LewisPaper
“TheScrewtape Letters” is an apologetic Christian novel done by C.S.Lewis. The book utilizes an epistolary and satirical style to engagethe readers. Though the plot is fictional, the characters used toaddress the issues within Christianity like temptation andresistance. The tale is in the form of letters, where senior DemonScrewtape writes to his nephew Wormwood, a less experienced tempter.The two demons are tasked with swaying away people into committingsin in different capacities. The letters bring out a sequence ofteachings regarding the Christian faith. They typify human life,based on temptations and subsequent failings viewed from a Devilsperspective. Throughout the thirty-one lettered tale, Screwtapeadvises Wormwood on different tactics to undermine faith andencourage sin in a “patient,” scattered with demonstrations onChristian doctrine and human nature. In Screwtape’s opines, greedand personal benefit are deemed as the greatest good. Additionally,the demons could not comprehend God’s love for humans or evenrecognize human virtue.
Theletters were specifically written to critique some behaviors withinthe British public education. They achieved popularity in manysectors. Even with much popularity, some people whether atheistic ornot criticize the tale. In this paper, the ideas of a documentretrieved from the Internet will be discussed. It will give anin-depth analysis of the various Christian traits entailed in thetale. As Christians, people are faced with numerous challengesespecially on how to remain righteous. Some sins have become routineto an extent that they do not seem evil. For instance, sex, gluttony,pride, and war are so common and embedded in our different cultures.Describing the kinds of temptations will also be a major undertakingwithin this paper [ CITATION Unc10 l 1033 ].
TheScrewtape Letters are a Christian opinion of demons and how theyexist within our communities. Demons exist within our societies. Asentailed within the Bible, Satan’s power was not taken away fromhim when he was thrown out of Heaven. In this world, he is alwayslooking for followers through different means. Indeed, he isconstantly fighting with God over control humans. Having the power tocontrol particular aspects surrounding humans, he does so with muchaccuracy. It is the reason people commit sin without necessarilyseeming to know. Some satanic features of hatred, murder, andadultery among others are entangled in our communities. People eitherchose to ignore or have completely given up on righteousness. In theparticular article of consideration, the writer believes Lewis hadlimited knowledge about atheists. In his assumption, Lewis onlyattacks atheism to make it vulnerable. The evil spirits sway a personwho does not believe in the existence of God. Whether Lewis makesatheism susceptible or not, atheistic beliefs are ill addressed.Usually, most scientists are atheists. They believe too much inscientific matters like evolution disregarding the existence of God.In these letters, Lewis only tries to elaborate the misconceptionspertained to science. The devil uses different means to multiply hisfollowers, and science is one of them. One can dwell too much on thescientific view of humanity without deliberating on God’s aspect ofcreation. These are the kind of people Lewis targets. One of thebelief atheists have concerns the existence of good and evil, yetthey disregard the powers behind the two forces [CITATION pat16 l 1033 ].
Thepolitical world is one major area the devil utilizes his skills. Justlike Lewis illustrates, most of the politicians are at the forefrontchampioning for changes, yet they are rarely involved in prayers.They are so much incensed with political matters with limitedknowledge in God’s word. It is human nature to hunger for power.Once a person is blessed with riches, there is a tendency he/she willlook for power. Even in the heavenly kingdom, the greed for powerbrought a wedge between God and Lucifer. The same is replicated inthe current world where most politicians are evil either knowingly orunknowingly. As much as they hold meetings to discuss global matters,policies, crusades, causes, and movements, wickedness abides withthem. As it is the case in America, evangelical Christianity has beenmerged with the particular set of political objectives. They involveeconomic deregulation, development of the paternalistic state thatregulates the citizen’s private lives, and continual militarism.The superseding agenda of the religious right is to halt theseparation of the state and the church and acquire secular power. Theaspiration to evangelize is regarded crucial only insofar since itcan draw in more votes for this aim. The politicians tend to attractmore following than evangelists when it comes to administering theword of God to a multitude. Owing to that, most leaders then use thisopportunity to misguide the people and sway them away from the onlymeaning word of God. Use of the church for political gain is evil,and as Lewis rightly puts it, such groups are controlled by thedemonic powers [ CITATION pat16 l 1033 ].
Asentailed in the article in consideration, atheists desire to feelwhether God exists. They call for some ambiguous action from God totest whether He exists. According to it, human beings are fallibleand should not be left to make the tough choices. Additionally, itperpetuates that God should make Himself omnipotent to silence anydoubts about His existence. They ask if God exists, why His peopleare struggling. Does He love us? Indeed, human beings are falliblecreatures prone to make mistakes every time. However, the notion thatGod has deserted His people is quite misleading. He continuallywatches over us and shows humility in different ways. As a matter offact, God’s presence can be illustrated through the Holy Spirit.Whenever an individual has to choose between doing good or evil,there is a particular voice within us that tries to lead us in theright direction. As entailed within the Holy Bible, a person havingthe Holy Spirit within him/her can choose to do good over evil. But asinner who has no Holy Spirit easily decides to do evil. God revealsHimself in different manners yet people still doubt His existence.Aspects of life and health are indications of His love to us. It isthe individuals who have deserted his word and dwelled in misleadingacts. For instance, the varying lifestyles like eating habits haverepetitively brought diseases upon us, yet it is not God’s will.The fact that Evil spirits exist should alone be a testimony of anexisting Holy power that counteracts it. At the end of it all, Goodalways surpasses evil [ CITATION pat16 l 1033 ].
Thearticle in consideration does not feel that demons can controlpeople’s actions. It does not seem to think an evil person can beled to extract some passage in the Bible to justify his/her action.The passage continually tries to illustrate how Lewis contradictshimself in matters of spiritualism. The question is, why would Godpermit demons to control His people? Why does God not interfere withevil deeds? If indeed He can prevent His people from doing evil, whywould He not stop evil from influencing humans? Following up thesentiments, it shows that the writer has limited knowledge of theBible or rather does not understand God’s deeds. Firstly, evildoers can quote the bible to justify their actions. A good example isdrawn from drunkards. By providing evidence from the Bible that Jesusturned water into wine, they explain their drinking habits. Again asquoted in the Holy Book, a little wine is good for your stomach.Drunkards can be led by the evil spirit to extract such texts tojustify their conducts. However, the whole thing is misconstrued,since the elements of wine during those days is not the same used tomake alcohol. The Bible openly states that Drunkards will not inheritthe kingdom of Heaven. Does God love us enough to protect us fromdoing evil? Oh Yes, He does. People tend to forget that Satan iscontinually fighting God over the control of humans. Satan and hiswicked angels are continuously working to lead us astray. The onlyremedy is to seek the Lord and ask for his guidance. He will fightfor us, and all we humans have to do is believe in his word. Even inthe Bible, God left Satan to test his servant Job. The tests includedriches, sickness among other things but not the soul. In that regard,God can allow any temptation to strengthen his people, but cannotpermit Satan to touch our souls for they all belong to Him [ CITATION pat16 l 1033 ].
Asthe article perpetuates, Lewis deems any ideology againstChristianity as demonic tricks. Atheists believe there is no Immortalbeing watching over humans. They have faith in good and evil. Indeed,no one is perfect whether in thoughts or actions. No one can boast ofinheriting the Kingdom of God, not even the Christians. However, aswritten in the Bible, only the righteous shall inherit the Heaven.Faith is a core component while seeking righteousness. And faith, asdescribed in the Bible, is the confidence in what we hope for andassurance about what we do not see. In that regard, understanding theBible requires us to have faith [ CITATION Mar13 l 1033 ].
Conclusion
Lewistries to illustrate an ideal world and all that is in it. Thetemptations, misconceptions, and redemption among others. Eventsacross the globe sometimes confuse us with the love of God. Peoplewonder, with the earthquakes, diseases among other calamities, doesGod love us, if indeed He exists? The letters depict how demons haveentangled us into believing that God is not present. The evil spiritsare showcased in the political scenes, dwindling Christianity amongothers. Though the tale was written some time back, it is an explicitportrayal of current happenings. Though it may seem absurd tonon-believers, God does exist. He constantly lives in us and guidesus through the Holy Spirit. It requires people to have unmeasurablefaith to see and feel his presence in us.
References
Hennekes, M. (2013, February 6). The Screwtape Letters Analysis. Retrieved from The Screwtape Letters Analysis: http://apbritlithennekesm.blogspot.co.ke/2013/02/the-screwtape-letters-analysis.html
Lewis, C. S. (1942). The Screwtape Letters. United Kingdom: Geoffrey Bles.
Patheos. (2016). The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Retrieved from The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/the-screwtape-letters/
Uncategorized. (2010, August 20). The Screwtape Letters. Retrieved from The Screwtape Letters: https://analysisofthescrewtapeletters.wordpress.com/