Screwtape Letter #17 – Discussion Guide is article #36 in the series: Screwtape Letters. Click button to view titles for entire series
Letter #17
Screwtape’s recommended attacks on the patient take a dramatic turn here.
The previous letter was about trying to change the patient’s attitude about going to church. Apparently that wasn’t working out so well, since he now turns to issues of vice.
My dear Wormwood,
The contemptuous way in which you spoke of gluttony as a means of catching souls, in your last letter, only shows your ignorance. … She would be astonished—one day, I hope, will be—to learn that her whole life is enslaved to this kind of sensuality, which is quite concealed from her by the fact that the quantities involved are small. … If challenged, she would say she was doing this to avoid waste; in reality she does it because the particular shade of delicacy to which we have enslaved her is offended by the sight of more food than she happens to want.
17.1) Gluttony is defined simply as excessive eating and drinking these days. Going back a little in history, it comes from a French word – “gourmand” – which was to indicate a person who is fond of good eating, often indiscriminatingly and to excess.
Temperance is habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion, while intemperance is a lack of moderation or due restraint, as in action or speech.
Talk about how changing the way we view words over time can affect the way we view our actions – and how trying to avoid doing something (even for a good reason) can cause us to miss that fact that we’re doing something else that we wouldn’t want to be doing if we were aware of it.
What did it mean in the 13th Century?
How about during the Exodus?
Ex 16:11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’ ”
Ex 16:13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ”
Ex 16:17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.
Ex 16:19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
Ex 16:20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
Ex 16:21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person— and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ”
Ex 16:24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
Ex 16:27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?
And now, today - it's reduced to ...
The real value of the quiet, unobtrusive work which Glubose has been doing for years on this old woman can be gauged by the way in which her belly now dominates her whole life. The woman is in what may be called the ‘All-I-want’ state of mind. … In fact, of course, her greed has been one of the chief sources of his domestic discomfort for many years.
17.2) Now we see that beyond merely missing the fact that the patient’s mothers attempts at temperance in one area of her life have actually led to intemperance in a different way – there are also unintended consequences which are even worse.
Talk about the untended consequences either to the mother – or in regards to answers to question #1. Also, talk about how Glubose manages to cause the woman to transfer her actual desires for herself to something that she thinks she is doing for her son.
Responsibility / Accountability
#1
Blaming someone else, as in Gen. 3:12
Ge 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Ge 3:9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
Ge 3:10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Ge 3:11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”
Ge 3:12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Ge 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Ge 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Ge 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
Ge 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
#2
Claiming innocence, as in Matt. 27:24
Mt 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
Mt 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
Mt 27:21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
Mt 27:22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”
Mt 27:23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
Mt 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
Mt 27:25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” Mt 27:26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
#3
Blaming a people Ex. 32:21–24
Ex 32:19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
Ex 32:21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
Ex 32:22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Ex 32:25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
Ex 32:27 Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’ ” 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. 29 Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the LORD today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
Ex 32:30 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
Ex 32:31 So Moses went back to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
Ex 32:33 The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
Ex 32:35 And the LORD struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Now your patient is his mother’s son. … But, however you approach it, the great thing is to bring him into the state in which the denial of any one indulgence—it matters not which, champagne or tea, sole col-bert or cigarettes—‘puts him out’, for then his charity, justice, and obedience are all at your mercy.
17.3) This is an interesting list of indulgences – champagne, tea (a staple for the English), a very rich French entrée, and cigarettes.
Where do you think the line is between enjoying God’s gift of food to us (at least as far as the wine and food) and going overboard into gluttony? And, maybe more importantly – how can we avoid falling into Screwtape’s intended trap?
Do you see anything related to quality?
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
Jn 2:1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
Jn 2:4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
Jn 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Jn 2:6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
Jn 2:7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
Jn 2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
Jn 2:11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
What does Jesus say about being watchful?
Watchfulness
Lk 12:35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Lk 12:41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
Lk 12:42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
Lk 12:47 “That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
What happens with too much of even a good thing?
Pr 25:16 If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.
Pr 25:17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house—too much of you, and he will hate you.
Mere excess in food is much less valuable than delicacy. Its chief use is as a kind of artillery preparation for attacks on chastity. … But this whole business is too large to deal with at the tail-end of a letter,
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
17.4) Just when we thought food was a major issue, Screwtape says it’s just something to use in preparation for the “real” attack.
What did he just say? Gluttony is a preparation for an attack on chastity? Maybe this is too large to deal with at the end of a letter.
Maybe.
What do gluttony and chastity have in common as far as self-control? And where does the tactic of false spirituality fit in?
Vocabulary:
Gluttony – The contemptuous way in which you spoke of gluttony as a means of catching souls, in your last letter, only shows your ignorance.
Gluttony – Gluttony is defined simply as excessive eating and drinking these days. Going back a little in history, it comes from a French word – “gourmand”.
which was to indicate a person who is fond of good eating, often indiscriminatingly and to excess.
Temperance – At the very moment of indulging her appetite she believes that she is practising temperance. In a crowded restaurant she gives a little scream at the plate which some overworked waitress has set before her and says, ‘Oh, that’s far, far too much!
Temperance – habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion.
sole col-bert – But, however you approach it, the great thing is to bring him into the state in which the denial of any one indulgence—it matters not which, champagne or tea, sole col-bert or cigarettes—‘puts him out’, for then his charity, justice, and obedience are all at your mercy.
sole col-bert – is a French dish. The fish is sliced down the centre of the backbone (bone removed just before serving) with the head and skin removed. It is then breaded and fried. Just before serving, it is stuffed with French butter.
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