When I was helping my dad unpack his books into his new pastoral office today, I came across C. S. Lewis’ masterpiece about the letters of an experienced devil, Screwtape to his amateur nephew Wormwood.
Having never read it but always wanting to, I picked up the book and started reading. I discovered that Lewis had done a spectacular job of incorporating wit, satire, and humor into a novel whose premise had dark undertones to it. I found the ongoing battles, one clearly presented as a quarrel between uncle and nephew as the amateur devil fails to lead his “patient” to an eternity in Hell. There are three others not clearly stated, but rather implied. The first of the three would be the eternal conflict between good and evil, between the powers of Heaven and the imps of Hell. The second of these would be the fight for the man’s soul, and the struggle he has to listen to the lies of the evil Wormwood, or to heed the wise words of the Holy Spirit. The final conflict would be between Screwtape and his understanding of God, as he questions the very nature of God and His relationship to humans. Lewis has done a magnificent job of incorporating these elements into a funny, yet thoughtful book. It has parts that sting out like barbs, meant to convict the reader and advise him/her to think about their lifestyle, whereas there are other sections that comfort the reader to know God loves us beyond our wildest imagination, and even the demons cannot understand such a love.
Overall, Lewis provides us with a masterful piece of Christian literature that is given to us not from the point of a man, or God, but by the demons themselves so that we can see how much they suffer when we decide to live powerful lives for Christ.
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