APPLICATION WRITTEN BY
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.”
At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.
Temptation
Spiritual Warfare
Holiness
Prayer
This book is good for people who are spiritually mature.
I use this book merely as an insightful read asking the disciples to connect the novel to passages about temptation and resisting temptation. Screwtape Letters allows me to again illustrate the truth of warfare in the spiritual realm to discourage, derail, and destroy believers in order to achieve the enemy’s objective of stealing the glory of God. I have the disciples read the book and review it at the conclusion.
I love this book in Discipleship Three because it takes the idea of temptation, spiritual warfare, and holiness to the next level.
Screwtape Letters was in a pile of books somewhere during my fast Christian ramp-up. I was consuming anything I could find and had already read “Surprised by Joy” by Lewis. It seemed a little difficult to read and quite frankly it scared me a bit. Were there actually demons hanging around my apartment? Did they want to destroy me? Was there anything I could do? It was almost too much to consume. I read it again after becoming a normalized Christian (none of that crazy, super ecstatic thinking anymore!) and the story reminded me of the very real, constant battle that Satan was waging against God and his people. It reminded me to pray for God to war in the heavenly realm for people who were struggling. And, when I read “This Present Darkness”, I was even more impressed with the need to take seriously the spiritual realm of my life. There is something much bigger going on her than my little life.
In my opinion, this like Mystical Chapters is a read only for the spiritually mature. Many Christians have gotten a bit off track and focus on a “devil made me do it” or “devil hunting” view of daily living. Sometimes, temptation is entirely our fault for knowingly being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Naturally reinforces the ideas of This Present Darkness and  Piercing the Darkness. Also is an interesting read with Mystical Chapters and balance can be found in The Pursuit of Holiness.
