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Copywork
About This Passage
In these two sentences Screwtape lets slip the most important admission in the letter. The devils' entire kingdom, he says, rests on never understanding love — 'His throne depends on the secret.' Even members of Hell's own side admit that the moment they grasped what the Enemy means by love, the rebellion would simply collapse and they would 're-enter Heaven.' Copying this shows a writer how a single confession can reveal an enemy's one true weakness — and here that weakness is that Hell exists only by refusing to believe love is real.
His throne depends on the secret. Members of His faction have frequently admitted that if ever we came to understand what He means by love, the war would be over and we should re-enter Heaven.
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
In your own words, tell the story of Screwtape's nineteenth letter to Wormwood. Why is he nervous about admitting the Enemy 'really loves' people, why can the devils never solve the question of His motive, and near the end, what does he say about whether being in love is good or bad?
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape insists the Enemy's love 'must be a disguise for something else' hiding a 'real motive.' What makes the idea of love-for-its-own-sake genuinely hard for the devils to accept, and why does that disbelief leave them hunting forever for a secret that is not there? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to defend your reading.
- In an earlier letter Screwtape said the Enemy's love means 'the good of one self is to be the good of another,' yet here he calls that very love 'an impossibility' and races to take it back. Why would a devil who once described love so clearly now insist it cannot exist, and what does the reversal reveal about Hell? Use details from this letter and the earlier one to Wormwood to develop your answer.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
A belief that goes against an accepted truth.
Item 2
A guess offered as an explanation, meant to be tested.
Item 3
Impossible to solve or explain.
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Critical Thinking
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