Friday, January 16, 2009

Screwtape Letters

The screwtape letters was a very interesting book that Lewis wrote. It had a very interesting point of view the entire time. We read the XII letter of the book in which Screwtape, who is the devil, gives advice to his nephew wormwood, who is a demon. The piece itself was written from the perspective of Satan which is something that I have never come across before.

Screwtape starts off his letter by talking about the good progress that Wormwood is making in leading his "patient" away from the church. After congratulating him on his good progress, he warns him of moving too fast and ruining all of his progress that he has made this far. This is a very interesting way of going about it, but is also very true in the way that the devil is working in us.

In this letter Screwtape constantly refers to God as the "enemy." This is the exact opposite way of what I am used to thinking. I thought that the quote "the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, the soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without signposts." This is very true and can happen to any of us.

I thought this letter was very interesting and kept me gripped the entire time. It was written from a perspective that made you rethink things and different situations that we are put in. We must always be conscious that the devil is working inside all of us at any point and time is our lives and can lead us on the gradual slope to hell. We must constantly pray for the strength to fight the devil and all the temptations that we are lead into.

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