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Copywork
About This Passage
This is the heart of the letter, and Screwtape's sarcasm gives the lesson away. The Enemy does not want the layman to be a connoisseur appraising every church; He wants 'humble receptivity' — an openness that still rejects what is false but refuses to make a performance of judging. Notice the careful distinction Lewis draws between two senses of 'critical,' and how the bracketed sneer ('how grovelling, how unspiritual') only sharpens the point: the very humility Screwtape mocks is what lets a tired old truth 'become really audible to a human soul.'
In the second place, the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy wants him to be a pupil. What He wants of the layman in church is an attitude which may, indeed, be criti...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, reconstruct Screwtape's sixteenth letter to Wormwood in sequence — his alarm at the man's fidelity, the two reasons for attacking it, the two churches he has scouted, and the party trick. Then name the central claim: that the devils win by replacing a unity given by place with a division chosen by taste.
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape wants the man to keep hunting for a church that 'suits' him until he is a 'connoisseur of churches,' while the Enemy wants him to stay in one parish as a 'pupil.' What is genuinely appealing about searching for the church that fits you best, and why does Screwtape want that search so badly? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
- Screwtape says the right attitude in church 'does not appraise,' but lays itself open in 'humble receptivity to any nourishment that is going.' What might make the appraising critic's stance feel wiser or safer, and why might the humble listener actually gain more from the same sermon? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to develop your answer.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
An expert judge of quality who appraises by refined taste.
Item 2
Openness and readiness to take in or receive something.
Item 3
Flat, overused sayings offered as if they were fresh or wise.
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Critical Thinking
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