When C. S. Lewis gets it wrong, he gets it very wrong: as in his views on inspiration and inerrancy, or odd ideas about the atonement, or hints of sacramentalism. But when he gets it right, he gets it very right, writing with both theological accuracy and pastoral wisdom. The best example of where he marries these two is The Screwtape Letters. This book is justly regarded as a modern devotional classic.
Lewis’ literary foil to teach on the Christian life is a fictional series of letters from a senior demon (Screwtape) to a junior demon (Wormwood), advising him on how to tempt and deceive a human being. This gives Lewis the means to talk about almost anything that confronts a Christian: prayer, participation in the local church, sects, undulation in spiritual commitment, domestic squabbles, political activism, sex, marriage, pacifism, and a basketful more.
Lewis has an uncanny insight into how people think and act, and a Nathan-like ability to expose us as the proud, self-seeking people we are. Just as we’re chuckling at Screwtape explaining the pettiness, hypocrisy and pride in humans, we feel that Lewis has slyly turned the parable on us, and said , “Thou art the man!”. Lewis also manages to get into the very nooks and crannies of life: how a family discussing whether to have tea outside or inside can end up arguing heatedly, because everyone is trying to be “more unselfish” than the others, and refuses to be the one who concedes to pleasing himself. The triviality and yet familiarity of these scenes makes the book a masterpiece of counselling and spiritual wisdom. It is an exposé of the human heart.
Within all that, Lewis weaves plausible theories on the fall of Satan, the difference between God’s love and satanic desire, the meaning of love as union, and a host of other theological diamonds. This is not a corny conversation between cartoonish demons. This is meaty theology, clothed in the clever artifice of battle communiques.
The shortness of the letters make them digestible, and happily so, since they often require a slow and patient reading (or re-reading). I doubt that a patient reader of The Screwtape Letters will walk away without some benefit.
