A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
An Introduction to
the Church of the Messiah’s
Lenten Bible Study
Based on The Screwtape Letters
by C. S. Lewis
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
First and foremost, the purchase and
reading of The Screwtape Letters is not required
to participate in this Bible Study. It will
obviously help and enrich your experience, but
if you are unable to get a copy of the book, or
if you fall behind on your reading, do not feel
like you should not attend the
Bible Study. We want you
to attend!
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
If you do choose to get a copy of The
Screwtape Letters, you may find it at any
bookstore, Christian or secular. Electronic
editions are available for Kindles and Nooks as
well as in the Android Play Store and i-Books.
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
The two most recent editions look like this:
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
Each week, we will discuss six letters. The
letters are brief, rarely three full pages, and can
easily be read in less than a half an hour. Each
letter would make wonderful material for daily
mediation. Every Wednesday, starting March
12th, we will discuss the six letters covered
that week and how what Screwtape suggests
relates to what is contained in
the Bible.
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
Our “reading schedule” will be distributed
via the web-page for anyone who wishes to read
along. Some terms used in the book may be a bit
confusing, so here is a quick primer to help get
you started in your reading before we meet on
March 12th.
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
Screwtape is an experienced demon or
tempter who is writing these letters to his
younger nephew named Wormwood and giving
his newphew advice on how to better damn souls
to Hell. Because the main characters are both
demons, their terms are very different then the
terms that we would use.
For instance:
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
“The Enemy” refers to God.
“Our Father Below” refers to the Devil.
“The Lowerarchy” (as opposed to the hierarchy)
is the power structure of Hell.
“The Patient” is how the demons refer to
humans each demon is charged with
corrupting and ultimately
damning to Hell.
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
Keep in mind that this is a thoroughly
Christian book. In spite of its demonic topic, If
we believe that angels are real, we should not be
naive enough to deny the existence of demons.
If there are angels trying to help us, there are
likely devils trying to damn us. We would do
very well to consider what their methods
were and how best to avoid
their plans and schemes.
A Peek Inside
the Devil’s Playbook
That is the point of this Bible Study. We
will look at these letters and see what Biblical
wisdom we can glean from these devilish letters.
If the Devil would try and damn us using these
traps, what wisdom from Scripture ought we use
to avoid those snares and pitfalls? How can
we apply Biblical counsel to avoid the traps
in the first place. Join us
March 12th to find out!