Preview
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Summarize the letter's argument, then identify the central tension Lewis develops — between grand spiritual feeling and ordinary domestic conduct — and evaluate whether he handles it honestly.
Discussion Questions
- Screwtape's first method, set out to Wormwood, exploits 'the horror and neglect of the obvious,' directing the man to 'advanced and spiritual' duties so he overlooks elementary ones. What does this inversion reveal about a danger peculiar to religious life, and why is the spiritual so easily turned against the moral? Point to the method and weigh it.
- Screwtape's most disturbing tactic turns prayer itself into a weapon, aimed at an 'imaginary' mother while the real one is resented. What does this corruption imply about the relationship between a person's prayers and their treatment of the actual neighbour, and why might the chapter's claim — that the two cannot be severed without rot — be defensible? Use Screwtape's words to Wormwood to develop both sides.
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Critical Thinking
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