Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters is such an original and thought provoking piece of writing. I was amazed the first time I read it because although I was aware of the spiritual battles we all face, I had never really considered the methodology that is possible behind the Devils attacks. To have created such a powerful piece of fiction on a subject that most would dare not cover in such a manner was bold and in my mind, also brilliant of Lewis. Lewis’s personification of the forces of darkness brings out in my mind a real taste of how dangerous the Devil and his demons truly are. While this whole book is fiction and we cannot in reality know how demons go about their work (as pertaining to “veteran demons” and so forth) there is much we can learn from Lewis’s book.
One eye opening principle that in the back of my mind I knew, but never truly realized, was how gradually the Devil takes us down the slippery slope. At one point, Screwtape tells his nephew Wormwood, “This dim uneasiness needs careful handling. If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game.” This quote stuck out at me especially because of the word “game.” In reality, this is no game; rather, it is the battle of our lives. The Devil and his host begin quietly—they do not want to disrupt our Christian lives too quickly and scare us away. They use the distorted pleasures and distractions of this world to lull us into an enchanting sleep, only beginning the “game” that they play with our lives. Once we are asleep and lying in their embrace, we are content to fall into deeper and deeper sleep as long we are let down slowly. The road to hell begins with baby steps.
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I was also amazed with Lewis for coming up with such a imaginative, entertaining yet thought-provoking piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteAnd indeed, like you said, the devil's purpose is not to scare us away. It is to draw us to his jaws.
Hey Becca! I completely agree with you about how amazing this piece of writing is. It really made me see things from a different perspective and realize how important it is to have the armor of God on at all times. I agree that the Devil gradually leads us to the path of destruction because it's so easy for us to take one step towards it without fully noticing what we are doing. Great post girl!!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I thought the point you made about how he calls it a game is awesome. Your right in saying this is no game. This is life and death. Great job
ReplyDeleteI like your statement that this is the fight of our lives. It is not merely one battle among many, or even the most important battle, it is the entire war, this is the most important confrontation we will have. Our lives should be spent glorifying him, and it becomes very difficult to glorify him when we turn our spiritual actions into mere habits.
ReplyDeleteNot to sound to repetitive but I must say both great blog and that I too was impressed by how it was that Lewis went about teaching us these valuable lessons by showing us a glimpse of what the other side must look like. I must also say that I was struck by your ending about how the road to hell begins with baby steps and that once we have fallen into their grasp so long as we are attacked slowly and gradually we don’t notice.
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