Not to What I Think Thou Art but to What Thou Knowest Thyself to Be Original
The Screwtape Letters | Chapters 4–5 | Summary
Summary
Chapter 4
Wormwood has informed his uncle that the advice about the patient's prayers for his female parent has backfired. Screwtape sees that it is time for a serious word of prayer.
Screwtape advises Wormwood that it is all-time to keep his patient away from formal, structured prayer, which he mockingly describes equally "parrot-similar." Instead, the patient should exist guided toward creating spontaneous, unstructured prayers. Equally a beginner unschooled in the words and thought forms of meaningful prayer, he will try to produce an internal sense of prayerfulness in their identify. This self-charade may be useful for quite some time. Screwtape encourages Wormwood to too convince the patient that his actual position while praying is irrelevant. He advises his nephew to never forget that, in humans, body and soul are interrelated. Whatever the body does affects the soul.
A subtler way to undermine the patient's prayer intention is to shift its focus abroad from the Enemy and toward the self. Screwtape explains that the novice in praying will unconsciously endeavor to manufacture a feeling that the prayer is going well and achieving the desired goal. For example, when praying for forgiveness, the novice will try to feel forgiven. Screwtape advises Wormwood to teach patients this method for judging the effectiveness of their prayers. He adds this caution: They must never doubtable that their concrete and emotional state at the moment—"well or ill, fresh or tired"—tin greatly influence their perception and judgment.
Yet, the Enemy will be at work. The very act of praying opens humans to the action of God. Screwtape points out another weapon Wormwood can use to misdirect his patient'due south attention. Humans accept not seen the Enemy in the fullness of his celebrity. Their vision is express to human being-fabricated images of the incarnated Christ or God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Wormwood's patient may even pray to such an image or a crucifix. This is to be encouraged. The patient must never mindfully seek the spiritual presence of God past praying, "Not to what I think thou fine art but to what g knowest thyself to be." This would be disastrous. The man would now be entrusting himself "to the completely real, external, invisible Presence." He would exist open to God. Thankfully, from Screwtape'southward perspective, humans do non desire this as much as they suppose.
Affiliate v
Screwtape has received a deliriously joyful letter of the alphabet from Wormwood. The European humans have started another war. The patient has been sleepless with anxiety. Screwtape acknowledges the headiness of state of war, with all its potential "anguish and bewilderment of a human soul." He cautions Wormwood not to lose sight of this chance to secure his patient's soul. Terror for the future and the horror that is coming are tools for "undermining religion and preventing the formation of virtues." However, the patient's reaction to the war must be advisedly assessed earlier action is taken. Wormwood tin can then decide if is all-time to move the patient toward condign "an extreme patriot or an agog pacifist."
While war, from Screwtape's standpoint, is entertaining, he warns Wormwood not to expect also much from it. There may be suffering, but it is brusque and may exist endured past humans who are already in the Enemy's army camp. This does not satisfy the devil'due south hunger for souls. What they must consider is how to use war to their reward.
Despite war'south -to-be "cruelty and unchastity," in that location is the danger that its tribulations will turn humans to the Enemy by the thousands. Even more may turn their attention to moral values and virtuous causes. Worse, some may become willingly to death knowing they are "of the Enemy'due south political party." Information technology is improve, Screwtape notes, that humans die of old age, in nursing homes, surrounded by doctors and nurses who will lie to them well-nigh their declining condition. Out of misdirected compassion, they will be denied access to a priest in order to shield them from that truth. Screwtape concludes that the constant reminders of death that accompany war render useless the devil's all-time weapon: contented worldliness and the denial of bloodshed.
Analysis
The opening paragraph of Chapter iv gives the reader a glimpse of Wormwood's world: Hell. In his earth he cannot expect tolerance or forgiveness for mistakes. He will be accountable and pay full toll for his failures. Even in his role as mentor, Screwtape will not intercede on his behalf. This starkly contrasts with Screwtape's later clarification of the Enemy'south response to sinners who appeal to him in prayer. In other words Hell is a place where inhabitants—devils or human souls—can expect no mercy. Inhabitants of the Enemy's realm can expect the opposite.
Prayer is the principal focus of this letter. Screwtape, of course, presents an upside-down view of prayer, advising Wormwood to encourage his patient to reject structured prayer in favor of formless and spontaneous prayers. In this manner Lewis advocates for the more disciplined approach to prayer that teaches the proper language and arrangement of a formal prayer. One time the formal arroyo to praying is understood and mastered, it becomes the foundation for later mature improvisation in prayer. For the Christian novice to skip the initial steps renders the undisciplined prayer empty and impedes his or her spiritual development.
Lewis also advocates praying aloud and while kneeling. Information technology reflects humility before God and brings trunk and soul into union and harmony, which benefits prayer. In another publication, Mere Christianity (Book Three, Chapter 5), Lewis points out that Christianity is about the only i of the groovy religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that thing is skilful." Still, problems arise when the torso becomes detached from the spirit.
When a person prays, the purpose of the prayer is to mindfully bring him or her into the presence of God. Screwtape offers Wormwood a strategy for blocking the patient from this issue: introspection during prayer. The patient must be encouraged to scout his own mind and test his own feelings to see how he's doing instead of focusing outward on God. Thus self-absorbed, the patient cannot be open up to annihilation else. He can attend merely to his emotional state during the prayer process, and this may be influenced by factors such equally how well or ill he feels. Considering the devilish source of this advice, it suggests that self-absorption and emotional intensity are poor standards for judging the effectiveness of prayer.
A farther distraction from constructive prayer that Screwtape advises concerns images of the Enemy. If the patient during prayer can be induced to focus his attending on such images or artifacts like a crucifix, he will never consciously direct his prayers correctly to God. His prayers volition affect on idol worship. His ain fanciful imaginings—"what I call back chiliad fine art"—will be a bulwark to the "existent, external, invisible Presence, there with him in the room."
The last line of Screwtape'south letter of the alphabet suggests that "real nakedness of the soul in prayer" may not be what humans want anyway. Prayer can be uncomfortable when information technology shatters illusions and reveals people's truthful spiritual country as compared to what it should be.
The "European State of war" was known as World War Two after the The states and Nippon became embroiled. At the time of this alphabetic character fighting was concentrated in Europe. In his alphabetic character Screwtape examines the pros and cons of war from the standpoint of evil and the capture of souls. He has seen state of war before and knows its effect on humans. He knows the suffering that it brings does not necessarily serve evil. He warns Wormwood that it can bring humans closer to the Enemy rather than bulldoze them away.
As Screwtape sees it, the "real business concern" of war is to undermine faith and prevent the formation of Christian virtues, which include faith, hope, clemency, backbone, justice, and wisdom. How this is done depends on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual. For the devil there are advantages—meaning spiritual dangers—in the patient becoming an "farthermost patriot" or an "ardent pacifist." The beginning may drag honey of state above love of God or worship the two equally. The second may tempt the human to turn abroad from social duty and to remain passive in the face of injustice. For the devil both extremes are a ways to the same end.
From Screwtape's perspective war is useless if its suffering does not bring souls to Our Begetter Below. It is worse than useless when it awakens humans to their need for God or turns their attention outward toward a belief or cause higher than themselves. Further danger for the devil lies in the fact that war makes death existent to humans, and in recognizing their ain mortality, many of them go to death spiritually prepared. They are out of Hell's reach.
Through Screwtape's observations near decease in nursing home equally good for his purposes, author Lewis reveals contempt for the denial of death inside the medical profession. A dying person is surrounded by doctors and nurses who deny the patient's condition and offer fake hopes of life. Every bit a issue, he or she is given no time or encouragement to spiritually set up for death. This puts the soul in jeopardy and denies the patient the condolement that God, through a priest, could offer.
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