Episode 1075: Can you learn from The Screwtape Letters?

The Screwtape Letters is a Christian apologetic novel by C. S. Lewis and dedicated to J. R. R. Tolkien. It is written in a satirical, epistolary style and while it is fictional in format, the plot and characters are used to address Christian theological issues, primarily those to do with temptation and resistance to it.

First published in February 1942, the story takes the form of a series of letters from a senior demon Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter. The uncle's mentorship pertains to the nephew's responsibility in securing the damnation of a British man known only as "the Patient."

Summary
In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis imagines a series of lessons in the importance of taking a deliberate role in Christian faith by portraying a typical human life, with all its temptations and failings, seen from devils' viewpoints. Screwtape holds an administrative post in the bureaucracy ("Lowerarchy") of Hell, and acts as a mentor to his nephew Wormwood, an inexperienced and incompetent tempter.

In the 31 letters which comprise the book, Screwtape gives Wormwood detailed advice on various methods of undermining God's words and of promoting abandonment of God in "the Patient" (whom Wormwood is tempting), interspersed with observations on human nature and on the Bible. In Screwtape's advice, selfish gain and power are seen as the only good, and neither demon can comprehend God's love for man or acknowledge human virtue.

Versions of the letters were originally published weekly in the Anglican periodical The Guardian during wartime, from May to November 1941. The book adds an introduction explaining how the author chose to write his story.

Lewis wrote a sequel, "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," in 1959. The satirical essay criticizes trends in British society, education, and public attitudes. (Although Britain calls its major private schools "public schools," Lewis is referring to state schools when he criticizes "public education.") The essay was included, with a new preface by Lewis, in editions of The Screwtape Letters published by Bles in 1961 and by Macmillan in 1962.

The Screwtape Letters became one of Lewis' most popular works, although he said it was "not fun" to write and "resolved never to write another 'Letter'.

Both "The Screwtape Letters" and "Screwtape Proposes a Toast" were released on audio cassette and CD, with narrations by John Cleese, Joss Ackland, and Ralph Cosham. Cleese's recording was a Grammy Awards Finalist for Best Spoken Word.