Screwtape Proposes a Toast

This was set at the Devil's banquet. I found it to be an extremely interesting chapter. It talks about how the flavor of sinner's has become much more dull. They are nothing compared to Hitler is one of the remarks he makes. He points out that the sins these people have commited are not as many large sins. They are sins that society now over looks as just regular everyday things. Some of these are the advertising for sexiness which leads to adultry. I found this very interesting because I definitely feel that our society has changed the way that people view sins and everyday life. I found it very interesting how he talked about all of this and how he put his thoughts into little examples and almost comical sarcastic references. I found that this chapter was harder to understand at times though in comparrison to the last few that we have been reading.

I thought this letter was very interesting. It made think differently. He talks about war in an earlier chapter of the book. In this chapter he talks about how people find war to bring them closer spiritually. This is because people think that if they die they will want to be close their loved ones. This is very interesting because you never think of war like this. You think of it in a violent way, not in a spiritual way. I found it a very different way to think about things.

Letter 26

I found this letter to be very interesting. I actually agreed with alot of what Screwtapes wrote about relationships. There is such a stark difference between how a man and woman view a relationship. I also agree that there are many ways that the devil can twist these around to make the other do somethign that he or she thinks his mate will relate with but yet does the exact opposite. Men and women think so differently that i think it is hard for them to understand one another. This miscommunication along with many other things may be the direct result of the difference between what each defines as unselfish. This chapter really made me think more about how other people percieve things in comparison to how i do.

Letter 22

This letter was slightly comical. I found it funny how he was ranting and raving about this woman that his patient is dating. He tells his nephew that he does not know how he missed this aspect. The way he describes this woman is much like how a best friend would describe their bestfriends girlfriend after they had been ditching them for him for a while. It seems as though they are jealous because and angry because now he has a reason to be with "The Enemy" as she is a part of his team. He tells how when everyone leaves there they have an "odor" to them. I found this funny because I can almost imagine a visual of this. I also foudn it interesting because it is true that after being in the presence of a true believer you do feel a different sort of passion. At least for a little while. I also found it interesting that at the end some one else takes over. I feel that this is because ScrewTape was just too aggravated with the situation. This chapter to me, seems to be more about showing the frustrations of how God constantly finds ways of having people come back to him when the devil is trying to take them away. I found it interesting how they used the situation that they did.

Letter 20

I found I could relate really well to this letter. It talks about how Screwtape wants his nephew to find a woman based on looks rather than personality. I find this to be a huge issue in today's society. People see the ads in magazines along with models and figure that is how all women are to look. It causes problems among relationships. This also can be the cause of problems among young teen. I found it interesting how he compared it to popular art. It is like art because theses people basically have photoshopped bodies. I also believe this is eluding to breaking the commandments. It is like what we talked about in class about lusting. I think this is Screwtape's way of getting his nephew to break that commandment by lusting after people. Near the end he also talks about how if you can convince him to be alone he will always lust. Well that is what I took from it. I also thought it would be his way of being lonely for forever. I got kind of confused near the end.

Letter 16

This letter refers to the patient's mother who does not realize her sin in her excessiveness. People portray gluttony as a want for too much in quantities. However, here it is showed that it is easy to make one obsess over eating small portions for example that your standards become ridiculous. It is the task of making one so involved in their self that they do not realize the excessiveness of their wants and actions. Gluttony does not just refer to eating. It refers to the wants and needs in an everyday life. It refers to an expectation. I feel after I have read this that it makes more sense. The devil tries to trick one by making them indulge in something that makes themselves feel as if they are doing right. However, in turn they are being selfish and unreasonable. This in turn becomes the same as if you were to have an excessive amount of anything. Excessiveness is more seen in the way of ones wants and expectations, yet very overlooked. I found this letter extremely interesting because it opened my eyes to think in a different way about a specific subject.

Letter 15

This letter was quite confusing to me. I thought I was beginning to understand how to understand the writing. This letter talks about how he wants his "patient" to be living in the Future. This is because to him the Present requires him to be thinking about what is going on at that moment and be in touch with reality. This would cause him to pray more and be aware of trials and turn to God. I believe that is what it was saying. However, I was slightly confused. It then talked about how the Past can occasionally be good for the devil because people dwell on it. However, ultimately it may do the same as the present. Both Present and Past can relate to eternity which is what God wants people to focus on. The devil would like us to live in the Future. This makes us not realize what is going on in front of us. It makes us miss opportunities and focus on false hopes. This ultimately leads to disappointment which can make one angry with God. I find this interesting because I think as a society much of the time we take things for granted and just push them aside to look for something better and bigger. When things aren't large and exciting they are overlooked. For example in this society materialism is a large part of our culture. A small act of kindness is overlooked because it did not mean anything to some one. A promise is not real without a large diamond. We take much for granted and I think that may be what is being said here.

Letter 8

The chapter I chose to write on was chapter 8. I found it very interesting how he describes how God's relationship with his followers is very different from the devil's. I really liked how he said that the devil just wants absorbs you and then leave you. He has no concern for you or for taking care of you. This is quite contrary to what God does. On page 39 it says, "We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons." I thought that this explained it very well. God wants us to come and he will always be there for us. He will not just get us to follow him and then leave us. He will stay with us through everything because his goal is not just to have "won" us to his side of the war but to take care of us. The devil just wants to do anything to take us away from God. He knows that we go in cycles as he calls them. He takes advantage of us when we are weak. However, he knows that once people start to follow him and realize there is no gain in this they will turn back for something else. This is in our nature he says. I think it is very interesting how Lewis makes these comparisons. I felt like this letter was the most comprehend able so far. I really could relate to the different ways of describing the relationships.

LETTER 5

The fifth letter of Screwtapes was a little easier to understand compared to the first through. The style of writing seems to be coming more familiar to me. In this letter Screwtape talks about how he does not feel that war is as terrible as everyone feels it is. The letter also talks about how this war can either sway people one way or the other. Depending on the person it could make them go to God because they need him during this or it could make them angry at him because they have to be involved in this and it is hurting their lives. This is a very common thing in todays society because some people have become very religious because of war. Even if they have not converted they believe in some one higher to watch out for them. I agree with this feeling. I believe that when I go through something traumatic I look to God for answers and for help to get through the hard time. In the day and time we live in I think that this is definitely an issue that is present as everyone is going through some sort of hard time. I have never experienced war per say however I have experienced hardships and God is the only one that can get me through at times.

Reading through the first three letters of the book Screwtape Letters gave me a different view on how the devil works. The first letter talks about how God can work on non believers. It then tells about how the devil works to get into the minds using materialistic things. I thought that it was very interesting how they talked about all the different ways the devil tries to steer you away. I found this interesting because I could relate to many of these feelings. I also thought that it was very interesting how they talked about how showing reality makes a person less certain of their faith. I understand how reality can definitely stray a person because one look at this world makes a person wonder where God is. However as a Christian you must look and see that we are the problem and that God is trying to work in the world however, most of the time people won't let him in. I also find it interesting how the devil talks about how even new Christians can be worked on in church. I found this interesting because a person in church shoudl be worshiping but a lot of times they are judging. The three letters were very insightful and made me think about things I should look out for when I am in my everyday life.