Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize the letter's argument, then identify the central tension Lewis is developing — between truth and distraction — and evaluate whether he handles it honestly and effectively in this opening.
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape concedes that on the Enemy's 'own ground' of argument the Enemy can hold his own, and that only in 'practical propaganda' is the Enemy 'greatly the inferior of Our Father Below.' What does this division of the field — argument versus propaganda — show about where Screwtape believes truth actually has power? Point to the concession and weigh what it costs his position.
- Screwtape urges that the man be kept from 'attending to universal issues' and fixed on 'the stream of immediate sense experiences.' A long philosophical tradition treats the turn from the sensible to the universal as the movement of the soul toward truth. Does this chapter assume that tradition is right and merely invert it for evil ends? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
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Critical Thinking
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