Preview

Character Analysis: My Dearest Christian In The Screwtape Letters

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
560 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Character Analysis: My Dearest Christian In The Screwtape Letters
My Dearest Christian In The Screwtape Letters it is half of the conversation of two demons, Screwtape and Wormwood. Screwtape is helping Wormwood, being his nephew, how to tempt and keep a man for "the Enemy," being God. This book shows us the many different ways Satan has twisted and turned thing to his benefit, like the church, how we pray and other thing that we think are small. One of the first things brought up is the church, "Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy" (The Screwtape Letters letter 2). First, Screwtape

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In letter 17, Screwtape discussed the impact on food to one of Glubose's subjects. He describes this individual as an old women who ate anything she desired. For example, Screwtape explained how the women would send back her food in a rude way to the waiters because her food wasn't exactly what she desired. This symbolism, to me, was expressed by Lewis how materialistic objects can influence our personality. Through the quote, "'properly' conceals an insatiable demand for exact", Lewis wanted to influence an aspect that has a direct correlation with attitude. This example used in the reading can also correspond with how wealth can influence ones personality. Going into the topic of if wealth can buy happiness. Individuals can have an abundance of money with lavish cars and expressive food, but, do they have a purposeful and happy life?…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Screwtape Letters Summary

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Author of The Screwtape Letters was written by Clive Staples Lewis (1898- 1963). He was one of the most well-known Christian writes in the world. He was also the writer of Chronicles of Narnia which is now in theaters and is one of the most popular stories in which he has written. In the story The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis stated that when writing this book it was not enjoyable for him to the point he said he will never write another letter. But, because this story was so powerful and spiritual, C. S. Lewis had to write another which is called Screwtape Proposes a Toast which I recommend to read. (christianodyssey)…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Furthermore in this particular chapter, Screwtape goes on to talk about the patient’s state of mind. He states that the patient can still come to the Devil’s side. This part of the chapter made me realize that no matter how long you have been a Christian, the devil is still going to try to tempt you to come back to Satan’s side. Another thing that really caught my attention was the fact that Screwtape refers to God as the enemy. “The Enemy takes…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Screwtape Letters

    • 979 Words
    • 3 Pages

    These letters are written by Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood, who is seeking to undermine the faith of his first human assignment. Shortly into the book we find that Screwtape has to change his advice because Wormwood has foolishly allowed his “patient” to accept Jesus Christ. The goal of Wormwood then changes from how to keep the man from being a Christian to how to bring him back to their side. In the 2nd letter of the book Screwtape helps Wormwood with his “patient” by giving him suggestions on how to make him falter in his new walk by showing him faults, both real and imaginary, in his fellow Christians in hope that his attitude towards them would change. Another scheme of theirs was to sow seeds of domestic discord between the young man and his mother, with whom he lives, by encouraging small annoyances and frictions between the two. Screwtape also encourages Wormwood to keep the young man from praying at all but, if he must pray, to…

    • 979 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a partially fictitious rendering of the colonial witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The Puritanical society creates characters of strong moral compasses, but who also take the Devil as seriously as they take God. All sins are severely punished and supernatural reports and behavior are not taken lightly. The play begins with Reverend Parris speaking about his discovery of his niece, daughter, and other village girls dancing in the woods over a fire. His daughter, Betty, has mysteriously fallen ill since the dancing was discovered. This occurrence sparks rumors of witchcraft around the village. Parris’ niece, Abigail, obsessed with her…

    • 2059 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Screwtapes Essay

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Though Screwtape’s distorted views on God’s love, Lewis implies that God is “Love” that He loves people for their sake, not His, and that His love challenges people to become generous in their love. Wormwood’s “patient” is drifting dangerously deeper into Christian belief, and Screwtape advises his protege to forsake fleshly temptations and try to corrupt his spirituality. He mentions that the various interpretations of Jesus that exist in society are devilish inventions. The advantages of these constructions, which we intend to change every thirty years or so, are manifold. In the first place they all tend to direct men’s devotion to something which does not exist, for each “historical Jesus” is unhistorical. The documents say what they say and cannot be added to; each new “historical Jesus” therefore has to be got out of them by suppression at one point and exaggeration at another.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In The Screwtape Letters, the story is stylized to be read as a series of letters sent to a devil's nephew. The devil's knowledge of what is wrong with humanity is imparted to his nephew through the letters, and at the same time the reader receives C.S. Lewis's views of humanity in the modern age. The true cleverness of the book is that it presents Lewis's ideas as a satirical criticism of humanity. C.S. Lewis writes in the letters exactly how to bring men to their knees through tactics that take advantage of the human nature. Simultaneously, the reader is attacked by the devil's strategy to bring the worst out in people. Who would argue that if the demons of hell use a human weakness drag people to the fiery depths, it is okay to embrace this weakness? C.S. Lewis intended this structure and the reader can't argue against him because the book is written as a series of letters between demons, not as a direct message from Lewis about what people should and shouldn't…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Screwtape Letters is a satirical book written by C.S. Lewis with the intent to deliver practical lessons on a person’s daily exercise of his or her faith. The book’s overall theme is “God vs. the devil” or “good vs. evil” in the human experience. In the book, two devils – Screwtape, an elder tempter, and Screwtape’s novice nephew Wormwood -- are in a fight to claim as many souls, or ‘patients,’ as they are referred to in the book, and Screwtape advises Wormwood on the particulars of his job through a series of letters to his nephew, which are then “published” as this book. When Luke Johnson says in his essay “Powers and Principalities: The Devil is No Joke” “When Satan’s power is portrayed in terms of individual temptation and seduction rather than systemic evil and social oppression, when the cosmic battle between the angels of Michael and of Satan pictured by Revelation is reduced to “My guardian angel” and a nemesis imp competing for a moral victory…the way is cleared for devil jokes,” (Johnson 3) he captures what Lewis was trying to deliver…the simplistic and overlooked talents of the devil to win the hearts and minds of people. What will be examined today are the lessons presented by C.S. Lewis in the book The Screwtape Letters, the relevancy to Christian life, and the main point of the book in reference to theology.…

    • 2584 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chapter two introduces us to a strong church, but with problems creeping in. Christianity and Roman religion began to be in conflict, because the emperor of Rome had so much power that he forced people to see him as a god, this was consider idol worship to the Christians, who only bow down to the only true living…

    • 1140 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the novel, Under The Feet of Jesus, by Helena Maria Viramontes, the author conveys the harshness of being a migrant worker and how easily one can become stuck in the same job for their whole life. Viramontes, uses the main character, Estrella, a 13 year old migrant worker to display how this long-lasting cycle and precedent can be broken. Estrella is anything but a stereotypical young girl who has big dreams and plays with friends, instead, everyday she goes out into the fields and works extremely hard to support her 4 younger siblings and mother. Estrella never realizes the power she can achieve as she feels oppressed due to her status, but as she takes control of her life, it allows her to not fall victim to the cycle of only being a…

    • 1703 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In 1974 Dulles published Models of the Church to address questions concerning ecclesiology-the study of the church. Many people believe that they know the meaning of the church, which is a place to become closer to God. However, there is more than what meets the eye when it comes to the Church, since it is a very complex organization. Dulles' book identifies and describes the different functions the Church possesses which Jesus Christ founded and continues to oversee today. He categorizes the models into five aspects: Church as institution, Church as mystical communion, Church as sacrament, Church as herald, Church as servant, and lastly his new model Church as community. In this paper, I am going to discuss the similarities as well as the differences between Church as Institution and Church as mystical communion. The both models discuss the people who make up the church-this can be noted as a contrast between them as it will further be discussed in my paper- and they both have similar yet different forms of organizational skills that I will go into further detail as I discuss each model in depth. In order for you to understand what these models stand for I will begin my paper explaining in detail what each model stands for as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, I will discuss why Church as Mystical Communion is more persuasive model for the 21st century. According to Dulles, Church as Institution “defines the Church primarily in terms of its visible structures, especially the rights and powers of its officers” (Dulles, 34). The function of the church is hierarchical, which means that the rich and powerful have the most control over the church. There are two meaning of the word “institution” which is institution vs. institutionalism, which is very critical to understand when discussing this model. Institution as just mentioned is about the hierarchy the way it is organized, institutionalism is…

    • 1435 Words
    • 41 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There is five Avery Dulles models in which make up the Church today with a sixth be added later. It’s what’s make the Church up today. Each performs a different function in its own right and the Church in which we can indirectly grow in our understanding of the Church. The models which make up the Church are the Church as an institution, as a Mystical Communion, as a Sacrament, as a Herald and Servant with the Eschatology later added as the sixth. In each case these models form views on the Church role, audience and the goal of the Church. The models portray the strengths and weakness of the Church along with the understanding of divine revelation. There is models of the Church in which share the same traits but also have a different opinion on other matters. There are models in which benefit the Church more today with the changing of peoples opinion over time. The Church of Christ does not exist in the world without an organization or structure. The models help see the Church as a servant which helps humanity achieve its full potential in God’s history. The institutional model and Mystical models of the Church both different but both serve the Church in different ways. Their strengths while help the Church also can be their weakness.…

    • 1726 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most well know allegories in history. All of the characters in the book symbolize different things. Two characters, Christian and Apollyon, are two major symbolic characters in the story.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Medieval Church

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lingberg and Duffy have a different look on The Medieval Church in the middle Ages. Unfortunately though, the church is often regarded as the capital of corruption, evil, and worldliness. An overview of the crisis concerned with farming, famine and the Black Death.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Church Growth

    • 16577 Words
    • 67 Pages

    The Church is even now expanding in numerous cultures and subcultures, languages and dialects, tribes, classes, and kindred. Whereas in the year 1800 it was confined largely to Europe and the Americas, by the last third of the twentieth century it had spread to almost every country on earth. Frequently a Church splits and both sections grow. Sections of the Church, sometimes large, sometimes, small, do of course at times face difficulties or new problems and enter a period of malaise. War, famine, pestilence, the spread of some debilitating theology, adjustment to radically new conditions, migration to new lands or cities, and totalitarian oppression are some of the factors that not only check the church growth but may enervate the people of God for a time.…

    • 16577 Words
    • 67 Pages
    Powerful Essays