Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Reconstruct Screwtape's nineteenth letter to Wormwood in sequence — the nervous retraction of the heresy that the Enemy loves, the insoluble hunt for a hidden motive, the slip that 'His throne depends on the secret,' and the turn to whether being in love is good or bad. Then name the central conviction: that Hell endures only by refusing to believe in disinterested love.
Discussion Questions
- In an earlier letter Screwtape described the Enemy's love exactly, yet here calls that love 'an impossibility' and an 'accidental' heresy he must take back. Why can a devil understand love so well and still refuse to believe it, and what does that reveal about the difference between knowing a truth and consenting to it? Use details from this letter and the earlier one to Wormwood to develop your answer.
- When Our Father demanded the Enemy 'lay His cards on the table,' the only answer was the story of 'disinterested love.' Is the devils' real problem that the Enemy is hiding His reason, or that He has told the truth and they cannot accept it — and why does the difference decide who is at fault? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to develop your claim.
+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide
Critical Thinking
+ 7 more questions in the complete study guide
Get the complete study guide — free
Sign up and get your first book with every chapter included. Copywork, discussion questions, vocabulary, and critical thinking.
Sign up free