button for home page
button for free subscription
button for sending the URL of this page to a friend
button for searching our site
button for back issues
button for list of articles
button for list of free booklets
button for info about our publisher
button for online donation
button for contact information
button for weekly email update
Unless noted otherwise, articles are copyrighted by the Worldwide Church of God. All rights reserved. Unless noted otherwise, scriptures are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers
To recommend this article to a friend, click here.

 

The Screwtape Letters
C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the most popular Christian writers of the last century. He was the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, now in theaters.

His Screwtape Letters is a satirical collection of letters from a highly placed demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, Worm-wood, a novice demon sent to tempt a newly converted Christian.

In a series of letters, Screwtape advises Wormwood on how to undermine the faith of his "patient," and thus reclaim him from the "Enemy" (God).

Each letter is a beautifully crafted description of how the forces of evil seek to subvert a redeemed humanity, turning them into beings that oppose God and reject his offer of reconciliation.

The correspondence between Screwtape and Wormwood is brilliant in its reverse theology as it explores the subtleties of temptation and the motives of the tempter: fear of punishment and the need to dominate.

Lewis shows the goal of the Creator as well: to bring humanity to himself; to transform us by his grace from "tools into servants and servants into sons."

Although written more than 60 years ago, The Screwtape Letters continues to attract thousands of new readers each year.

Terry Akers

 

 

 

Copyright 2006 Hit Counter