The Devilry of C.S. Lewis

An Introduction to Lewis's The Screwtape Letters

“My dear Wormwood.” England met the devil Screwtape in 1942; it would be a year later for the United States. Already a known apologist with his BBC, “Broadcast Talks,” (now Mere Christianity) and The Problem of Pain. Lewis had a few academic titles and the first of the Ransom trilogy published. The Screwtape Letters would put the Oxford don “on the map.” More works (though his most popular, Narnia, was yet to come) would appear by Lewis, but it would be the devilish creation, Screwtape, to accompany C.S. Lewis on the cover of Time Magazine in 1947.

Lewis reflected years later on The Screwtape Letters as easily written, but also the least enjoyable. His description of it almost smothering him is an apt portrayal of the book. And why we will take several chapters at a time. Thirty-one chapters of “Our Father Below” (Satan) and the “Enemy” (God) weighs on one’s soul no matter how insightful the book. Clyde Kilby notes that the book is a deliberate turning of Mere Christianity upside down. There was never a true reversal work, though Letters to Malcolm does serve as a fair conversation partner with The Screwtape Letters. Lewis argues that letters from the other side would require proper mountaineering skill. “Every sentence would have to smell of Heaven.” Those were spiritual heights far beyond him. Indeed, perhaps of any writer. Devils are easier.

Why devils? Because Lewis was human. He knew himself well. We all are well acquainted with temptation and sin. This is where Lewis shines as a writer. His ability to articulate human nature and relationships continues to draw readers to his books. We each find ourselves in the pages of Screwtape’s advice. We all are tempted and tried by the forces of Hell. And that is one of his great reasons for writing The Screwtape Letters, and as Time noted in 1947, for Lewis there is a real Devil.

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. — The Screwtape Letters

There is a devil and no, he is not a reddish cartoon-like creature with horns and a pitchfork. Scripture speaks about the Deceiver and his attacks on God’s creation. He himself is not a creator, but a bender and manipulator who works to distract and deceive. Screwtape writing to his nephew, Wormwood, gives out such “wisdom” in each letter.

Lewis gives us warnings, but also advises readers to laugh. There are two quotes in the epigraph dedicated to mocking the devil. Martin Luther wrote, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn.” As the temptation of Christ shows us, Satan will indeed twist Scripture to his advantage. The second is Thomas More: “The devil…the prowde spirite…cannot endure to be mocked.” The history teacher in me notes that Lewis might be giving us a laugh here too as he quotes from Martin Luther, key to the Protestant Reformation, and Thomas More, one of England’s top Roman Catholic theologians during the 16th century. We should laugh at the devil for he has lost (John 19:30)

The next few months will feature several chapters in each substack post. Lewis was almost smothered by writing it, and we would be wise to keep it short ourselves. It is one of his best and I hope that you will revisit it this year or perhaps order a copy and read it for the first time. Next time, letters one through five from the under-secretary, Screwtape.