Characters - Basics
The author of these letters.
Screwtape
Screwtape's relation to Wormwood.
Mentor/mentee
Uncle/Nephew
What is the demons' ultimate goal?
To separate humans from God.
What do the demons call God?
Why does Screwtape say that the "disappointment" about being a Christian works in the demons' favor?
Being disappointed in something you were once passionate about can lead to you abandoning it.
The recipient of these letters.
Wormwood
Wormwood's relation to The Patient.
What is the first strategy Screwtape gives to Wormwood in Ch. 1?
Distraction
What does God look like to demons?
A terrifying and bright, painful light.
"If once they get through this initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt."
Once christians get through the period of boredom in religion after the first initial high they become much harder to tempt because of the strength of their faith.
The main subject of these letters.
The Patient
Describe The Patient's relationship with his mother.
They do not get along.
What about the church experience does Screwtape say will help distract The Patient from God?
Anything in the service that annoys him or he finds disappointing.
Ex: a squeaky shoe, an annoying neighbor, liturgy he cannot understand, etc.
Because they are aware they might die.
They are fighting for a cause greater than themselves.
"You must bring him to a condition in which he can practice self-examination for an hour without discovering any of those facts about himself which are perfectly clear to anyone who has ever lived in the same house with him or worked in the same office."
Screwtape wants to make sure that the patient doesn't know himself, especially the bad things.
The primary opponent to the author and recipient of these letters.
God (The Enemy)
Describe Screwtape's relationship to Wormwood. What is it like?
Condescending, Arrogant, Disapproving
What is the demons' reward for bringing souls to Their Father Below?
They get to "drink" the fear and confusion from the human souls.
One of Screwtape's strategies with The Patient and his mother is to get The Patient to pray only for his mother's spiritual needs, not her physical needs. Why does God want us to pray for physical needs?
Because He wants to provide for our needs.
Because we view people as real people when we pray for their physical needs.
"Whatever their bodies do affects their souls."
If you kneel to God. Your body will have a reaction and so will your soul. Your soul follows your body.
The primary ally to the author and recipient of these letters.
Satan (Our Father Below)
What do Screwtape and Wormwood think of the Church (as in the people of God, not the church The Patient attends)?
They are terrified of them.
Why does Screwtape tell Wormwood to keep The Patient's focus on a particular image or thing in his mind when he prays?
Because those images/things are not actually God. They are just our imaginations of Him.
How does God fight against the demons' strategies in this book?
Answers will vary.
"Not to who I think you are, but to who you know yourself to be."
The prayer Screwtape DOESN'T want us to pray to God. It surrenders our shallow ideas of God and allows us to pray to who He actually is.