The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis is a literary giant. Best known today for “The Narnia Chronicles”, he also wrote for adults on Christian themes. Lewis wrote “The Screwtape Letters” against the backdrop of WWII, initially as a serialised novel in a weekly religious newspaper. It has since become a classic.
‘The Screwtape Letters’ is an entertaining read. Lewis uses an original premise; he writes in the voice of a senior devil, Screwtape, advising his junior devil nephew, Wormwood, on how best to turn his assigned human patient away from ‘the Enemy’ (God) towards ‘Our Father Below’ (Satan). This will give you a taste of the inside out, upside down nature of his spiritual advice, though not everyone got the joke. One clergyman cancelled his subscription to the newspaper that first published it, complaining that Screwtape’s letters were ‘not only erroneous, but positively diabolical’. (1)
The brilliance of “The Screwtape Letters” is how Lewis uses humour to draw you into a theological reflection on humanity and ultimately, a greater knowledge of yourself. Though written over eighty years ago, Lewis’ insights and observations remain fresh and penetrating today. One moment you are amused by Lewis’ wit, as Screwtape skewers human foibles and inconsistences, but then a slow, painful realisation sinks in that the caricature is not so far from home. For example, in speaking of pride and humility, he writes:
“Catch him at a moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble’, and almost immediately pride - pride at his own humility - will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt - and so on, through as many stages as you please.” (Lewis, 1942, 69).
Re-reading “The Screwtape Letters” this time around was like having my spiritual senses tuned and recalibrated. Viewing life from the perspective of eternity brings clarity; to how we treat our family (letter 3), anxiety about the future (letters 6 and 15), our choice of friends (letters 10-11) and even life itself (letter 28). Through the letters we learn that the ‘patient’ is at risk of being bombed in an air raid. The happy ending of the book (look away now, if you don’t want a spoiler) is not that this man survives the war, but rather that he dies with his faith intact - he is taken safely home. If health and sickness or even war and peace is ‘from the point of the spiritual life, mainly raw material’, I was challenged to consider what I really value and prize for myself and my family; peace and prosperity, or faithfulness to Christ? (Lewis, 1942, 103).
“The Screwtape Letters” is a book about us in our spiritual ups and downs as much as it is about the devil and his devices. If you are looking for a systematic treatment of Biblical references to the devil, this is not the book for you. Yet, as a work of imaginative theology, rich in practical, pastoral wisdom, “The Screwtape Letters” is hard to beat.
1. Joseph A. Koum Jnr., ‘At Age 80, The Screwtape Letters Is Still Worth Reading’, The Gospel Coalition, 22nd October 2022, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/at-age-80-the-screwtape-letters-value-endures/, (accessed 27th May 2025).
Reviewed by Leah Blake
Leah turned to Christ as a young adult and now serves with her family in Normanhurst, near Hornsby. As a lifelong bookworm she enjoys helping with the EQUIP book reviews.