposed hardships, as to
achieve the victory (2 Timothy 2:5). As to learn to “distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).
To achieve that, we need to be constantly and prayerfully reading God’s Word. Under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit - without Him the Bible is just a book of classical literature - so that we can
discern, in each specific situation, between good and evil, so that we can mirror God to others. That is our
REAL calling. Throughout all the examples of vocations, chosen or imposed, famous or insignificant (in
human eyes), the lifelong and the short term ones, this is the fine thread trough all of them. This should be
our intention.
As such the real answer to the question: “Lord, what should I be doing in life?” should be “Lord, I want to
be Your disciple!” Then He, the Eternal, the Almighty and your Creator will say, "Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come
and share your master's happiness!” (Matthew 25:23)
A last example of discipleship/vocation from the OT
The Israelites as a Nation

God called them out of Egypt  wandered 40 years through the desert instead of 3 (the time they needed to
understand God’s teaching and unlearn the worst of slave manners, so to speak, so they could live as
freedman…) because of lack of faith and dissatisfaction with status quo. They where constantly:
o
o
o
o

Complaining
Grumbling
Wanting to go back to Egypt
Disobeying the 10 commandments, not living up to God’s standards.
When they finally arrived in Canaan  they, after a brief period of repentance and of seeing their faith in
action – just remember the crossing trough the Jordan (Joshua 3) river and Jericho (Joshua 5-6) - fell again.
Now it was the town of Ai (Joshua 7-8), defeating them. They repented and continued. All through the Old
Testament, we see this pattern: falling in disobedience and repentance… Until God says, “it is enough!” and
the Israelites are send into captivity.
o
o
God gave them the Holy Land: They defiled it by their conduct and actions (Ezekiel 36:16)
Because of that: God scattered them among the nations, and still, “wherever they went among the
nations they profaned God’s Holy Name” (Ezekiel 36:21)
The question for us then, remains as something like this: “How am I going to take the example of the Israelites in
my vocational field through my conduct and actions? Will I be grumbling and complaining or will I be honoring
God with my work ethics? When I go on the mission field, do I profane the name of the Lord by my “unholy”
actions or are all asking me what the reason is for my holy “love thy neighbor as thyself” attitudes?” May God help
us and keep us faithful!
XXXI
MY DEAR, MY VERY DEAR, WORMWOOD, MY POPPET, MY PIGSNIE,
How mistakenly now that all is lost you come whimpering to ask me whether the terms of affection in
which I address you meant nothing from the beginning. Far from it! 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 me. The
difference is that I am the stronger. I think they will give you to me now; or a bit of you. Love you? Why,
yes. As dainty a morsel as ever I grew fat on.
You have let a soul slip through your fingers. The howl of sharpened famine for that loss re-echoes at
this moment through all the levels of the Kingdom of Noise down to the very Throne itself. It makes me
mad to think of it. How well I know what happened at the instant when they snatched him from you! There
was a sudden clearing of his eyes (was there not?) as he saw you for the first time, and recognized the part
you had had in him and knew that you had it no longer. Just think (and let it be the beginning of your
agony) what he felt at that moment; as if a scab had fallen from an old sore, as if he were emerging from a
hideous, shell-like tetter, as if he shuffled off for good and all a defiled, wet, clinging garment. By Hell,
it is misery enough to see them in their mortal days taking off dirtied and uncomfortable clothes and
splashing in hot water and giving little grunts of pleasure—stretching their eased limbs. What, then, of this
final stripping, this complete cleansing?
The more one thinks about it, the worse it becomes. He got through so easily! No gradual misgivings, no
doctor's sentence, no nursing home, no operating theatre, no false hopes of life; sheer, instantaneous
liberation. One moment it seemed to be all our world; the scream of bombs, the fall of houses, the stink
and taste of high explosive on the lips and in the lungs, the feet burning with weariness, the heart cold with
horrors, the brain reeling, the legs aching; next moment all this was gone, gone like a bad dream, never
again to be of any account. Defeated, out-manœuvred fool! Did you mark how naturally—as if he'd been
born for it—the earthborn vermin entered the new life? How all his doubts became, in the twinkling of
an eye, ridiculous? I know what the creature was saying to itself! "Yes. Of course. It always was like this.
All horrors have followed the same course, getting worse and worse and forcing you into a kind of
bottleneck till, at the very moment when you thought you must be crushed, behold! You were out of
the narrows and all was suddenly well. The extraction hurt more and more and then the tooth was out.
The dream became a nightmare and then you woke. You die and die and then you are beyond death.
How could I ever have doubted it?
As he saw you, he also saw Them. I know how it was. You reeled back dizzy and blinded, more hurt by
them than he had ever been by bombs. The degradation of it!—that this thing of earth and slime could
stand upright and converse with spirits before whom you, a spirit, could only cower. Perhaps you had
hoped that the awe and strangeness of it would dash his joy. But that is the cursed thing; the gods are
strange to mortal eyes, and yet they are not strange. He had no faintest conception till that very hour of how
they would look, and even doubted their existence. But when he saw them he knew that he had always
known them and realized what part each one of them had played at many an hour in his life when he had
supposed himself alone, so that now he could say to them, one by one, not "Who are you?" but "So it was
you all the time". All that they were and said at this meeting woke memories. The dim consciousness of
friends about him which had haunted his solitudes from infancy was now at last explained; that central
music in every pure experience which had always just evaded memory was now at last recovered.
Recognition made him free of their company almost before the limbs of his corpse became quiet. Only you
were left outside.
He saw not only Them; he saw Him. This animal, this thing begotten in a bed, could look on Him. What is
blinding, suffocating fire to you, is now cool light to him, is clarity itself, and wears the form of a Man.
You would like, if you could, to interpret the patient's prostration in the Presence, his self-abhorrence and
utter knowledge of his sins (yes, Wormwood, a clearer knowledge even than yours) on the analogy of your
own choking and paralysing sensations when you encounter the deadly air that breathes from the heart
of Heaven. But it's all nonsense. Pains he may still have to encounter, but they embrace those pains. They
would not barter them for any earthly pleasure. All the delights of sense, or heart, or intellect, with which
you could once have tempted him, even the delights of virtue itself, now seem to him in comparison but as
the half nauseous attractions of a raddled harlot would seem to a man who hears that his true beloved
whom he has loved all his life and whom he had believed to be dead is alive and even now at his door. He
is caught up into that world where pain and pleasure take on transfinite values and all our arithmetic is
dismayed. Once more, the inexplicable meets us. Next to the curse of useless tempters like yourself the
greatest curse upon us is the failure of our Intelligence Department. If only we could find out what He is
really up to! Alas, alas, that knowledge, in itself so hateful and mawkish a thing, should yet be necessary
for Power! Sometimes I am almost in despair. All that sustains me is the conviction that our Realism, our
rejection (in the face of all temptations) of all silly nonsense and claptrap, must win in the end.
Meanwhile, I have you to settle with. Most truly do I sign myself
Your increasingly and ravenously
affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
Maranatha!
Valentine’s day,