Screwtape Letter #9 – Discussion Guide is article #20 in the series: Screwtape Letters. Click button to view titles for entire series
Letter #9
The “Law of Undulation” – continued.
In the advanced trough lesson,
Screwtape has even better ways to exploit them (us).
My dear Wormwood,
I hope my last letter has convinced you that the trough of dullness or ‘dryness’ through which your patient is going at present will not, of itself, give you his soul, but needs to be properly exploited. What forms the exploitation should take I will now consider.
In the first place I have always found that the trough periods of the human undulation provide excellent opportunity for all sensual temptations, particularly those of sex. … To get the man’s soul and give him nothing in return—that is what really gladdens Our Father’s heart. And the troughs are the time for beginning the process.
9.1) Do you think Screwtape’s statement, To get the man’s soul and give him nothing in return—that is what really gladdens Our Father’s heart is true or false?
Consider Satan’s “gift” to Eve – what did he actually give Adam and Eve?
Nothing good - see Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Ge 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Ge 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Ge 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 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.
Ge 3:8 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. 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.”
Consider Satan’s “gift” to Jesus – what did he actually offer Him?
see Luke 4
The Temptation of Jesus
Lk 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
Lk 4:3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Lk 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’’”
Lk 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Lk 4:8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’’”
Lk 4:9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
Lk 4:11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’’”
Lk 4:12 Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’’”
Lk 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
But there is an even better way of exploiting the trough; I mean through the patient’s own thoughts about it. … If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point’, you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all—and more amusing.
9.2a) Screwtape tells Wormwood that, during his patient’s dry spell, You have only got to keep him out of the way of experienced Christians. Why?
Kingdom Dynamics
1:26 God Created Man (Male/Female) in His Own Image,
FAMILY ORDER.
These verses introduce a phrase that is the cornerstone of the biblical understanding of man: image of God. The image of God is presented first and foremost in relation to a unique social or community concept of God. “Then God (singular) said, “Let Us (plural) make man in Our (plural) image.’ ” Many scholars interpret this use of both the singular and the plural as an allusion to the Trinity: one God, yet a community of Persons.
God then proceeds to create man in His own image. At this all-important beginning point, Scripture highlights a particular aspect of man’s nature, namely, that which corresponds to the social or community aspect of God’s nature: God creates man as male and female—not a solitary individual, but two people. Yet, as we read on, we discover that the two are, nevertheless, “one” (see 2:24).
The “community” that reflects God’s image is a special community: the community of a man and a woman. When God chose to create man in His own image, He created a marriage, a family. The community of the family is a reflection of the community in the Godhead. Its identity, life, and power come from God.
Galatians 6:1-6
Gal 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.
Gal 6:6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
Matthew 18:15-20
Mt 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Mt 18:18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Mt 18:19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
9.2b) What does Screwtape mean when he writes – A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all—and more amusing?
Consider 2 Kings 22:1-13
The Book of the Law Found
2Ki 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
2Ki 22:3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully.”
2Ki 22:8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
2Ki 22:11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’S anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
what does 'moderated' really mean, the way Screwtape uses it?
1. kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense: a moderate price.
2. of medium quantity, extent, or amount: a moderate income.
3. mediocre or fair: moderate talent.
4. calm or mild, as of the weather.
5. of or pertaining to moderates, as in politics or religion.
Another possibility is that of direct attack on his faith. … You see the idea? Keep his mind off the plain antithesis between True and False. Nice shadowy expressions—‘It was a phase’—‘I’ve been through all that’—and don’t forget the blessed word ‘Adolescent’.
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
9.3) Screwtape writes – Another possibility is that of direct attack on his faith. … Of course there is no conceivable way of getting by reason from the proposition ‘I am losing interest in this’ to the proposition ‘This is false’. But, as I said before, it is jargon, not reason, you must rely on.
Given that faith cannot be derived strictly from reason – and one cannot get from “losing interest” to “this is false” – what good is reason? Does it have value – or is it irrelevant?
Faith cannot come from reason alone - but ...
Isa 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,”
says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
Isa 1:19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
Isa 1:20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Vocabulary:
innocuous – The health and spirits which you want to use in producing lust can also, alas, be very easily used for work or play or thought or innocuous merriment.
innocuous – having little or no adverse or harmful effect; harmless
Concomitant – And it is also to be noted that the trough sexuality is subtly different in quality from that of the peak—much less likely to lead to the milk and water phenomenon which the humans call ‘being in love’, much more easily drawn into perversions, much less contaminated by those generous and imaginative and even spiritual concomitants which often render human sexuality so disappointing.
Concomitant – existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent: an event and its concomitant circumstances.
Anodyne – You are much more likely to make your man a sound drunkard by pressing drink on him as an anodyne when he is dull and weary than by encouraging him to use it as a means of merriment among his friends when he is happy and expansive.
Anodyne – a medicine that relieves or allays pain
Redolent – Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.
Redolent – suggestive; reminiscent (usually followed by of ): verse redolent of Shakespeare.
Ardours – Let him assume that the first ardours of his conversion might have been expected to last, and ought to have lasted, forever, and that his present dryness is an equally permanent condition.
Ardours – intense devotion, eagerness, or enthusiasm; zeal
Antithesis – Keep his mind off the plain antithesis between True and False.
Antithesis – the direct opposite
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Thank you for putting this up! really helped with my insane high school homework!!
You are most welcome.