The Screwtape Letters

C.S. Lewis

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. C.S. Lewis has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

This book's Disciple Making Purpose

Our team previously used this book exclusively in Year Three. However, the data we collect continues to show that disciples who drop in Year Two struggle with the same deception that Eve faced – you don’t need to do this God thing, to be sold out, you can do it on your own another way. As Year Two winds to a close, two issues arise as our flesh struggles against abandoning our lives to Christ (going all in – Step 9) to gain them. The first struggle is our flesh, the old man as it were, wrestling against the total surrender of “anyone who wants to follow me must deny himself and take up his cross.” That level of surrender comes with a “cross.” As disciples are called to this surrender, if they struggle, we have seen Satan tempt them away from following. And the worst part is that most never return if they walk away at Step 9. We now use this lighthearted book to illustrate the absolute failure of falling to temptation and to illustrate how Satan quietly seeks to draw us away. The second challenge at the end of Year Two is trust. We address this with our followup reading of Ruthless Trust.

Key Topics or Truths

Temptation
Spiritual Warfare
Holiness
Prayer

This Book is Good For...

People who are spiritually mature to illustrate the mechanics and consequences of temptation.

How We Use this Book to Make Disciples

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We use this book merely as an insightful read asking the disciples to connect the novel to Bible passages about temptation and resisting temptation. Screwtape Letters allows us to illustrate the truth of warfare in the spiritual realm that often discourages, derails, and destroys believers. Satan’s objective is stealing the glory of God. We break the reading into three weeks reviewing what we read each week. Here is a reading plan with sample questions/topics,

Week 1 – Seeing the Subtle Strategies: Preface + Letters 1-13

  • Preface and Letter 1 : Distraction as a tool : Luke 10:38–42
    How does distraction keep you from deeper spiritual thought?
  • Letters 2–3 : Pride & self-awareness : Philippians 2:3–5
    Where do you see self-focus disguised as humility?
  • Letters 4–5 : Prayer & spiritual dullness : Matthew 6:5–8, 9-13
    How might you renew your prayer life this week?
  • Letters 6–7 : Fear & extremism : 2 Timothy 1:7
    When do fear or overzealousness pull you from truth?
  • Letters 8–9 : Dryness in faith : Psalm 42:1–11
    How do you respond when God feels distant?
  • Letters 10–11 : Friendship & humor : Proverbs 13:20
    Are your relationships shaping you toward or away from God?
  • Letters 12–13 : Spiritual laziness : Proverbs 6:9–11
    Where does apathy sneak into your spiritual habits?

Week 2 – Twisting Truth into Lies:  Letters 14-25

  • Letters 14–15 : Humility & time : James 4:13–17
    How do you practice humility without self-consciousness?
  • Letters 16–17 : Church & petty irritations : Colossians 3:12–15
    How do you handle annoyances in Christian community?
  • Letters 18–19 : Love & selfishness : 1 Corinthians 13:4–7
    How do you evaluate your motives in relationships?
  • Letters 20–21 : Sexual temptation & entitlement : 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8
    How does gratitude counter discontentment?
  • Letters 22–23 : Pleasure & counterfeit spirituality : James 1:16–18
    Where do you seek satisfaction apart from God?
  • Letters 24–25 : Pride in intellect & novelty : 2 Timothy 4:3–4
    How can you guard against chasing “newness” over truth?

Week 3 – Resisting and Overcoming:  Letters 26-End

  • Letters 26–27 : Unanswered prayer & patience : Romans 12:12
    How does trust in God deepen during waiting?
  • Letters 28–29 : Courage & humility in danger : Joshua 1:9
    What does holy courage look like for you today?
  • Letters 30–31 : Death, eternity, and victory : 1 Corinthians 15:54–58
    How does an eternal perspective change your choices?
  • Screwtape Proposes a Toast

We use the book club method to review the book. Though we might use the sample questions to get the discussion started with a disciple, most disciples have plenty of ahas, questions, and comments. We cover one letter at a time feeling the liberty to move about the room while not allowing cross talk.

Real Life Story

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 here than my little life.

Know Issues or Controversies

This, like the book Mystical Chapters is a read only for the spiritually mature. We read this only at the end of Year Two to help disciples avoid getting off track and focusing 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.

We love this book because it takes the idea of temptation, spiritual warfare, and holiness to the next level.

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C.S. Lewis
Book Details
Pathway Steps: 9
  • Phase: Year 2
  • Book Type: Fiction
  • Flair: Eye Opening, Storytelling
  • Tags: Christian Living, Easy Read
Reading Time
Three Weeks
Start Reading After Week 39
10 Pages per Day
16 Minutes per Day
Related Reads

Naturally reinforces the ideas of This Present Darkness and  Piercing the Darkness. Also is an interesting review the ideas when disciples read Mystical Chapters in Year Three.