The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
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Book Reviews of The Screwtape Letters
Book Review: Our Anti-Father Down Below.
Summary: 5 Stars
After at least a decade and several personal recommendations to read it each year, I finally got around to buying "The Screwtape Letters." The initial emotion I experienced after reading its introduction was jealously as I could not help but wish that it was I, and not Lewis, who had such an ingenious idea. Once you discover the book's method, which is of a senior demon writing to his nephew with recommendations on how to steal souls, you'll be astounded at the wonderful complexity of the author's mind. His reverse theological technique provided ample opportunity to skewer many of the most powerful members of England's WWII society. What is most remarkable about the book is that it is even more applicable to our present day world than it was to the author's era. Moderate and touchy-feely churches are ubiquitous to our landscape and Screwtape undoubtedly would be most pleased with their constant empthasis on social issues rather than the Lord's Word. The book has tremendous meaning as it difficult to dismiss the possibility that the Devil influences our daily lives and the world around us. One cannot help but wonder if their are Screwtapes and Wormwoods in the air we breath who attempt, with subtle direction, to steer us away from productive activities and into the netherworld of souless entertainment.Book Review: Truth in Fiction About Spiritual Warfare
Summary: 5 Stars
Am laughing so hard now, I wasn't planning to write a review on this book, just wanted to see if others enjoyed it as much as I did, and HA! the reactions to the newer reviews just validate the truth behind the premise of the book, Christians truly are the object of attack by a real Satan and his minions: specifically, the reviews below are right-on in explaining the book, yet I noticed they were accompanied by "0 of 1 found the following review helpful," which indicates to me the activity not just of a nonChristian, but what I call an 'antiChristian,' one who unable to steal a Christian's secure salvation, actively tries to stop his impact, to take-out or defeat the Christian from victory in the Christian life, from influencing others for God--as if clicking "unhelpful" will discourage a Christian, when it only encourages them that they're not AWOL from the spiritual battle, that truly the praise of men matters less than sharing the good news of Christ. This stumbling stone of discouragement is just one of the tactics exposed in 'Screwtape Letters' thru the format of a one-on-one demonic discipleship correspondence. Reading 'Screwtape' is a fun way for the Christian to stay alert, if not warned for the first time, to the various schemes the devil will use to oppose his effectiveness.Book Review: A Bit of Instruction For Nephew Wormwood
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a delightful dialogue between two devils. The primary devil is Screwtape, a high level Tempter who is doing his best to teach his nephew Wormwood, a novice tempter, the ins and outs of exploiting Wormwood's "patient."The goal? The goal is to feast on the patient's soul. And if that doesn't work, Wormwood's soul will suffice. Unfortunately for Wormwood, he needs a lot of instruction. C.S. Lewis provides the details of Screwtape's instruction. The first lesson in tempting is not to create an evil for a person but to exploit the weaknesses already in the patient.
A practised devil should be able to exploint the good in a person by corrupting just enough to make it an evil. And so, Uncle Screwtape proceeds for a short time until he's had enough of his flunky nephew.
Though comical to the extreme, this book provides a bounty of instruction. I surmise that it would not be unusual for most readers to view themselves as somewhat easy targets even for Wormwood. And that is Lewis' point.
And so, if you would like to spend a couple of hours enjoying the wit of C.S. Lewis and get some good instruction at the same time, you must purchase this book. You won't regret it, and old Screwtape would be flattered that you thought him so clever!
Book Review: Damnation comes with a whisper
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember one of the opening lines to Stephen King's "The Stand": This is how the world ends, not with an explosion, but a whisper. C.S. Lewis was exploring a similar theme a generation before that.The simple plot: Screwtape, a demon, writes letters to his nephew, who is in charge of getting a man to fall from morality and trust in God. But the plot goes much, much deeper...
A real lesson you should take from the book is that damnation doesn't come all at once. Screwtape even says to his nephew that the best road to hell is a gradual, gently sloping one.
The book really opened my eyes on how I live my life. Even the smallest things I do in this world have consequence in the next. The book may not cause earth-shaking changes in your life, but reading this book definitely will make you think. And any book that does that is worth 1,000 times the cover price.
An interesting addition to this (and several other) version is a story Lewis wrote for the New Yorker more than a decade after "Screwtape" was first published. It serves as a wonderful epilouge to the tale, and I can only imagine the thrill of people who devoured the book when it first came out and then had to wait literally YEARS before they could get another small taste.
Book Review: If only all theological lessons could be like this...
Summary: 5 Stars
C.S. Lewis literally wrote a Christian masterpiece with "The Screwtape Letters". The format is beguilingly simple, and the letters as written by Screwtape, a senior devil, to Wormwood, his junior associate, are tremendously entertaining without even considering the theology. If this were just an exercise in "thinking like a devil" then Lewis pulled that off well enough to entertain a reader of any religious faith. But the book is so much more.
The thing that amazed me most was the timelessness of it. While the "patient" (the mortal being tempted) is assailed by events, the events are such universals of the human condition that it is easy to see oneself on almost ever page. Whether it is concern about "the war", what "educated" and "modern" friends might think about the patient's faith, or the desire of the patient to look around for a church he likes better than his current one, they could just as easily have been written yesterday.
The book is so entertaining that it might be tempting to rush through it. I would recommend against this. Literally every page has something to say, something worth thinking about. Take your time, be both entertained and provoked to think. You will not regret this.